Catching up on 2025 travels.
19 November 2025 – Wednesday
Headed out on a 15 day trip to Florida and back. Today we meandered along US route 1 stopping in some small towns on our way to meeting up with friends at Poinsett State Park.
Points of Interest
- Old St. David’s Church
- Dizzy Gillespie Home Site Park
- Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden
- Poinsett State Park Campground
0630 77,023 55°F Leave home for Florida
1200 NC/SC State Line
1213 77,178 73°F Cheraw, SC
Parked for lunch under a big old shade tree. It was across the street from the 1772 Old St. David’s Church.
OLD ST. DAVID’S
St. David’s, authorized by the General Assembly in 1768, was. the last parish established in colonial S. C. Said to be buried in its churchyard are soldiers of British forces occupying the Cheraws in 1780. The steeple and vestibule of this Episcopal church were added in 1827 and services held here until a new church was built in 1916. Thankfully, the building and ground have been preserved.
Looking to see what else might be in Cheraw, we found the Dizzy Gillespie Home Site Park. Stainless Steel sculptures in his home town pay tribute to this famous horn player.
Looking up at the sky from inside my favorite sculpture.
From on-site signage:
“John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was born in a house on this site on Oct. 21, 1917. His family lived here until they moved to Philadelphia in 1935.
A founder of modern jazz, Gillespie was an innovative trumpeter and bandleader known for his bent horn. bulging cheeks, sense of humor, and showmanship. In the 1950s he became a good will ambassador for the U.S. State Dept., playing concerts around the world.”
1313 Leave Cheraw
1419 77,228 79°F Bishopsville, SC
The Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden
A self-taught topiary artist transformed his yard into a unique green sculpture garden.
There is a film about Mr. Fryar’s life called A Man Named Pearl.
We learned that Mr. Fryar was from our home town of Durham, North Carolina.
This garden also had a little musical sculpture. Several horns had retired here.
He even inspired neighbors to add topiary to their yards What do you think of this sharp address number?
1649 77,273 76°F Wedgefield, SC
Poinsett State Park
Approaching the park we noticed a bombing range across the road. We won’t be wandering outside the perimeter!
Friends Greg, Richard, and Shadow let us join them in the primitive group camping area. Designed for groups of up to 200, we had plenty of room!
Brothers Richard and Greg each designed van layouts to suit their own style of travel. Both Richard (Ford Transit)and Greg (Mercedes Sprinter)have moved on from commercially made campers to higher clearance, custom, off-road vehicles.
Richard, his wife Anne, and Shadow are our neighbors so we followed their conversion process.
Greg, over ten years ago, owned a Pleasure-Way camper van and was the person that first told us about that company.
We enjoyed visiting and didn’t need any facilities, so don’t really have much to report on the park. Quiet with cool breezes under the sandhill pines made it an ideal night for sleeping. If there was activity on the bombing range, it didn’t wake us up.
More about the campground can be found on their official site in this link: Poinsett State Park
Today’s Route
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