Lexington, South Carolina

         “So much of who we are is where we have been.”

William Langewiesche

The Lizards Thicket is where we started today in Lexington, SC. It is not a park but a lovely southern style family restaurant with a funny name. We drove to Lexington, SC and stopped there before continuing on our journey for the day. There are 14 locations or more now of this restaurant in the Columbia, SC area. I was introduced to the restaurant by my dear old friend, Helen Gatch who just loved this restaurant. They have large portions and she always just wanted the kids meal. Joe and I always insisted she got the large meal so she could take home left overs for extra meals for the week. They have a nice menu where you pick out the portion size of your meat, and you get a couple sides with that as well as biscuits or cornbread, hush puppies,, and the best ice tea around. They have a large selection of sides all cooked the southern way. We left there as full as a tick. It is a family operated business since 1977. www.lizardthizardthicket.com.

We drove to Lake Murray to see one of the newest walkways near Columbia, SC. This walk goes over the Dreher Shoals Dam and is 1.7 miles each way. The views were spectacular as we walked over the dam of Lake Murray and distant views of Columbia. The lake is a 50,000 acre lake with 500 miles of shoreline and is stocked with bass, white perch, bluegill, and sunfish. There were many people of all ages were out walking or running over the dam. There are historic markers at the beginning of the walkway stating that B 25's were used for bombing training missions during WW II where they flew over the lake and bombed the islands. They mainly bombed Lunch Island aka Bomb Island as well as Shull Island and Dreher Island. It is hard to imagine planes flying over this lake and dropping bombs. That must have been a scary sight. Five B 25's crashed into the lake

but eventually were all salvaged. We parked at the SCE&G Park on the Irmo side of the dam and has a kayak boat ramp. It was a nice little park and a wonderful stop on this beautiful day.

The Mercer House Estate Winery was our next stop, we decided to try as a whim. It is owned by Shannon and Kim Mercer. Trying to find this Winery which is between Lexington and Gilbert, our navigation took us down a dirt road and we thought – uh -oh where are we going. On on our last turn, orchestrated by our great navigator, got us on a regular paved road and is where we realized our navigator was messing with us. Not far after we turned, was the Winery sign were we turned in and parked. The tasting room was located to the left of the old farm house and when we walked in we were greeted by Shannon Mercer, the wine maker. He was a very nice guy and funny as all get out. He said, “Come on up and grab a seat.” And we did as he said and noticed coming into the room that the floor was solid pennies strategically placed with the WH initials spelled out in the middle of the floor. Another nice couple came in to do a tasting and joined us. He described his wine making process and how the vineyards were laid out. He states he makes “art in a bottle.” Then he told us about the various different types of grapes he grew on his 12 acres. He said he uses no pesticides and

he takes care of it all but does hire people to help him harvest the grapes. He experiments with all kinds of fruits and vegetables to make his very unique wines. We got to try his Bloody Mary Wine (yes, it tastes just like it), Kale wine (not my cup of tea), pumpkin wine, blueberry wine, wisteria wine (wonderful taste), fig wine and various mixes of Muscadine wines that were sweet and not sweet, and even Jalapeno wine that is used to mix with other wines to add a kick. I loved the Blueberry Bomb Wine. Yummy. He is not afraid to try making wine from anything he gets. He has a friend who is a tea farmer from the Charleston area and he requested him to deliver 2000 pounds of tea as a gift. He did bring it and he made wine out of it. We had a great time with our new friends and loved the quaintness and homeyness of the winery. The interesting thing is he doesn't drink but he says his wife does so he can get her approval for each wine. This winery is one of only 10 all natural and organic wineries in the country. You can book this for an event and he gives tours of the property by appointment. This was a fun stop. Shannon is a great host. Mercerhouseestatewinery.com.