The Traveling Fool
Traveling off the tourist path. Talking about those places most tourists just don't know about because, well, nobody ever told them. Also travel tips and news about travel and tourism to make your trip a little easier, cheaper and more memorable.
The Traveling Fool
Indian Maiden Legends, Medal of Honor Valor, and the Tunnel to Nowhere
Tucked away in the northwest corner of South Carolina, Oconee County reveals itself as an undiscovered treasure where natural beauty intertwines with captivating history. As I wandered through this Blue Ridge Mountain paradise, I uncovered the poignant legend of Issaquena, a brave Choctaw maiden who risked everything for love, leaving her name on what is now a magnificent 200-foot waterfall – just one of over 300 cascades dotting the county's landscape.
My journey took me to Patriots Hall in Walhalla, where the sobering story of Staff Sergeant Lewis "Slim" Watkins unfolded. This local hero posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor after sacrificing his life to shield fellow Marines from a grenade during the Korean War. His medal rests there today, a testament to extraordinary courage in the face of certain death.
Perhaps nothing captures Oconee's quirky character better than Stumphouse Tunnel – an ambitious 1850s railroad project abandoned after consuming over a million dollars, only to find new purpose a century later as Clemson University's unexpected blue cheese aging facility. This "tunnel to nowhere" now welcomes visitors curious about its unusual history.
The county's spirit runs deep – quite literally – at Chattooga Bell Farm Distillery, where passionate master distiller Ben Wesley crafts exceptional rums and whiskeys from fruit grown steps away from the stills. Similarly, Two Horse Distillery, founded by former rodeo champions, honors their western legacy through carefully crafted spirits using mountain spring water.
With four stunning lakes spanning thousands of acres, miles of hiking trails through ancient forests, and Class 3 and 4 rapids on the Chattooga River (yes, from the movie "Deliverance"), outdoor enthusiasts find endless adventure possibilities. Yet what struck me most was how every corner of Oconee County tells a story – Cherokee names etched on roadways, German churches standing since the 1850s, and prohibition-era moonshine caves hidden among the hills.
Experience this remarkable destination where, as I discovered, "the US has stories everywhere – you just have to look where the tour buses don't bother going." Share your own Oconee adventures or discoveries from your travels by visiting thetravelingfool.com.
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Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where we explore the most intriguing aspects of travel, culture and history. I'm your host, bob Bales, and today I'm taking you to a place where we uncover the legends and myths behind a Choctaw maiden Medal of Honor, valor and a tunnel to nowhere. So stay tuned and we'll be right back. Hi and welcome back to the Traveling Fool. Issaquena, whose name likely comes from the Choctaw wordi Okhina, which means Deer Creek, was a young Native American woman living in what is now Pickens County, south Carolina. You know, most versions of the legend say that Isi Quina fell in love with a white settler but learned that her tribe was planning a surprise attack on the white encampment. In an attempt to warn the settlers, issaquena set out on horseback, naming the landmark she passed for the distance she had traveled. Issaquena successfully warned the settlers, but when the tribe learned of her betrayal, they swore to hunt her down. So they chased her to what is now Issaquena Falls, where she pretended to plunge to her death and actually hit on a ledge under the fall. Assuming she had died, her tribe gave up the hunt and Issaquena lived out the rest of her days. Well, today, that 200-foot falls is one of over 300 recorded waterfalls in Oconee County, south Carolina. The county also has four large lakes, four state parks and 80,000 acres of Sumter National Forest. Oconee County is definitely an outdoor paradise, with fishing, boating, hiking and more. It's located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in South Carolina. It's got the towns of Seneca, walhalla, westminster, salem, long Creek, mountain, rest, tomasi, fair Play and a few others. None of them are very big towns and the whole total population of the county is only about 80,000. And I had the opportunity of visiting there a few months back when I went to the Southern Travelers Explorer Conference. I actually took a couple of days ahead of time just to wander around on my own and explore the place. I found some great places, one of them Patriots Hall in Walhalla, formerly known as the Old Rock Building. It was built in 1933 from black granite rock and was removed from the Stumpp House mountain tunnel, which I'll tell you about in a minute. Now that site is the Oconee Military Museum.
Speaker 1:Louis Watkins, whose name was Slim, dropped out of high school to join the Navy during World War II. Now he survived the war, but his brother, Frank, did not. Frank Watkins died of tuberculosis after coming home from a POW camp in Germany. After Lewis returned home, there weren't many jobs available to him, so he decided to get a GED. However, in September of 1950, shortly after the Korean War broke out, he took a leave of absence to join the Marine Corps.
Speaker 1:Watkins told his family he wanted to do his part as a staff sergeant assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, at the Battle of the Hook in action against enemy aggressor forces during the hours of darkness on the morning of 7 October 1952. His platoon was assigned the mission of retaking an outpost which had been overrun by the enemy earlier in the night. Staff Sergeant Watkins skillfully led his unit in the assault up the designated hill, although painfully wounded. When a well-entrenched hostile force at the crest of the hill engaged the platoon with intense small arms fire and grenade fire. He continued to lead his men, obtaining an automatic rifle from one of the wounded men. He assisted in pinning down an enemy machine gun, holding up the assault. When an enemy grenade landed among Sergeant Watkins and several other Marines, he immediately pushed his companions aside and placed himself in a position to shield them, picked up the deadly grenade and, in an attempt to throw it, mortally wounded when the grenade exploded in his hand. Staff Sergeant Watkins, by his great personal valor in the face of almost certain death, saved the lives of several of his comrades and contributed materially to the success of the mission. For this he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Now, that actual medal was presented to his parents, but it is on display at the museum and his brother, frank, is also honored at the museum. And it's a great little museum. It's a two-story museum. It tells not only about the heroics of Staff Sergeant Watkins, but other military members of the Navy is there as well. If you ever get a chance, take some time and visit it. You won't be disappointed. There's also a couple other museums on that same street, right nearby the Oconee County History Museum, which tells the entire history of Oconee County, and the Museum of the Cherokee. They're all located right there together in Walhalla.
Speaker 1:Now we were talking about Stumpp House Tunnel a second ago. Well, construction on Stumpp House Tunnel began in the 1850s. It was intended to be a railroad tunnel that would serve as a connector between Charleston, south Carolina and the Midwest. By 1859, the state of South Carolina had spent over a million dollars on the tunnel and they just flat refused to spend any more on the project and the tunnel was abandoned. And, of course, about that time the Civil War happened. Nothing was going on with the digging of the tunnel. After the war there were several efforts to restart the 1,600-foot tunnel, but they all failed and the tunnel was just abandoned. Beginning in the 1950s, stumppel's tunnel was used by Clemson University, which is very nearby, to grow blue cheese. They found the tunnel to be the perfect temperature, so they would grow it, store it in the tunnel, and they did that until the 1970s. In the 1970s the blue cheese operation was relocated to an air-conditioned cheese ripening room on the grounds of Clemson University, so the tunnel was abandoned again.
Speaker 1:Well, today it's operated by the nearby town of Walhalla and it's a tourist attraction. You can wander around inside the tunnel, the tunnel that was built and went nowhere. Right outside the tunnel there's a park located on the stream there, great for picnicking and all kinds of good stuff. You know Oconee is rich in history. Oconee Station was built in 1792 as one in a series of militia blockhouses along the South Carolina frontier. The town named Oconee Station at the time was along the Cherokee trading path, so it's one of the oldest locations in Oconee County. Now Oconee Station stays a historic site. Like I said, it was established as a military compound in 1792 during tensions between white settlers and Creek Indians. It served as a small frontier post until about 1799. The William Richards House was built nearby in 1805. The house was a private residence and trading post for many years. Now. Those two buildings are the only ones that are still standing. But if you visit Oconee Station's state historic site, it's possible to tour inside the buildings on Saturdays and Sundays. It's possible to tour inside the buildings on Saturdays and Sundays and there are hiking trails and waterfalls and all kinds of stuff there at the state historic site.
Speaker 1:I toured it. Well, I didn't tour it. I went there right as it opened early in the morning. There was nobody around, so I just walked around and took some photos and looked at the place. Unfortunately, they weren't open to go inside the buildings when I was there.
Speaker 1:Another place I visited while I was in Oconee Chattuga Bell Farms and Distillery. You heard that distillery. You know I was interested. Well, chattuga Bell Farm is a 200-acre working farm distillery and event barn located in Long Creek, south Carolina. Bell's Bistro is located there and you can have a drink at the distillery there, you can shop at a general store that they have, play disc golf and even pick your own fruit. During the 1960s, long Creek was the largest apple-producing area east of the Mississippi River. Long Creek is also home to the Chattooga River, the first river in the southwest to be designated wild and scenic by Congress. Now the farm grows the fruit. They also ferment it, distill it, bottle it, label it and sell it all right there at Chattooga Bell Farm Distillery, and the distillery's open for tours and tastings.
Speaker 1:The Chattooga Bell Farm Distillery is, or was, I guess, the first legal distillery in Oconee County, south Carolina. When I went there I met the master distiller, ben Wesley, who got his start by learning the craft working there and he worked his way up. He's now the master distiller. That man is passionate about producing some great spirits, rums, brandies and whiskeys all grown from the fruit right there on the farm. They use all and he's always experimenting, coming up with stuff. I tasted quite a bit the day I was there. He was like try this one out. Yeah, sure, and it was all really good. I brought a couple of bottles home with me.
Speaker 1:Another distillery you might want to visit is located in Seneca, called Two Horse Distillery. It was founded by Brian and Tony Massey, two former rodeo stars on the rodeo circuit Now. Brian Massey spent over a decade competing on the rodeo circuit and he's won all kinds of world championships, earning a reputation as one of the toughest competitors in the sport. Now Tony was successful in her own right. She was a barrel racer and earned multiple awards and titles across the region. Well, after retiring from the rodeo circuit, brian had various successful ventures and wanted to create something you know, kind of honor their legacy in the rugged spirit of the West. So he decided to establish Two Horse Distillery.
Speaker 1:Now Two Horse Distillery, like I said, is in Seneca. The location is a restaurant, bar and distillery all under one roof. They have a real large bar and seating, with additional seating on the second level, and the distillery is located in the back room behind the bar. They use locally sourced grains and pure mountain spring water, ensuring that every bottle reflects a unique character of those Blue Ridge Mountains. The distillery's name Two Horse is a nod to their rodeo days and the spirit of the West, and he's got a few of his rodeo belt buckles there on display as well, with their whiskey, bourbon, vodka and gin. They offer up some really good craft cocktails along with some really good food. Brian gave me a tour of the place, told me how they got started and what they were doing with it. They had just opened, not too long before I got there, and they were moving the distillery actually to that location. Up until then he had somebody distilling the spirits for him at a different location using his recipe, but they were moving all the product and everything there so they were going to start actually doing the distilling on site and bottling it right there. I can tell you they're off to a great start and the whiskey it was really good.
Speaker 1:You know I said earlier Oconee County is an outdoor lover's dream. Well, they have Lake Jocassee. That thing spans 7,500 acres and it was made when Duke Power damned up the valley for hydropower. It swallowed up farms, homes and the whole town of Jocassee Valley Under 300 feet of water. In fact, divers have said there's a church steeple and old bridge piling still down there from when the town was there. There's a church steeple and old bridge piling still down there from when the town was there.
Speaker 1:They have Lake Keowee, 18,000 acres and 300 miles of shoreline, which is popular for fishing, water, skiing, swimming, camping, picnicking, you name it. They also have Lake Hartwell, which is in Fairplay. The lake borders Georgia and South Carolina. It covers 56,000 acres and over 950 miles of shoreline. And there's also Lake Togalo in Long Creek or Tugalo, I don't know how you pronounce it. It's in Long Creek and it's popular for fishing and boating, all kinds of outdoor stuff there.
Speaker 1:As far as dining goes, man, they had some good food there and I tried out a lot of different places. I like to go to these locally owned places instead of chain restaurants and stuff when I travel, and places like the Lighthouse on Lake Kiowee or Traditions on the Lake. Those are two really good places to eat there. Two Rivers Public House in Seneca is another good one, vangelis Bistro, strickland's, demas Brothers All really good places to eat, along with some really cool coffee shops and just a whole lot of other places.
Speaker 1:You know they have hiking all over the place in Oconee County as well. Chow Ram County Park near Westminster's got a 40-foot waterfall, a two-mile trail with suspension bridges and a campground by the Chowga River. Oconee State Park is where the 77-mile Foothills Trail starts. You can try the two-mile lake trail to a swimming hole, the four-mile Hidden Falls hike or the six-mile Raven Rock Loop. Chattooga River offers Class 3 and 4 whitewater rafting. You can book with Wild Water Rafting out of Long Creek, south Carolina or Southeastern Expeditions. They call it the Deliverance Stretch because that's where they filmed that part of the movie. They have top-notch fishing there as well. Keowee's got largemouth and spotted bass, hartwell's loaded with crappie and catfish. Devil's Fork State Park rents all kinds of fishing gear. And don't forget you got Sumter National Forest there that you can explore those 80,000 acres.
Speaker 1:You know one thing I didn't expect going into South Carolina. I had never been that part of the country, I'd never been up in the northern part of South Carolina and this is in the far northwest corner of the state. But it was just how much the past just kept showing up everywhere I looked. You know Cherokee names on roadsides, german churches from the 1850s got moonshine caves from the 20s dotting up in the hills and the mountains. There they have a tunnel that doesn't go anywhere. I mean it's like every piece of time left a footprint and it makes you realize that the US has stories everywhere.
Speaker 1:You just have to look where the tour buses don't bother going, and Oconee is proof of that. They have a lot of great places to visit, a lot of great stories, and it's not really off the beaten path but it's pretty close. I mean, there's a lot of people figuring out that Oconee County is the place to go visit for outdoor activities, but it's not overcrowded yet. I don't know how long that will last, but hopefully it lasts for quite a while, because everybody was friendly, everybody was helpful. I never met anybody there that when I asked them a question they just weren't. Oh yes, sir, let me tell you what to do here. Whether I was asking for directions somewhere or asking for something to do or a good place to eat or whatever, they were all just friendly as all get out, and it was just a lot of things to see and do there. I had an absolute blast. I wish I could have stayed there longer, but that's Oconee County, South Carolina, for you.
Speaker 1:Now, if this got you thinking about a trip of your own, well, head to thetravelingfoolcom and check out some of the places I've been and some of the reviews I've done. Leave a review on this podcast or tell me about a place I missed in Oconee County. That's your favorite. I might use it next time or bring it up in a future podcast. Until then, I wish you safe travels. Thank you, you.
