Rainy Day in Greenville, SC

I’m staying at the Paris Mountain State Park near Greenville, SC. The land was once inhabited by the Cherokee Indians. Around 1765, Richard Pearis settled in the area and married a Cherokee. The Cherokee gave him land, around 10 square miles. The park is named after Pearis (“Paris”). The Ranger explained that the park was constructed by the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The area received over an inch of heavy rain. I’ve been camping in heavy rain before, where the rain pellets went through both layers of the tent. That didn’t happen for some reason this time. After wiping down everything at the table, I made a strong cup of coffee and oatmeal.

I wanted to do another hike today, but I knew It would be treacherous. I was also a little stiff from yesterday’s hikes. I went to Planet Fitness to shower, warmup and use the Hydromassage machine. I’ve become a big fan of the Hydromassage, especially after a hike. The woman at the front desk said, “Oh, what brings you to Greenville.” We chatted for about 30 minutes and she gave me suggestions on places to hike, eat and visit while in Greenville.

It was still raining off and on. I remembered that my mountain bike front brakes were not working at all. I found my way to Piney Mountain bikes which I had seen driving around. I entered and there were four people working on mountain bikes. I thought, these guys are probably backed up for weeks, like in Connecticut. I explained the issue to one of the mechanics and he said, “Let’s take a look.”. He told me, you have no break pads. I’m not sure how break pads just come out. Much to my surprise, he told me this should be an easy fix. Fifteen minutes later, the brakes were working and it cost me $45.

I headed over to Ingles Grocery with the Starbucks. I made a salad at their large salad bar and grabbed a coffee at Starbucks.

I headed to the Greenville Library to avoid the rain. I was drinking my coffee and an upset librarian came over and told me, “Get the coffee out of the library”. Apparently, only water was allowed in the library. I’ve been to a lot of libraries on this trip, and this was the first that didn’t allow food or drink. I spent a few hours at the library and periodically went to the car to have a sip of cold coffee.

Food Truck

Piney Mountain bikes also had a bar and game room. They promoted “Beer and Bikes” and I thought I’d give it a try. The food trucks rotate and on this night the Yumbai Asian cuisine truck was there. I had a fried tofu, rice and Asian greens bowl with a sweet soy sauce. I had a Stripes Peggy Stewart Porter and sat at the corner of the bar. One of the bartender’s wife sat down next to me. After a while we began to chat about different topics. She was starting to study signing for the deaf (American Sign Language).