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On the backroads, one of the common sights is the small abandoned country stores which used to stand at many crossroads.  Usually in a state of disrepair, they were once the center of community.

The small store served the purpose of Dollar General in being a place that you could get the essentials.  Many of them offered credit to their neighbors which would be repaid at harvest time in the fall.

Now they sit mostly abandoned and the locals either drive to the nearest Dollar General or to a WalMart in the next town for their needs.

Even during the high of tourist season in Summer and Fall, visitors can find quiet moments at Mabry Mill before and after hours.

On the weekends and during the peak tourist seasons, the mill is open daily for inspection and you can buy corn mill ground on site. The historians at the mill are great sources of information about how life "used to be"

We visited Stumphouse Tunnel here in SC for the first time at the end of June.  It's a really cool piece of history, especially for someone who loves railroads as much as I do.

While there I was playing with my R7 inside the tunnel shooting back towards the end.

I got a photo that has something interesting in it that I haven't been able to explain yet.

Let me know what you think it is in the comments.

The 2nd is a cropped in detail of the light in the first one.

Learn more about Stumphouse Tunnel

tunnel long tunnel detail