Slim Chickens and Freedom Park

 

Slim Chickens

    Otis and I hit another fast food spot in Florence. Like last time, this was one we had never been to before and it too looks like it has a lot of locations in the south. We were in Florence for reasons other than the blog and were able to work food and a walk in the schedule. Slim Chickens was convenient and the food came out quick. They did have outdoor seating, but Freedom Park, where we walked, was not far and had a slightly nicer atmosphere than sitting next to the busy highway.   

    For this blog, any place that specializes in chicken, we are going to go with a chicken sandwich for the pup and I to share. The meal was around $9 and we then added a side of mac and cheese. 

    The sandwich was the main event and the taste was great. Other places do seem to give a larger more meaty piece of chicken, but this was still a good size sandwich. The ranch mayo they put on their chicken sandwiches is different. It didn't taste like the ranch I am accustom to, yet it was good and complemented the crispy chicken and pickles nicely. No complaints on the fries, fresh and salted just right.

    The extra mac and cheese wasn't needed as the meal was filling, both Otis and I were happy we got it though. He ended up with a much larger portion than he was supposed to get, you just have to read a little further for that. The mac and cheese was creamy and had a decent cheese flavor. Some of the fast food places make really bland mac, this was a step above.

Otis chowing down on the fries.

    While we were eating, this Mississippi Kite flew in and landed above us followed by crows that were chasing it. I got up to take this shot and Otis decided it was the right time to sieze a little more Mac-n-Cheese. When I turned around he was up on the table with his muzzle in the bowl. So he got to finish that.

Slim Chickens

1530 S Church St

Florence, SC 29505

Freedom Park

    Freedom Park was new to us and in going I didn't look up anything about it. I didn't even know there would be trails. We pulled into the main parking lot and found a sign for Jeffries Creek and parked. At the edge of the parking area, looking down a small hill, we could see a body of water. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a dammed area of Jeffries Creek or a pond. We walked down and found a well maintained path around it and it was just a pond along side the creek. 

    Otis took a minute to sit and people watch. There weren't many others there. We passed a few people on the trail and here he was just watching a couple walking on the far side. 

A Great Blue Heron just hanging out on the pond edge.

    At one spot along the pond there was a small path down to Jeffries Creek. It looked as though there was little to no flow to it and I couldn't spot much wildlife by the creek. The canopy was alive with bird songs, but all were too high and too hidden to see. 

    The corner of the pond offered us two trailheads and a map. On the map was what looked like a fort, so I made the decision to go out, see what that was and make a loop of it. 

    There were two bridges over Jeffries Creek and walking over one of them we discovered this. An Eastern Mud Turtle and it was basking. Turtles like other reptiles are ectothermic, which means their blood temperature is the same as the environment around them. Basking in the sun allows them to take in heat and get things moving a little faster on the inside, helping with things like digestion.

    This is how most of the trail was, flat, easy to walk and well maintained. Now we did take a side trail that had a tree down, but it was apparent from when we turned onto it that it was not kept up. So if you do go to Freedom Park, I recommend sticking to the trails that look like this. 

Otis leading the way.

    On the way to the "fort" I asked a walker if there was one and he said there was, but it was just boards now and he told me where to find it. Not long after passing him we made it to the parking lot for what turned out to be a Civil War Prison site. At the end of the lot was a kiosk that had a lot of information about the confederate prison that once held American Union Soldiers. The signage said that the prison was formed towards the end of the war and that it held thousands of Union Troops under very poor conditions. After reading a little bit about it we then set off to try to find the earth works that are supposedly still there and the remnants of the rebuilt stockade. We did find trenches, but like a lot of the earthen structures from that era, they look like they could have been something or just been a farmers drainage ditch. There was more of the reconstruction than I expected. Made with telephone poles there is just one large wall and piles of wood. I would like to know what the creator of this was trying to go for. I just looked up Andersonville and it has something similar with much higher walls and guard towers. That was a much more infamous confederate prison and is a National Historic Site. Maybe that is what someone was trying to achieve when they built this reconstruction. Otis would not cooperate for a photo near the wall.

    The way back from the stockade was much of the same. It wasn't until we made it back to the pond that we saw anything of note. 

    Throughout the walk Northern Parulas could be heard singing in the trees. It was difficult to locate any of them, but this one near the pond on the way back did show itself. I may have talked about Parulas before. They are one of a number of Neotropical Migrants that nest here in SC. Parulas overwinter at the very tip of Florida, Central America and most Caribbean islands. Some will nest as far north as Canada.

    Along the pond edge we startled a Spotted Sandpiper and it flew to a sandy edge of the pond where there was another. The one that was there did not want the one that flew in on its beach and it spread its wings and ran towards the intruder. It repeated this a couple times and then they just went about their business. Both foraging along the pond.

    After the Spotted Sandpipers it was just up the small hill to the parking lot and our walk was over. If you are in the Florence area this is a nice little park for a visit and the paths we took were pretty well maintained and for the most part flat. I hope you enjoyed this walk with Otis and I.

Freedom Park

1515 Freedom Blvd.

Florence, SC 29505