WE’RE OUTTA HERE

a weekend destination keeping you on the backroads

Walterboro, South Carolina

When Daytona time rolls our way we know so many of you are eager to return to the old normal and open up your riding season with Bike Week.

If you are hauling your machines, or better, riding down south, we have a fantastic overnight, well worth a two-night stay. Down in the low country of South Carolina is the quaint town of Walterboro.

The city boasts ne examples of 19th-century architecture including many beautiful historic churches. The South Carolina Artisans Center is located in Walterboro and provides a retail outlet for the state’s nest folk art and crafts.

There is plenty of nature to be found in this region and the town Wildlife Sanctuary is comprised of over 800 acres of braided creek and hardwood ats. The sanctuary offers boardwalks, bridges, bike, and walking trails for viewing natural lowcountry wildlife and beauty. Spanish moss drips from Cypress trees and wild owers abound as you pass a beaver pond, duck pond, butter y garden. Best of all – it is free. If you are looking for a real nature experience and want to overnight in a very special way then get ready to paddle. The largest Private Wildlife Refuge on the Edisto River, accessible only by canoe, offers guests unparalleled privacy and stunning views from world-class treehouses. Treehouses!

This stretch of the longest, free- owing blackwater river in the southeastern United States has sandy banks and a shallow, sandy bottom - perfect for swimming and picnicking. When water is higher, as in the winter months, you can paddle right into forests of cypress trees. The river’s winding, undeveloped shoreline offers you the perfect and real escape. At the end of your paddle, you can stay in the most marvelous treehouses like Tarzan & Jane.

If you would like a slightly easier and very nice place for the night, Waltersboro offers several B & Bs – one standout is the Old Academy on Hampton Street. The Old Academy was originally built and used as Walterboro’s rst schoolhouse. Owners Don and Jean Sterling bought it in 1990 and opened it as a bed and breakfast in 1996. In 1998 they were presented with the William Lowndes Award by the Colleton County Historical Society for the preservation of a historic building. Don and Jean offer superior rooms at very reasonable prices.

The truth is we discovered Waltersboro while on a mission for Dr. Seymour O’Life. As Tom Jones would say… “It’s not unusual” for O’Life to request a little side-trip from us when he knows we are passing something odd and

this trip was no exception. In our research, we asked our friends at Atlas Obscura for the lowdown.

Here’s what they said:

‘The center of the town is dominated by the Walterboro Water Tower: a standpipe that is not only the jewel of the city’s water supply system but which also once held

lockups for the county jail.’

It took a Boston engineering rm a couple of years to build the tower, which was completed in 1915, and it employs what’s known as a standpipe system. 100,000 gallons of water is stored in the top and, using plain old gravity to pressurize the water up above (with a little help from hydro pumps), the water is pushed down through the pipe system and out to homes and businesses. Constructed of reinforced concrete and standing 133 feet tall, the Walterboro Water Tower is one of only three standpipe systems in the state of South Carolina.

There is a small door at the base of the tower that leads to a space that was once used as a county jail. Long since out of penal service, there are six small cells and just a couple of windows. Some say that these cells later served as sleeping quarters for stranded travelers who needed a place to stay for a night. Not exactly ve-star accommodations – or any-star accommodations. Unless you count the star on the sheriff’s jacket that may have locked you up back in the day.

Worth a stop for sure.

But the town also has a ne and wonderful bit of World War II history in its. During World War II, the Walterboro Army Air eld served as a training ground for Army airmen including the famed Tuskegee Airmen. These were the rst black airmen and the tails of their planes were painted red for identi cation purposes, earning them the enduring nickname “Red Tails. Allied pilots called them Red Winged Angels as the Tuskegee Airmen were fearless in their protection of our bombers.

The German Luftwaffe called them Schwartze Vogelmenschen – the Black Bird Men. As we learned the Germans both feared and respected the Red Tail yers.

In May 1997, a monument honoring their bravery was placed at the site. This was also the site of a POW camp and base hospital.

If you spend time in Waltersboro you must take a quick ride to the airport to see the monuments and take in this great bit of American history.

We hope, on your way south or back north, you make some time for this little South Carolina low country town. You will not be disappointed. ,