Kings Mountain State Park

What a great day. With no football games for the boys, we decided to get out of town for a hike. Generally we head up I-26 toward the mountains of North Carolina but today we wanted a shorter drive. So instead we drove north on I-77 toward Charlotte to Kings Mountain State Park. While it was a bit nippy in the morning it turned out beautiful with a high near 62 degrees.

Kings Mountain, for those who do not know, is a very historically significant locale in the state of South Carolina. It was the site of a pivotal battle in the Revolutionary War. It was atop the mountain (which looks much more like a large hill) that the Patriots defeated a group of 1,000 loyalists who had been trained by Colonel Ferguson, the best marksman in all the British Army. Of the 1,000 loyalists only about 100 actually had red coats. The others wore pine sprigs in their hats. Once it became obvious that they were thoroughly surrounded by the Patriots, who wore white paper in their hats, many of the loyalists pulled the pine sprigs from their hats and changed sides in hopes of avoiding certain death. How funny is that?



It took only one hour for the Patriots to secure victory - killing Colonel Ferguson in the process. There was a marker showing the exact spot he was shot. Harper was quick to ask "How do they know this is the exact spot where he was killed?" Great question. I didn't even try to make up an answer. Instead, I shrugged and we moved on.

The entire trail was a mile and a half. I'm not certain this qualified as a bonafide hike since the trail was paved but the scenery, with thousands of bare trees, was wonderful. There's a certain energy in the cool air of late fall that you don't find on a summer hike. There's also a lot fewer people!



When I got home I told Tim that we had a great time and that I learned a lot about history. He looked at me in disbelief and pointed out that I was far from being a history buff or even someone who remotely enjoys history. He's right, of course. Maybe the magic was in having the opportunity to spend the day outdoors, do some hiking, and enjoy a family day together.