GREENVILLE, S.C. —

Just because something is lost doesn’t mean it will never be found.

After three years of waiting, a long-lost locket was returned to her rightful owner.

It was a normal visit to the upstate children’s museum for Jessica Campiz and her son Max.

"We were getting ready to leave and saw the locket sitting on the ground over by the little house and it was just sitting on the floor," Campiz said.

Inside the locket was a picture of a mother and daughter.

"You find a lot of things around children's areas here that are missing, shoes, clothes, and stuff like that. You post it on the Facebook groups and you never really have any hope in somebody's finding it," Campiz said.

That post ended up on Erin Bell's feed.

Recommended

Navy veteran warns of online security scammers that robbed him of his life savings

"I was just scrolling. I happened to see a post about a lost locket, looked at the pictures and I saw the one with it closed and the one with it opened. I saw the picture of my mom on the one side and I thought, oh my gosh, she could pass for my mom and then I saw my picture and I said, oh my gosh," Bell said.

That locket turned out to belong to Erin’s daughter, Hadley, which she lost three years ago, so they commented right away.

"I looked at it and was like, wow. I didn't think I would ever see it again," Hadley said.

"Out of all the things that could have happened, that was the most unlikely thing that could have happened. I went out and bought a lottery ticket that night," Campiz said.

Campiz says it was the pictures inside that pushed her to post about it

"Little things mean a lot to people. You gotta keep an eye out for the little things and never give up hope," Campiz said.

"I can see it years, years, and years from now when I have kids. It's in a special chest with all my special things, in a nice case," Hadley said.

Hayden's mom reminds people to never be afraid to do the right thing because there is someone out there that will appreciate it.

TRAVELERS REST — Meredith Bost is choosing to look at the experience of owning her restaurant in downtown Travelers Rest, if only for a short time, as the best of times.

Just 10 months after making the leap from popular hot dog cart to brick-and-mortar restaurant, Resident Diner will close its doors this weekend.

The decision is hard for Bost — not only because of the love poured into the restaurant but also because she worries intensely about letting anyone down.

In recent years, Bost had gained a following with her hot dog cart concept, then known as Resident Dogs, which she started wheeling to breweries, business events, birthday parties and the like.

Then, when The Community Tap opened its third taproom on Main Street just off the Swamp Rabbit Trail, she jumped at the chance to take on the challenge of a restaurant.

“I wanted to be here, I wanted to be beside The Tap, because who doesn’t wanna have them for neighbors, but it was never financially a good move for this business model,” Bost said.

Ultimately, the decision came down to dollars and cents.

Resident Diner’s menu was built around unique hot dogs, creative sandwiches and modern spins on retro classics. Rent was simply too high for the style of restaurant. The highest priced item — the Royale with cheese, a Revival Butchery chuck and brisket blend burger with LTO, cheese and bacon — was $15.

And while the restaurant had applied for its liquor license, it only received approval a couple weeks ago, the same week Bost made the decision to close.

“That felt very on brand for us,” Bost said, chuckling. “The Larry David version of our life story. But we sat down and did the numbers of what alcohol revenue is supposed to bring, and it would make it easier, but still.”

What might Resident Diner’s future hold?

For now, Bost will bring back her cart, slinging her one-of-a-kind creative hot dogs at events for the city of Travelers Rest. Look for Resident Dogs at the city’s evening concert series.

There are also hopes to do some pop-ups.

Beyond that, Bost isn’t sure where she and her team will land, but she’s sure they will find another location. Though stressful, the experience gleaned from owning and operating a restaurant has been invaluable and sets them up for success in the right spot, she said.

The genuine spirit that brought Resident Dogs and then Resident Diner to life remains firmly intact.

For those wondering, “The 12 Days of Cagemas” will live on, too. Bost has plans to be in a new space in time for the annual December holiday celebration that she started the first year she had her hot dog cart.

“That lives on in your heart,” Bost said with a laugh. “That goes where we go. Hopefully, we’ll be up and running for celebrating in a new location.”

To stay up to date on upcoming Resident cart services and pop-ups, follow @residentdinergvl.

Greenville has brought in an urban planning firm to create a new vision for the area surrounding its municipal airport.

The city hired consultants CallisonRTKL in October to study the area between Interstate 385 and Laurens Road and directly east of North Pleasantburg Drive to Haywood Road, which includes the Greenville Downtown Airport and the Greenville Convention Center. The team will present a small area plan intended to guide growth in the district this summer.

The study area is one that has seen increasing development, and more is anticipated with the coming extension of the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

At two community meetings this week, the CallisonRTKL team discussed its findings so far and shared early ideas for the district’s future.

The preliminary proposals centered on improving safety and walkability along the study area’s major thoroughfares, enhancing user experience at the convention center and airport, and bolstering connectivity and pedestrian use throughout the area. The ideas presented also included possible uses for parcels in the area, which has seen increased interest from retail and hospitality vendors adjacent to established light industrial operations.

CallisonRTKL landscape architect and project lead Amanda Morrell said this week’s public input meetings mark a key point in the process.

“This is the first week that we have put pen to paper,” she said. “We sit down, we take everything we’ve heard from the public and start to generate ideas.”

StanTec engineer Mike Rakowski, whose firm is assisting CallisonRTKL with the study, pointed to multiple methods that could be used to make the area’s busiest roads safer and more pedestrian friendly. Planted medians, the addition of highly visible crosswalks, pedestrian lighting, and the removal of single-lane, one-way turning lanes could all be used to make the area more walkable and make drivers slow down and pay more attention, he said. Improving conditions would also require investing in poorly maintained infrastructure along the district’s busiest corridors.

He said the final report will also include ways to address storm water issues that have been identified in certain areas in the district.

With the coming extension of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, Morrell told the group gathered at the convention center April 26 that a loop trail around the airport would help connect pedestrians to retail locations like Think Tank Brew Lab and the Junction development, as well as make the area more cohesive and attractive to new businesses. Renderings of the trail included a viewing platform that could be used to watch planes take off from and land at the airport.

“It’s connecting all the destinations within this study area,” Morrell said. “But that doesn’t mean that’s where it will stop. There’s potential for it to spur out and make connections to those surrounding neighborhoods.”

The team also pointed to possible future uses for properties in the area, including the potential for recreation destinations like a skate park, bike course or community garden on Airport Road.

As for the convention center, the team said the addition of clearly marked, beautified entrances and a concentrated wayfinding campaign to help with patrons better navigate the facility would be a major benefit.

Beth Hesler of CallisonRTKL also said relocating Exposition Road and creating a garage to reduce the property’s parking footprint would have three major benefits for the center. It would allow for an at-level entrance to the second story expo center, open up real estate for an on-site hotel, and create more room for greenspace and other development opportunities.

City staff said during the meeting that after the small area plan is finalized, the city’s planning commission and City Council could formally adopt it as soon as late summer or early fall.

Renegades’ Palensky batters Drive pitching for a three-run homer, grand slam

A six-run third, a four-run seventh, and a four-run eighth by the Hudson Valley Renegades (12-5) doomed the Greenville Drive (5-11) who could only muster two runs of their own as Renegades pitching stifled Drive batters. Renegades left fielder Aaron Palensky was the man orchestrating the run-parade for the Renegades as he chipped in seven RBIs including a three-run homer in the seventh, and a grand slam in the eighth.

The Drive’s night would be rocky from the start. Starter Wikelman Gonzalez got off to a shaky start in the first inning, walking the first three Renegades batters to load the bases. He’d recover getting a sacrifice fly, a fly ball out, and a strikeout to limit the potential damage to just one run.

Blaze Jordan led off the second frame, lining into right for a single, before he’d steal second during Max Ferguson’s at-bat. Ferguson wouldn’t waste a 3-1 pitch, sending a soft liner to center to plater Jordan and tie the game at 1-1.

While Gonzalez seemed to settle in in the second inning, the third inning would break the game open for the Renegades. Gonzalez struggled to find the zone, walking two batters, giving up a single, another walk to load the bases, walk in a run, give up a sacrifice fly to score another, and give up a single to load the bases again, to make it 4-1 before he was relieved by Jordan DiValerio. The Renegades added two more runs off a single by Spencer Jones, and scratched their final run of the inning across on a throwing error by Nathan Hickey to make it 7-1.

The Drive would get one back in the fourth as Eduardo Lopez singled and plated Max Ferguson from third to cut the lead to 7-2.

The Renegades added a pair of lead-off-solo home runs in the fifth and seventh, respectively; the first off the bat of Anthony Garcia and the second off Spencer Henson. Palensky would add his three-run homer later in the inning to make it 12-2.

Chase Meidroth and Marcelo Mayer would get on with a pair of two-out walks in the seventh inning but Hickey would strikeout, ending hopes of a rally that might have chipped away at the large deficit.

Drive reliever Robert Kwiatkowski came on in the sixth inning and worked until two-outs in the eighth as he loaded the bases with one out, ending his night. Drive reliever Christopher Troye came on in relief but he’d face red-hot Palensky who smashed his grand slam to the top of the Green Monster in left field making it 16-2.

The Drive would go down in succession in the ninth, giving the Renegades the victory.

The Drive (Boston Red Sox) and Hudson Valley Renegades (New York Yankees) take the field for game three of the six game series at Fluor Field tomorrow, April 27 with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m.

Views from Bald Rock Heritage Preserve, under an hour from Greenville, SC, are reason enough to visit this beautiful spot. Here’s what you need to know to visit this pretty place.

I can’t remember exactly when I discovered Bald Rock. Maybe it was when I was curious as to why lots of cars were randomly parked on the side of the road heading up to Caesars Head State Park. I imagine that may be how a lot of people discover this place.

It’s certainly a unique place and one that takes hardly any effort in order to experience a breathtaking view of Greenville and Table Rock.

Bald Rock Heritage Preserve

Bald Rock Heritage Preserve, a land that stretches 165 acres, is actually managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and is part of the Mountain Bridge Wilderness. There aren’t any signs that indicate where it is along the road but it’s easy to pull up on Google maps and it’s about five miles south of Caesars Head State Park.

Once you park at the pull-off, it’s a short, easy walk to beautiful views. There’s a small wooden footbridge next to garbage cans that you walk across and then up the granite, which opens to wide, beautiful views of the Carolina foothills.

There are pockets of granite that my kids like to think were made for them since they fit perfectly in many of these holes carved out by years of weather. There are also two headwater streams that run through the preserve, which provide an environment for rare fauna and flora.

There aren’t really hiking trails at the preserve but there is plenty of space for a picnic and to walk around the huge outcropping and explore the area near the streams in the woods.

Clean Up Efforts

The large rock outcropping has been vandalized with graffiti and excessive amounts of trash for the last several years, unfortunately. We always advocate following the seven principles of Leave No Trace when you enjoy the outdoors and it’s a sad sight when people leave a beautiful place much worse than when they found it.

The Friends of Bald Rock, a volunteer-based organization that started in 2021, has led substantial clean-up efforts for the preserve. They’ve hosted several days of community-wide litter clean-ups and provided power washers to start removing the graffiti. On one day of cleaning up the preserve in October 2022, the volunteers collected more than 300 pounds of litter.

They still have a long ways to go because the preserve has been so trashed in recent years (which isn’t the first place to be a victim of this kind of disrespect, unfortunately). People have had illegal fires, dumped entire cars off the rock outcropping, and strewn the area with broken glass and beer cans.

If you’d like to help in the clean-up efforts, sign up for the email newsletter that Friends of Bald Rock sends out and see their calendar of upcoming volunteer events.

Fireworks, drugs, graffiti, alcohol, littering, and campfires are all illegal and perpetrators can be fined up to $465. If you see anyone defacing Bald Rock or using drugs, alcohol, shooting off fireworks, or the like, you can report them by calling 1.800.922.5431.

Enjoying the Preserve

My kids and I really love Bald Rock Preserve and usually stop there if we are hiking in the area. It’s always worth the stop to enjoy the views. We’ve taken our hammocks up there multiple times to read and even do our homeschool work.

Parents do need to be cautious about broken glass though. While clean-up efforts are on-going, there is still broken glass around, especially in the forested areas and even on the rock outcropping where people have had illegal campfires.

Camping isn’t allowed by the way.

Pets are allowed at Bald Rock Preserve but must be kept on a leash. The preserve is open sunrise to sunset because of the vandalism. You don’t get a direct view of either the sunrise or the sunset but you will be able to see some beautiful landscapes.

Activities Near Bald Rock Heritage Preserve

Bald Rock Heritage Preserve is very close to Caesars Head State Park, which has miles and miles of hiking trails like the moderate Raven Cliff Falls hike and the Dismal-Naturaland-Gum Gap strenuous hike. The overlook at Caesars Head State Park is nearby as well and in the fall you can see the migration of hawks.

It is also near Wildcat Wayside Falls, Table Rock State Park, and Jones Gap State Park. Table Rock and Jones Gap have many miles of trails like the hard Table Rock Summit Trail and the moderately difficult Rainbow Falls Trail at Jones Gap.

If you’re headed to Pretty Place at YMCA Camp Greenville from Greenville, Bald Rock is on your way up there so it’s an easy stop. Additionally, Sassafras Mountain isn’t too far away. This beautiful spot is the highest point in South Carolina and you can drive right up to it and take a short walk to the platform. Fun fact: the platform splits North Carolina and South Carolina so you can literally stand in two states at one time.

Getting to Bald Rock Heritage Preserve

To get to Bald Rock from Greenville, take Highway 11 to Geer Highway and go about 2.8 miles. The pull-off to the preserve will be on your right. There is usually a guy selling honey at a small table there. The preserve is about five minutes from Wildcat Wayside Waterfall and five miles from Caesars Head State Park.

If you type in “Bald Rock Heritage Preserve” into a map, it will come up and give you directions. It’s a very popular place so you’ll see a lot of cars parked there during most times of the year.

Bald Rock Heritage Preserve6600 Geer Highway, Cleveland, SC 29635