Our Experience Charleston
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” – Excerpt from Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela For years I subscribed to Southern Living and was always intrigued by their travel section. But they covered the entire South and featured cities that were too far away for trips with young children. Even today, I prefer to visit places that are within a four hour drive of Aiken. I am surprised at how much there is to see and do within this range. From mountain to ocean, city to countryside, river to lake, the South has it […]
Publisher’s Letter
“Home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling.” Cecelia Ahern The theme of this month’s Bella is expansion. You can find my partner’s editorial and perspective on the idea of expanding from Aiken to the surrounding area on page 3. My perspective on all this is different and in many ways opposite. My story and experience is one more of contraction than expansion. In my entire life I have never lived in any one location more than four years. I was born in southern Georgia and raised, for the most part, in central North Carolina. I was an Army brat and then spent 20 years in the Army. I have […]
Cabinet of Curiosities | Depots of Aiken County
When the Charleston to Hamburg Railroad crisscrossed through what is now Aiken County in the early 1830s, the need for train depot stations along the new railroad line soon followed. And where a depot developed, so did a community. In an era prior to the invention of automobiles, the trains that stopped at the depots brought friends, family, groceries, clothing, and other daily essentials to a growing community. Thus, train station depots became an integral part of life. Depots provided travel, supplies, and communication. For a bit of a time travel, we have included a late 1800s photograph of the Aiken passenger depot station, which was located near the intersection […]
