Sometimes it's easy to forget how quickly the world has changed. Imagine what your great-grandfather might say if he could fiddle with your smart phone or what your great-grandma might think about your kid eating those neon green gummy frogs.
A day at the L.W. Paul Living History Farm in Conway offers the chance to put away your gadgets and gizmos for a day and immerse yourself in what life was like on the farm in the first half of the 20th century.
Local businessman Larry Paul's family has a long history of farming in Horry County. It was his brainchild to build the Living History Farm to educate current generations about rural farm life in the South in 1900-1955.
Today the farm includes a farmhouse, stables, and various outbuildings that would have been found on a farm during that time. Throughout the year, events include demonstrations of activities that would have been commonplace back then: making lye soap, preserving and canning vegetables and milking cows.
"Lots of the kids who come here have never seen a cow being milked," said the friendly docent at the park "In fact, lots of their parents haven't."
One of the most wonderful things about the farm is that it is a working farm. The fields are filled with vegetables, tobacco and sugarcane crops and are plowed by the very pretty mule that you can meet in the stables when she's not on the job.
When we visited last week, my husband and I were told we should come back on the first Saturday in August. That's when the Living History Farm will hold its big "Tobacco Days" event. Tobacco will be harvested from the fields, and there will be demonstrations of tobacco "stringing," which is how the plant used to be set up to dry and cure before it can be sold.
If you visit the Living History Farm, please make sure to check out the homemade goodies in the gift shop. There are syrups made from their own sugarcane and a variety of simply delicious preserves. Try the FROG jam (made from Figs, Raspberries, Oranges and Grapes) or the Apricot-Jalapeno, which makes a great cracker spread when combined with cream cheese.
Visit the L.W. Paul Living History Farm website for more information.
