Road Trip: Southeast
Day 7: Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - Columbia, SC
Day's statistics:
Weather:
Steps: Steve 11,794; Linda 12,675
Drove: 63 miles
Sometimes I wonder who installs the shower fixtures and whether or not they think "this shower head is pretty
low." I'm just six feet tall, and I had to bend over a little to rinse my head during my shower.
Breakfast was actually pretty good. Linda had a bagel, and I had a couple toasted waffles.
Again, because the capitol didn't open until "later" (first tour was at 10:30), we did something before our tour.
This time it was to visit Congaree National Park.
We entered the address into the GPS, and it brought us to... an entrance more designed for pick-ups, not cars. We tried again.
En route, we came across a cotton field. That we tried to capture, quickly, at 50 or so, so it isn't a perfect picture.
We found the main entrance.
Generally, there is no reason to take a picture of a speed limit sign - unless it's unusually high. Or... just
unusual. Like this one. 27? Not 25? Not 30? 27? Like I said, unusual.
Oh come on. I think the park service is just screwing with us at this point...
Upon arrival... our stamp.
They have a two and a half mile boardwalk that passes through the woods. It is the white square-ish path on
the map of the park - most of the park.
We walked the whole boardwalk. There was some sporadic seating too.
There wasn't too much wildlife about, but we did spot a salamander.
We got this woodpecker too. Somehow we were able to determine which tree he was in, but he was
probably [at least] thirty feet up in a tree, amongst the leaves - so it didn't go too well.
Another woodpecker, a little more exposed, but still a little hidden amongst the leaves.
And yet another woodpecker in another tree.
There were a total of 20 wooden-placard numbered stations in the park.
The volunteer "ranger" gave us a pamphlet with various descriptions of each station.
Station 1 was a beech tree, likely over 100 years old (this is a stitch).
Station 3 shows the "knees" of the bald cypress tree. These knees are believed to provide extra structural
support to the trees during floods and high winds. These trees can live to be over 1,000 years old, producing
wood, often called "wood eternal", that is rot and water resistant.
Station 4 has water tupelos trees, identified by their swollen trunks, and grow where water is plentiful.
The last image is almost the same as the second one above, with more focus on the trunks here.
Station 5 shows a patch of switch cane, a relative of sugar cane. A dense growth is called a "canebreak".
Station 6 helps show the circle of [tree] life. This dead tree, called a "snag", shows the holes woodpeckers made
in the now-dead wood to get at insects.
The loblolly pine at Station 11, stitched here, is a former state champion. Loblollies are the tallest trees
in South Carolina, and this tree, at over 150 feet tall, contributes to the Congaree Park's average tree height
of 130 feet, making Congaree one of the tallest deciduous forests in the world. While pines aren't usually found
growing in wetland areas, loblollies can tolerate living in wet conditions better than other pines.
Station 12 brought us to what used to be a bend in the Congaree River. It is now Weston Lake, an oxbow lake.
We saw a couple turtles, and some fish.
Station 14 brought us to some dwarf palmettos which are relatives of the cabbage palmetto, the state tree,
and that which gives the state its slogan, the palmetto state.
Station 15 had us looking at an old moonshiners' still from the early 1900's. The terrain and trees
made the area a perfect place for moonshiners to hide their stills.
Station 16 shows us a clearing left by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
We captured some additional shots too, including some flowers in bloom (there weren't many) such as the
Cardinal flower, but not the Butterfly Pea, American Beautyberry, and Virginia Dayflower.
There were quite a few spiders and web as well.
There were a couple - that we noticed - research markers too.
And a shot of the woods, not tied to a station.
We made it back to the entrance / exit - the first and last couple hundred feet share the same path.
We walked through the archway and back to the administration building that also housed a gift shop.
There was this nifty mosquito meter on the wall too.
Out walk took nearly two hours. It was time to head to the capitol.
We spent enough time at the park, and it was now late enough, that we decided to stop for lunch before going
to the capitol. It would be too late to eat afterward.
One location we planned on going to eat was at Lizard's Thicket.
The wall at one end had pretty much could have been their entire menu.
But they had a printed menu too.
Linda had the fried bologna sandwich, with fries.
I had the chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. No, I didn't have a vegetable, though
I was this close to having the grilled mixed vegetables...
After lunch, time to visit the capitol!
For some reason, I frequently call the city Columbus, instead of Columbia.
The capitol on approach, and departure.
Our selfie.
We got our stamp. It was the young man's first day working the register in the gift shop. He never stamped a
book before. So he updated the stamp date, and stamped our book. The only problem was... he used the wrong date.
He set the stamp to the 29th rather than the 26th. While our book will be permanently inaccurate, I was easily
able to manipulate it here, so it would at least look correct.
We also acquired our shot glass.
We had a scheduled 1:30 tour. The guide's name was Jill.
We started off watching a ten-or-so minute video. Then we headed out. When we made our first stop in the
lower foyer, we were joined by a group of four. Later we would be joined by two more.
The Lt. Governor's wing.
The original marble floor.
Near our first stop was a staircase going up to the second floor.
While we were on tour, there was a quiet protest taking place in the foyer between the house and senate.
The House was closed because they were actually in session. It is true that the house is usually open
to the public for viewing, but it was not during this special session.
The hallway behind me in relation to the image above, was adjacent to the library. It too was closed, but I
was able to capture a few picture through the glass.
These closeable doors separated the hallway near the library from the foyer.
We passed through the protesters, and made our way to the far side of the foyer.
Above us was this chandelier.
This is the ceiling in the foyer.
This mosaic is supposedly made of more than 37,000 pieces of stained glass. It was on the second floor and
captured from the foyer area.
The entryway into the gallery for the house or senate, since they are both the same.
A painting, title Battle of Cowpens, showing a rare scene of an enslave black serving in the army,
shooting an enemy to help save the life of Colonel Washington.
We entered the senate chamber.
The president of the senate's seat.
And the old clock above the president of the senate's seat.
The state seal and the seal of the senate.
These two holders are used to hold the senate sword. The sargent at arms takes the sword out of its locked case,
places it into the holder, and the lights on either side of the dais light, incidating the senate is officially
in session. Some other states have a similar sort of process / ritual.
The house has a mace that is used in a similar fashion. SC is the only state that still uses a mace.
The chandelier.
The seal of the senate, in cloth on the wall.
The US flag, and another state seal.
The SC flag and a seal.
Some architecture.
The lighting next to the gallery.
After our visit in the senate, we returned to the foyer where the crowd of protesters was growing.
This stained glass window is on the second floor (sorry it is out of focus, it is sometimes hard to see how
good a shot is in the tiny little viewfinder...).
Looking up at the dome.
Looking up toward the senate gallery entrance, seeing all three floors and the atrium ceiling.
We were done with the inside, and walked around outside.
The capitol is surrounded by walking trails and 25 monuments and memorials.
A statue of George Washington.
When inside, we were told that this marker is actually in the wrong place as it should be quite a few
feet to the left as you look at it. Why haven't they moved it? Don't know.
They should probably prune the tree on the left...
A statue of Strom Thurman.
A memorial to Governor Robert McNair.
A dedication to the woman of South Carolina(?).
Just off the main capitol plaza we found the state's replica of the Liberty Bell (like the moon rocks [though we
will NEVER see all of those because some are missing], if we can easily find and see the replica bell, we will).
We learned from Jill that there were six star markers on the outside of the capitol showing where cannon balls
hit the capitol during the Civil War, by Sherman. I didn't zoom in too much to help show perspective.
The last image has two stars.
Near the front of the capitol was this informative sign.
It was time to depart the capitol grounds.
It was too early for dinner - because the location we wanted to eat didn't open until 5:00, and because we
weren't that hungry yet. So what to do...
Like Boston, we decided to visit the local library. It happened to be right down the road from where we were
too, though we had to do a u-turn.
Hanging out in a library for a short time is great. It's free, quiet, has clean restrooms, comfy seating, and
access to the internet and other reading materials.
We shoveled some quarters into the meter and entered this fairly modern looking and particularly nice library.
The library was rather large too. Though we went up one floor, we didn't go down to the lower level.
There was even a movie theater / auditorium (the reflection obscures the size of the room).
After the library, it was time for dinner.
We headed to Menkoi. It happen to be down the road a couple blocks and on the block a cross street.
We parked the car and spied another building with my former employer's name on it.
It was a short walk from the parking lot to the restaurant - it is a rather small location, but they did a decent
take-out business while we were eating.
We each ordered something at the cashier's suggestion, and shared it 60 / 40.
Linda ordered the #4 - Spicy Ramen.
I ordered the #3 - Tonkotsu Ramen.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel, and retired for the evening.