Spring Training 2019 - Day 61

It started raining pretty hard late last night and continued into the mid-morning.  We slept in, then after the rain stopped and it cleared up a little we headed into town around noon.

Columbia is an interesting city. It is the South Carolina state capitol, the home of the University of South Carolina (Gamecocks), and Ft. Jackson, a major U.S. Army base that is home to most Army basic training, the Army Chaplains School and several other Army training functions.  Also nearby is the Conagree National Park where several varieties of old grow bottom land hardwood trees have been preserved, many of which are over 500 years old.

Columbia has been the center of many historical events from early colonial days to the Revolutionary War, Civil War and  beyond.  The city escaped major damage during the Civil War until General Sherman arrived towards the end.  After marching through Georgia to the sea (and Savannah), he turned north into South Carolina and devastated the city of Columbia, destroying virtually everything in his path.

Columbia Army Airfield was also the site where The Doolittle Raiders received their training before their historic bombing raid on Japan in 1942.  The region was also a thriving center of cotton milling, with several large mill towns in this part of South Carolina (Up Country).

Our first stop was the state capitol.  We have a thing about visiting state capitols whenever we can.  Most are showplaces for the state, and as the center of state government they are usually impressive structures with lots of history on display.  South Carolina's state house was no exception.  Unfortunately, there was a water leak last night (broken pipe) and the top two floors of the capitol were closed as they were cleaning up the mess.  Our visit was consequently limited to the ground floor although we did see a movie shown to visitors before a normal tour starts and we had a nice chat with a tour guide about the building and its history.

We also walked around the beautifully-kept grounds viewing the gardens and statues of historical South Carolinians dating back to the Revolutionary War.  As South Carolina was a primary participant and the first state to succeed from the Union during the Civil War, we thought there might be a more visible remembrance of that war but that was not the case - there was not a confederate flag in sight. If anything was emphasized, it was South Carolina's contribution to the Revolutionary War, where over 30% of all the battles during that war were fought.

Pictures - State Capitol

After our tour of the capitol, we travelled a little ways down the street to the South Carolina State Museum.  The museum is housed in a historic building, the Columbia Cotton Mill that operated into the 1950s.  It is an impressive museum and one of the best we have seen. There are 4 floors of exhibits covering just about every aspect of South Carolina history.  There is also a planetarium, and observatory, a 4D theater, various galleries with special exhibits, hands-on science rooms for kids, natural history exhibits and special programs  on a variety of subjects of interest.  There is also an adjoining museum of military and Confederate history.

We had a late lunch at the museum café than toured the exhibits until the museum closed at 5:00 pm.  We barely scratched the surface beyond the 4th and a little of the 3rd floor.  Every exhibit we saw was extremely well done and are excellent representations of South Carolina History. It is a great place to bring kids to learn about it all and have fun while doing so.  As we were leaving, they were also setting up in the lobby for a welcoming reception for incoming University of South Carolina students.  The museum is truly a community and state treasure.

Pictures - South Carolina State Museum

After a long day, we returned to the RV Park and had a take-out dinner from a very popular local restaurant  just down the road from the park.

Pictures - RV Park and Dinner

It is on to Atlanta tomorrow to visit our son Kevin.