Columbia, South CarolinaNov 24, 2006
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State House (Capital), Columbia, South Carolina
Congaree National Park, South Carolina
Congaree National Park, South Carolina
Congaree National Park, South Carolina
11/24 - 11/28
Two days brought us 208 miles to The Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia, South Carolina. Since Columbia is the capitol of South Carolina we had to check out the Capitol building. The capitol dome is copper, but it is so tarnished that it appears black. The inside of the building is quite attractive. There are six bronze stars marking the location where Sherman's cannon balls hit the walls of the building during the Civil War.
The South Carolina State Museum is located in Columbia. We spent an entire day there and barely managed to see everything. The museum is located in an old textile mill (the first fully electrified textile mill in the US). There are four floors and each floor has a topic: South Carolina history, science and technology (where Joan learned about lasers), natural history and an art display. Great museum.
We also drove 20 miles southeast of Columbia to the Congaree National Park. This 22,000 acre park is the largest old-growth bottomland hard-wood forest remaining in the US. Water from the Congaree River flood this forest area an average of ten times a year. We arrived during one of those floods so we could only walk along about 2/3's of the trail system's boardwalks. Great hiking, flat and beautiful.
