This will be a short trip. We are in Columbia South Carolina today to see the state museum and the capitol. Tomorrow we will travel to Congaree National Park for a hike through a swamp. Then we will head home.
Our first stop was the South Carolina State Museum.
An old brick building with a glass and steel facade.
Inside the renovated building there are a wide variety of exhibits. They cover history, culture, science, art, and technology. In one of the artistic areas, we saw a unique portrait of Sir Isaac Newton. While at a distance the portrait seemed typical,
A closer inspection of the work shows that the media used is quite unusual, especially for a portrait.
The media is bottle caps. They provide color, depth, and an interesting pattern throughout the entire work.
In the science area, one of the most interesting exhibits dealt with telescopes and astronomy.
We got to see telescopes with dual eye pieces and dual mirrors.
The technology area contained a history of early trains. The train in this picture was a recreation of an early train. Apparently a fireman not familiar with the technology did not appreciate a noisy valve so he plugged it up. As he stoked the fire, the pressure built in the engine until the engine exploded. He had plugged up a pressure relief valve.
Another technology exhibit showed the mix of transportation options available in the early 20th century. One of the interesting aspects of this museum was how close you could get to the displays.
The nature portion of the museum covered a vast array of animal and plant life. Here is a picture of an unusual animal, a Glyptodont, from the past of the South Carolina area.
After we left the museum we enjoyed another interesting aspect of Columbia’s culture – street art. We saw three different works by the same artist, Blue Sky. His works are different in many ways. His scale is large, his subjects are varied, and each has its own claim to fame. The biggest item is the world’s largest fireplug. It is 40 feet tall and weighs 675,000 pounds. The most unique is the massive Never Bust Chain which is suspended between two buildings. The third item we saw was a huge mural painted on the side of a building. It depicts a tunnel that appears to go through the building. Despite its size, the image is very detailed. As an example, the artist painted bullet holes in a traffic sign on his rural mural painted in an urban setting. If you are ever in Columbia, these three works are worthy of a visit. They are located close enough to each other that you can see all three in a period of fifteen minutes.
Next, we visited the South Carolina State Capitol.
The South Carolina Capitol was started before the Civil War. The construction was halted during the Civil War. It took decades for the structure to be completed. In spite of the delays, the building is well built and is none the worse for wear, with the possible exception of cannon ball damage from Sherman’s charge through the South.
On the inside, the building shows that it was built to its original design specifications. The designers wanted a fireproof building. Based upon the abundance of marble and stone and the relative lack of flammable materials, the design idea was followed.
While the House and Senate chambers vary from the initial design, they are still impressive legislative chambers.
There are decorative aspects throughout the Capitol. The interior dome is impressive. The stained glass window has over 37,000 pieces of glass. There are also statues in many places in the building.
Our first day also included a stop at an interesting restaurant. The Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli makes fabulous cinnamon rolls. Be careful though, a dozen mini cinnamon rolls lasted for six meals for the two of us. We were glad we did not get the large rolls. Their Grits meals were also very good.
It was a great first day in South Carolina.