Columbia, South Carolina

We spent the long weekend at Columbia. It is the state capitol of South Carolina and the main campus for the University of South Carolina. The old State House was constructed between 1786 and 1790 and was destroyed during the burning of Columbia in 1865. The new building's main structure was completed in 1875 and the exterior in 1907. It is of the Classical Revival architectural style. The grounds are very pretty with a ton of trees and paths. We saw the state capital building and the street next to it was having a fun little street fair. We also found a great little toy store where Milton picked out a great camera that he has hardly put down since purchasing it. Then we went to Camden to visit an NPS stamp location. Fortunately privately owned so they were open for me to get a stamp! By the time of the Revolution, Camden was the economic and cultural center of the backcountry of both North and South Carolina and was so important that almost immediately after Lord General Cornwallis’ capture of Charleston in 1780, Cornwallis established Camden as the garrison and principle supply post for all the British operations in the South. The Camden Battlefield is over 450 acres just north of Camden. It is also becoming a Longleaf Pine Preserve replacing the Loblolly pines. The Longleaf Pines are very slow growing and rely on forest floor fires to be able to grow in ideal situations. The stands of pine trees are stunning the way the that forest floor is covered in pine needles, so really easy to walk through. The next day we visited the Riverside Zoo which the kids loved seeing all the alligators. Milton kept going into the gardens at the state house looking for alligators so he was pretty excited to find a real one at the zoo. After the zoo we went to the South Carolina Museum which was much cooler than we would have guessed. Lots of neat exhibits from natural ecosystem displays, to space flights and satellites. The kids also loved swimming in the little pool at the hotel.