Friday, March 21, 2008

South Carolina Trip


I made a trip to Columbia, SC with Theresa after her shower. I enjoyed the warm weather but not the tornado's that went through the area last Saturday.

I was able to spend some time visiting places I had not been before. I spent one afternoon while Terry was teaching at the McKissick Museum on the University of South Carolina Campus. They had three exhibits- one was about South Carolina in World War I. They showed a number of posters that advertised war bonds. The second exhibit had photographs by Michael Eastman of the Aiken-Rhett house in Charleston. That gave me even more reason to make a trip to Charleston. The third exhibit was Natural Curiosity- The University of South Carolina and the Evolution of Scientific Inquiry into the Natural World. It just happened that a professor at USC in this area had originally taught at Dickinson College.

On Tuesday, I visited two of the Historic Homes of Columbia. I walked the 6 blocks from Terry's apartment to the Historic Columbia Foundation museum store and was able to get tours of the Hampton-Preston Mansion and the Robert Mills House. I learned what Columbia was like during the time of the Civil War as well as the architecture of the time. I wasn't aware that the kitchen in those times was outside the main house. Think of it as when we go outside to grill. They were afraid of fires caused by cooking in the house. I wasn't sure why that was a concern since each home had at least 4 fireplaces. The Robert Mills house was designed by Mills who also designed the Washington Monument. His designs all stressed symmetry so to balance the doors in a hallway he might put in a fake door just to have one on both sides. Jewel the docent who gave me the tours was fabulous to listen too. She dresses in period costume for some events they have at the homes.
The photo above is me in front of the Hampton-Preston Mansion.

My flight home on USAirways included a 3 hour delay due to weather and a bumpy ride for most of the flight. Now if only they kept the luggage inside during the delay so that I would not have to dry my good clothes after I took them out of the bag. But I made it safely and that is what counts.

LiveStrong
Dee

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Glad you could come down, even though I wasn't able to go do all those fun things with you.

Dee said...

But the best part was spending time with you!