South Carolina--Day 2

September 19, 2011

For day two of our vacation we started off with a wonderful continental breakfast.  My favorite part was the grits and sausage!  After breakfast we headed to Cromer's Peanuts and purchased some roasted peanuts to feed the squirrels and pigeons at the capital.  Unfortunately, the squirrels and pigeons were not in abundance at the capital as they have been in the past.  Oh well.  At least we got to walk around the capital and tour it a little.

I purposely posted this picture of the state capital with the Confederate flag.  South Carolina is VERY PROUD of their history and the fact that they played a historical part in the Civil War.  The Confederate flag used to be flown on top of the state capital, but within the last decade it was taken down and it is now flown next to a civil war memorial.  I remember seeing the Confederate flag on top of the state capital 18 years ago.

Below is a statue of George Washington.  You'll notice that his cane is chopped off just below his knees.  General Sherman is to be thanked for that one!  Sherman was a civil war general and is hated very much by the south because he pretty much set fire to it during the civil war.

Here are a few pictures inside the capital.



The House and Senate chambers.

If you look closely at this picture you will see a 5 point star in the shade of copper/gold.  These stars are placed around the outside of the capital to show where the Union bombshells hit the building (thanks to Sherman).

And here we are trying to feed some squirrels and pigeons.  In the past, you could not feed them fast enough.  This time we were lucky to feed one.  We wondered if the state was trying to discourage feeding them to help reduce the "peanut debris."  Oh well.  At least Katherine and my mom got to eat their boiled peanuts.

After the capital we went to look at some homes designed by Robert Mills (he designed the Washington Monument).  They weren't open, but we decided to walk around and take some pictures.

Later, we went to go see the Governor's mansion and walked around the beautiful grounds there.

I love this picture of my mom and baby Gia.

By this time we were really hungry so we went and had lunch at the famous Maurice's BBQ, also known as Piggy Park.

After our tummies got full we headed over to Brennan Elementary and Crayton Junior High, where my mom went to school while living in Columbia.

It was at this middle school that my Mom watched the news of the assassination of JFK.

Then we headed to Kilbourne Road.  This is the home where my mom grew up, and the home that I visited my grandparents when I was a child.  Out of everything that we did on our South Carolina trip...this was my favorite part!  

It was such a neat and wonderful experience to see the home again.  And of course, my Mom along with me and my sisters, all cried.

How about a little compare and contrast.

Here is what the backyard looked like 22 years ago.

And here is what it looks like today.

This photo was taken in 1989 in front of the house.

 And here we are twenty two years later (it's a bummer that Mary couldn't come with us).

The one thing I would change about our visit---to have Grandmother and Granddaddy there in person.

We could have probably stayed there the entire day, but alas we had to continue to on down to Charleston. But before we hopped on the freeway, we made a stop at the stake center where my Granddaddy served as Stake President for many years for the entire state of South Carolina.

Our last stop in Columbia was at the Temple.  It was closed so we were not able to go inside, but we were able to manage some time to take a few family snapshots.

And finally we were on our way down to Charleston.  After checking into our individual hotels, Nathan and I walked around Charleston a little bit.  We went and checked out my parents hotel that they were staying in.  They were there for a convention which is why they stayed in this gorgeous hotel.  Check out the lobby.

Eventually we met up with the rest of my siblings for a dinner at an Italian restaurant. The food was wonderful!