Palmetto Trail @ Riverfront Park 4-5-13

Palmetto Trail:  Riverfront Park

With Fred and Dixie April 3, 2013

 Three rivers meet here:  The Broad, the Saluda, and they join to form the Congaree.  I love the birds and turtles sunning on the rocks and the Spanish moss hanging from the trees.

 Back in my single days, before the Riverfront Walk was created, I used to take the back way to the dam—just for fun.  It is located just north of Broad River Road bridge.  When Jim and I first married, we  used to live in an apartment at Bryton Point--just a few blocks away from here.

 The walk we took today went north along the canal is 2 ½ miles long. 

Palmetto Trail @ USC Campus & State House 4-3-13

Palmetto Trail--From Five Points to the State House

We parked on Saluda Avenue at Wheat Street just a block south of 5 Points and walked up Wheat Street onto the USC Campus. It is April, and the State flower: the Yellow Jessamine is blooming (Ben’s sitting in front of it, above).

We passed local college hang-outs as well as the infamous Horseshoe at USC.  I’ve enjoyed plays at The Town Theatre with friends such as Deb Childs and Shannon Ryan over the years.

Looks like Dixie has found something!  The NOSE KNOWS.

South Carolina is beautiful in the Springtime!

The State House  

And look who we ran into on campus:  Thomas Fisher!

Palmetto Trail--Downtown Columbia, SC

We made our way west from the park up Laurel Street.  This neighborhood is called Arsenal Hill.  It has a mixture of old and new homes.

We passed Finlay Park.

We took a right on Main Street in downtown Columbia and saw a variety of stores—great and not-so-great.  I love the Mast General Store, as it reminds me of the many times Jim and I have vacationed at Christmas up in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Main Street--Downtown Columbia

And the COWBOY Brazilian Steakhouse is where Ben wants to eat supper on his 14^th birthday next week!

A couple of years or so ago, Ben was wanting some camouflage to wear while shooting his airsoft guns at friends.  I had the brilliant idea of going to the Army Navy Surplus store on Main St.   Boy was THAT a scary experience!! The walls were crumbling and something sinister was oozing out of the ceiling tiles.

And finally, I spotted some darling garden art on our way back to the park!  I love the fanciful birds houses and bottle tree!