Sunday, July 10, 2011

Columbia, South Carolina

Flew from Midland, TX through Houston to Columbia, SC on Sunday, 26 June.  Columbia is the capital, but still a small town.  Located on the Congaree River.  Columbia is situated on the "fall line" where the topography goes from hilly, "Piedmont", which is underlain by Appalachian rocks, to coastal plan, underlain by river and coastal sediments.

Bridge over the Congaree River

Brought from the airport into town by Athena staff.  They run the trip.  Drop stuff at hotel and went out walking with our local Schlumberger rep, Bruce.  We walked down to the Congaree in 98 degree, 90% humidity.  It was brutal.


Old house in Columbia

Capital building, Columbia, SC

Train tracks

We were getting overheated.  Just then, Keaton and his wife April swooped in with their 4Runner and gave us a lift to the Flying Saucer.  I had no idea this was a nationwide "chain".  We had a few beers and went back to the hotel to get cleaned up for our evening lecture.  

4? hours of lecture on safety, wildlife, SC history, geology and an overview of our trip.  In a nutshell:
Day 1: Congaree River
Day 2-5: Coastal and tidal areas; beaches
Day 6: Flyover

Columbia seemed like a cool town.  People riding around on bikes; redone brick buildings; outdoorsy shops.


3 comments:

Plants Amaze Me said...

I never heard of the Congaree River, there is even a 22,000 acre Congaree Swamp National Monument. And the river flows for only 47 miles, who knew?

It is so interesting to learn about new (to me) places right here in the USA!

Tonia said...

Does that mean the second we get to Midland you will move to SC? Love the new background by the way.

stratovolcano said...

@Plants, just wait until my next blog! It is now the Congaree River National Park. @Tonia, no way am I moving to SC. I'm not into the subtropical coastal thing.