Diane and I spent the weekend in South Carolina's capitol,
Columbia. Like a lot of the Palmetto State, Columbia is a mishmash of the old and the new. The old, cantankerous South abounds near the Statehouse:
A monument to the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, adorns the grounds of the Statehouse.
...as does a monument to the Confederacy.
Here's a monument on the Statehouse grounds to
Pitchfork_Ben_Tillman. Tillman was a governor of South Carolina, and a U.S. Senator. He gained his nickname for threatening to run his political opponents through with a pitchfork.
Across the street is the old South Carolina Supreme Court Building. I argued a few appellate cases there over the years, with varying degrees of success. The Chief Justice of the SC Supreme Court when I moved to the Palmetto State was Julius B. "Bubba" Ness. Ness was legendary for his common sense solutions to problems, and for his proclamation, "I may be wrong, but I'm never in doubt".
Not every old thing in Columbia comes with negative baggage. The
Adluh_Flour_Mill is the cornerstone of the trendy Vista District of Columbia, and has graced downtown Columbia since 1900.
The Trustus Theater, where you could catch a current play, was right across the street from our hotel.
There's a lot of new stuff going on in Columbia, too. As I wandered toward the University of South Carolina campus, I caught this banner advertising the Columbia Symphony.
The State Museum was only a couple of blocks away.
I checked out the WWI exhibit there. The Civil War Museum was doing decent business, but the dinosaurs got most of the action.
Decisions, decisions. No left turn here, thank you very much.
Diane and I spent the weekend in South Carolina's capitol, Columbia. Like a lot of the Palmetto State, Columbia is a mishmash of the old and the new. The old, cantankerous South abounds near the Statehouse:
A monument to the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, adorns the grounds of the Statehouse.
...as does a monument to the Confederacy.
Here's a monument on the Statehouse grounds to Pitchfork_Ben_Tillman. Tillman was a governor of South Carolina, and a U.S. Senator. He gained his nickname for threatening to run his political opponents through with a pitchfork.
Across the street is the old South Carolina Supreme Court Building. I argued a few appellate cases there over the years, with varying degrees of success. The Chief Justice of the SC Supreme Court when I moved to the Palmetto State was Julius B. "Bubba" Ness. Ness was legendary for his common sense solutions to problems, and for his proclamation, "I may be wrong, but I'm never in doubt".
Not every old thing in Columbia comes with negative baggage. The Adluh_Flour_Mill is the cornerstone of the trendy Vista District of Columbia, and has graced downtown Columbia since 1900.
The Trustus Theater, where you could catch a current play, was right across the street from our hotel.
There's a lot of new stuff going on in Columbia, too. As I wandered toward the University of South Carolina campus, I caught this banner advertising the Columbia Symphony. 
The State Museum was only a couple of blocks away.
I checked out the WWI exhibit there. The Civil War Museum was doing decent business, but the dinosaurs got most of the action.
Decisions, decisions. No left turn here, thank you very much.
7 comments:
That "Bubba" really sets Justice Ness apart in the South ! :) I am of an age that I must know 20! :)fdb
I gotta say, Frandy, I'm kind of sorry that my generation didn't get nicknames (though Bob Calder always called Scott Anderson "Buttercup"). I remember your talking of "shorty" (who was, it seems, not very tall) and others. A fellow named "Lefty" might've lost his right hand. Politically correct? No. Descriptive? You betcha.
In high sch. we had Puny, Shorty, Rock, Foots, Stump(no loss of limb--a dogs mistake)Spider, Skeeter, Bugs, Tubs, Strech, Granny(a teen) Monkey, Punk, Tank, Stooge, Baby Ruth, Snitch, To name a few. But then ya'll had "Creeker" :)
That's quite a menagerie! Yeah. We had Creeker. Still do, I guess.
I knew a Slim and Tex, but not as good as mom's (Big Cid) buddies, Dutchy, Dinky, Winky, Blinky and Nod!
Also, as Phill Walters will not hesitate to tell you, "You know Tampa is part of the South."
Yes Phill you are right, but there are some aspects of that that many of us don't want to be reminded of. One curiousity is Jefferson Davis middle school in the heart of a mostly African-American part of Tampa. I don't think I'd let my kid go there.
Ange, as I recall it, you mostly didn't go to middle school (me either!).
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