Today was upscale. Not only did we say yoo-hoo to the most beautiful owl we have ever seen (sorry Captain--our owl on the bed) and had dinner at a wonderful restaurant, we ate the best BBQ so far of the trip, at a definitely friendly but country BBQ restaurant near Gadsden.
Let's start at the beginning. I had a luxe southern brek, biscuits with creamed sausage gravy, scrambled eggs (damn the cholesterol), sausage patties and hash, while Ben had yoghurt. Then we nipped into the car for the 40 minute run to one of the quietest national parks we've ever seen, the Congaree National Park.
No admission center, no payment, just a lovely walk in the swamp. And it is some swamp. Cyprus trees 300 feet high, waters teaming with turtles,
and a three mile long boardwalk through it all. 
Our owl, a barred owl, was perched on a tree, perhaps looking for lunch, but mainly pruning him/herself. Our turtles were swimming in a lake formed when the Congaree River changed course. Huge turtles. Some water snakes too. The trees are magnificent, the park boardwalk, elevated about one to four feet off the swamp floor, gives you a chance to see all the variety of swamp life as it revitalizes itself. It's a lovely place, which I had thought it might not be.
Then to lunch at the Big T Bar-B-Que, a small restaurant, of no charm, but the friendliest people making wonderful pulled barbecue sandwiches and fries, though the cole slaw was definitely local style. Finely chopped and sweet. $10 for it all!
Back into Columbia. Ben went off in search of his coffee, which he found to his satisfaction at the Immaculate Consumption coffee shop near the Capitol, half a mile from the hotel, while I napped.
Dinner, well, dinner was outstanding at a restaurant called Momo's Bistro on Devine, which has a chef who studied at Johnson and Wales University. His dishes were superb.
As a starter, though, we had a wine tasting with a rep from Alexander Valley Vineyards in California with a chardonnary (nice, but not outstanding), a cab (nicer), a zin (good) and a Rhone style combination which was superb. Then to dinner.
Ben decided he wanted an iodine fix so managed crab cakes as an appetizer and soft shells as a main. I opted for the house signature dish, a pork shank, done as osso buco, though not cut into pieces, with squid stuffed with Israeli couscous and chorizo as a starter. We had a lovely Oregon pinot noir, from Benton Winery in Willamette Valley. No dessert. A memorable meal.
Tomorrow we will leave Columbia. It's not a destination I would have chosen had we not had two free days, but we did enjoy our days here eating and being toursts. Congaree National Park is lovely and worth a visit. The State House is a trip. The University could never claim architectural prominence, but it is not an unpleasant environment. The local museum was fun with its basket show that's coming to the Smithsonian, and the restaurants we visited were worth it.
And so to Charlotte.
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