Spring Staycation in Columbia part one

I know it has been a while since I have posted, but a lot has gone on! The least of which is Jerry leaving for a contracting job for a year overseas. The plan is for him to come home at least once during that year, but we will see how it goes. Needless to say, I've been just a little busy! :-)

So spring break has come and gone here in Columbia, and the kids and I hung out around here and got to know our new area a little bit better. The best part? We did it all at little to no cost! Now that's my type of staycation!

Here is a quick look at what we did and how we did it on the cheap!

Day one: South Carolina Rail Road Museum Winnsboro, SC

 The museum had a small ad in the Fort Jackson Leader the week before break about their Easter outings that they had going on, so the kids and I jumped in the car and headed out to Winnsboro for a train ride. The ticket price included being able to explore all of the exhibits at the museum, and about a 20 minute one way train ride (Natalie was bummed that due to her crutches we had to sit inside one of the cars instead of the open air car though!) at the end of the out going ride, there was face painting, the Easter Bunny, food, a model train, fire engine, and balloon animals.  I believe it was $11 a person for the day.

Day two: Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens We attended the Easter Brunch at the Zoo. Price wise for the brunch was about what we would have paid to go to brunch elsewhere on Easter, and any that it was over was for a good cause, education and research programs at the zoo. We have a membership to the zoo, so for us our only cost was the brunch, and of course $4 to feed the giraffes. 

 Trust me when I say that we have gotten our money's worth out of our membership! We have been to the zoo at least once a month since the family moved up here, and we have been three times in the last month, with the nice weather. We also spent a day there before Jerry left as a family fun day. :-)

If you live in South Carolina, or within 100 miles of Columbia even, I would say that a membership is a good deal. 

Day Two Continued: Let's Go Fly A Kite. Clemson Sandhills Research Education Center

DJ wanted a kite for Easter, so we got one and after brunch and time at the zoo he and I went to the "park" and flew his kite. 

 Clemson Sandhills is only about 4 miles from the house and has a lot to offer, least of which is the open fields perfect for kite flying! They also have a children's garden, two lakes, a lake house, and special events all year long. The next big event is the Sparkleberry Fair towards the end of the month. There is no admission charge into the area.
Cost: $12 for DJ's kite.

Day three: was a travel day for us, our neighbor from GA wanted to come up and spend spring break with us, so we met her mom in Wrens, GA and brought her back here with us. :-) 

Day Four: River Front Park

Our original plan for Tuesday was to take K to the zoo, but we got a late start, and when we got to the zoo exit the line was about a mile long to get into the parking lot. We made the decision to go downtown to the River Front Park and Canal and explore. Cost: $0

 DJ's favorite sign, even though in all of the times I have been down there I haven't seen any signs of gators. :-)
The park is very nice, good walking paths that are very well lit up at night, if you happen to be down there at that time. When I first moved up here and was staying in Cayce I would go walking at the park after work as it was on the way home.

You can walk from Gervais Street to Broad River Road (I think that is correct at least, it's been a while since I've done the top part of the trail.) The kids and I started at the main parking lot by the old waterworks and walked down to Gervais and got lunch, then walked back up to the one mile marker. When it was all said and done we had done about 4 miles. The park is host to a number of events throughout the year. 

More to come from our staycation!

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