The State’s Capital     04/20/23

Sesquicentennial State Park, Columbia, South Carolina

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ~ Matthew 5:3     What does this mean?  What does it mean to be blessed?  Who are the poor in spirit?  What is the kingdom of heaven?  According to my NIV Bible footnote, ‘blessed’ “means more than ‘happy’, because happiness is an emotion often dependent on outward circumstances.  ‘Blessed’ here refers to the ultimate well-being and distinctive spiritual joy of those who share in the salvation of the kingdom of God.”  It also carries the connotation of being envied by others. So that answers our second question – ‘who are the poor in spirit’.  They are those who are saved.  They’re considered ‘poor’ because they don’t share in the pride of those who believe their good works or birthright will gain them eternal life.  They’ve humbled themselves before God, confessing they aren’t worthy of His Grace and Forgiveness.  And finally, according to Luke 17:20-21, the kingdom of heaven/God was among them and in them in the form of Jesus.  Search your heart.  Are you ranked among the poor in spirit?

We drove a short distance into town with a list of places to see in the South Carolina State capital, many of them within a mile of each other.  We still somehow ended up walking 20,000 steps!  That’s about 8 miles!  How in the world is that even possible?!?  That’s why people come home tired after vacation.  😊

Our first stop turned out to be a bust.  There’s an Episcopal church (Trinity Episcopal Cathedral) that’s supposedly really beautiful and you can visit it – inside.  So when we showed up at the desk, we expected to have a tour, like we did at St. John’s in Savannah, because that’s what their website said “enjoy tours 10-2 Monday – Friday”.  It’s Thursday, in case you’re wondering.  She had no idea about a tour, and also said there might be a service going on, but we could check.  So we did.  And they were.  We took one picture of the outside to mark our visit.

Here’s what we were supposed to see –

The church was founded in 1812. Construction of this building began in 1845 and was completed in 1894. (Remember there was a Civil War in there, and in fact, General Sherman rode into town in February, 1865 and burned much of the town, but the church remained.  Still, there was little money in the South to continue the work after the war.  I don’t know why it wasn’t finished before the war began in 1861.)

There was also a sign in their parking lot that said we weren’t allowed to keep our Jeep there unless we had business at the church or the Diocese, so we had to go in search of a new place.

That done, we moved on with our list.

The first South Carolina State House (aka capital building) was built in Charleston in 1753.  In 1786, lawmakers decided that it should be moved closer to the center of the State, and Columbia was chosen.  They first met in the wooden structure in 1790.  By the 1840’s it had begun deteriorated and repairs were frequent.  Lawmakers became concerned about the safety of public records.  In 1850, they decided to build a fireproof building next to the State House.  This is their current State House, which has been added to over the years.  When Sherman came to town, six of his cannonballs hit the current State House and they’ve left the scars and marked them with stars.

In the past whenever we’ve visited a capital building, it’s been church-mouse quiet.  Today was absolutely not!  There were busloads of kids, an honor guard and a drumline outside and hoards of people milling about inside.  We came to discover that many of the ‘hoards’ were actually their house and senate representatives, but there were others as well – – like Miss South Carolina and Miss Teen South Carolina and a slew (as in a couple of dozen?) of beautiful girls dressed in their finest and high-heeled pumps.  There were even a couple of men carrying clear, cube-shaped boxes with handles that had stuff in them like phones and makeup and doo-dads.  No clue what that was about.

We walked around and looked over their self-guided tour brochure, but we didn’t take many pictures inside.

From there, we walked the city again in search of some murals and artwork I’d read about on atlasobscura.

INSTALLED IN 2000, THE NEVERBUST Chain located in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, connects two large office buildings in whimsical industrial embrace.

Conceived of by longtime Colombia artisan Blue Sky (nee Warren Edward Johnson), the chain joins other permanent works by the artist such as the large tromp l’oeil known as Tunnelvision, and what may be the world’s largest fire hydrant, Busted Plug Plaza. While the massive links of the chain look far too large to be real, they are in fact made of steel that the artist had professionally welded together in the interest of safety since the span hangs ten feet over an open public alley. The installation was hefty enough that it required 2,000 pounds of hydraulic pressure to complete the final link. 

Despite the massive undertaking, Blue Sky actually installed the piece on the sly without consulting the city. While he had the approval of both the owners of the linked historic buildings, the piece actually hung over city property. After hanging the chain one Sunday night to little fanfare. However unlike many rogue expressions of art, the Neverbust Chain was almost instantly approved by the city who not only liked the piece but also knew the value of another piece from the acclaimed artist. 

When asked why he decided to hang the chain, Blue Sky simply responded that, “One building looked like it was leaning a little bit.” So whether there is a vague statement or just a whimsical sentiment behind the giant chain, its reputation and appeal remain untarnished. 

INSPIRED BY A DREAM, ONE South Carolina artist created the otherworldly mural known as Tunnelvision to create the illusion of a road to another world.

Painted on a large blank wall abutting a downtown Columbia parking lot, the convincingly realistic art is the work of South Carolina artist Blue Sky, who also created the nearby Busted Plug Plaza and Neverbust Chain, equally oversize works of public art. At 50 X 75 feet large, the painting shows a craggy portal to a world under a different moon which, if it were real, would be large enough to drive a large car through. The painting creates an optical illusion of depth using the tromp l’oeil effect, and thanks to repeated additions and touch-ups by the artist over the years the veracity of the scene does not seem to fade but actually improve.

Despite constant close calls, there have been no reported accidents involving the convincing piece of fantasy. However with Blue Sky’s continual upkeep and perfecting at the site, it seems like only a matter of time before some escapist driver finally succumbs to Tunnelvision and makes a break for it. 

It’s been a while since we’ve visited an art museum, and Columbia has a reasonably priced one, so that was our next stop.

We considered walking to our next stop, their Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park, but decided we didn’t want to walk the mile there, walk the trail, then walk an additional mile back (are we getting old?!?), so we picked up the Jeep.

It’s a very nice park and trail, which in actuality is five miles one way.  We didn’t do that, opting instead for turning around at mile 1.5, making it a three-mile walk, in between the canal and the Congaree River.

As a reward for all those miles we walked today, we stopped at a Mexican place called El Salto.  It was very good!  By the way, Blaine looked it up, the translation is ‘The Jump’.  Kinda strange now, isn’t it?  😊

The rest of our time here should be slower in the news and education department.  😊