Powers of Nature at work! Hit by lightning at the SC State Museum in Columbia

Well just pretend. The make your own lightning interactive stations are very popular with kids. Who wouldn’t?
There’s lot more fun things to do and learn at the Powers of Nature exhibit, SC State Museum newest science attraction:
• Create your own tornado
• Touch the world’s largest hail stone (it’s huge!)
• Watch brave hunters fly into monster [...]

Hunley’s mystery continues…the more clues, the more questions

The H.L. Hunley submarine drama continues to fascinate us centuries after its tragic Cival War combat dissapearance.
New evidence shows the Hunley’s pumps were not set to bilge, suggesting the crew was not frantically pumping water out of the 40-foot sub’s crew compartment as previously believed. “There doesn’t appear to be a lot of movement,” said [...]

What the Humvee, Ball bearings and Tour de France have in common? Hint, Da Vinci’s Machines in Motion

That’s right. The most creative and prolific inventor ever, put his genius mark on the world’s first armored tank operated from inside and the first bicycle, and he revolutioned construction with his ball bearings introduction…”Ball bearings. It’s all about ball bearings”
Other firsts: the parachute, ornithopter (a premise to present day helicopter), machine gun, log [...]

Fun, free and affordable weekend things to do with kids in Columbia

Wonder where to go with the kids and what’s interesting to see while visiting Columbia? Here is a list of really fun, educational and healthy things to do during the weekend.
UPDATE! I’ve added more lovely places from recent 2009 experiences.
Free family activities
1. “Tame the wild things” at the Public Library, watch kids interpret sculptures and [...]

Eel Moves Slowly At the State Museum (Columbia family attractions)

Come play around with some antique film making equipment at the wonderful State Museum in downtown Columbia. Currently on display at the museum are movie clips, memorabilia, props, costumes, posters and stories about all 250 Hollywood and independent films shot in South Carolina.
Watch eels slide through “grass” in a 19th century like movie. This is [...]

State Museum, South Carolina art, history and science under one roof (Columbia fun things to do)

Housed in the former Columbia Mill building the State Museum features 4 floors of interactive exhibits covering art, history, natural history, science and technology. It is South Carolina’s and probably the Southeast’s largest state museums.
Curious to find out how Columbia came into place? In 1785 the South Carolina Senate approved to move the [...]

The Hunley Submarine mystery and replica operation video (things to do in Charleston and Columbia)

To this day we don’t know what happened to the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine built to help break the Civil War blockade. We do know it disappeared on the night of February 17 1864 after it sunk the Union ship the USS Housatonic (the world’s first submarine to do so in combat!)
If you are [...]

Hollywood comes to South Carolina! (State Museum at least…)

Carolina movie lovers come visit the State Museum downtown Columbia for a super cool exhibit on all the Hollywood and independent films shot in the Palmetto State. Did you know that over 250 movies were filmed in South Carolina? You bet! Oscar winning movies like Forrest Gump, Cold Mountain and The Abyss, as well as [...]