Moved from Metro Detroit to Columbia, South Carolina

[gi]

So was offered a great opportunity with Amazon and moved to Columbia, South Carolina. Big difference from the Metro Detroit area. Any helpful tips or suggestions for easing my family into the new area? I have a 5 and 3 year old kids.

I also left my table top rpg group as well as my board game group, any FOFC members in the area with those hobbies?

Looking outside, it seems I brought the snow with me as well, ahh...feels like home. :)

[Butter]

It gets unbelievably hot in the summer. My wife used to call it the armpit of South Carolina, but that was more due to her hatred of the Univ. of S. Carolina than anything. But I have been there in the middle of summer and it is not pleasant.... remember one summer it got above 90 every day for 42 straight days with almost no rain. Just mentally prepare yourself.

Little Pigs BBQ on the outskirts of town (Alpine Road, after looking it up)... that place is a hole in the wall, but the food is unbelievable. We stop there every time through, and if we aren't coming through during lunch/dinner time, we alter our plans. It is that good.

Other than that, I know more about the Upstate than I do about Columbia.

[albionmoonlight]

I cannot help you with much info about Columbia. However, you are ~2 hours from Charleston, which is one of my favorite cities to visit. Well worth some day trips. There's a couple of wonderful outdoor splash fountains near the river in Charleston that are great for kids your age on a hot summer touristy day.

[gi]

I cannot help you with much info about Columbia. However, you are ~2 hours from Charleston, which is one of my favorite cities to visit. Well worth some day trips. There's a couple of wonderful outdoor splash fountains near the river in Charleston that are great for kids your age on a hot summer touristy day.

Lot of my co-workers are raving about the beaches there, definitely on the to-do list. Thank you!

[Flasch186]

Did you turn the lights off when you left?

[gi]

Did you turn the lights off when you left?

Detroit doesn't have lights to turn off :)

[Thomkal]

Lot of my co-workers are raving about the beaches there, definitely on the to-do list. Thank you!

Yeah if you can get away for the weekends to "cool off" here in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, you'll have lots to do during the summer. Never been to Columbia so can't be of much help there though.

[Blackadar]

Rule 1: Stay far, far away from Maurice's BBQ unless you're a raging racist.

What part of Columbia did you move to? I've spent a lot of time in the city.

[gi]

Rule 1: Stay far, far away from Maurice's BBQ unless you're a raging racist.

What part of Columbia did you move to? I've spent a lot of time in the city.

We're looking at Lexington and Irmo to buy a house. Still in the process.

[Ben E Lou]

Columbia has a really nice Children's Museum. We've made a couple of day trips from Charleston just to take the kiddos there.

And yeah, Charleston is close enough for day trips.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Did you turn the lights off when you left?

Detroit doesn't have lights to turn off :)

Come on!

I'm sitting right here.

[gi]

Come on!

I'm sitting right here.

Sorry to leave you and just making sure you're paying attention :)

[gi]

Columbia has a really nice Children's Museum. We've made a couple of day trips from Charleston just to take the kiddos there.

And yeah, Charleston is close enough for day trips.

Thanks Ben!

Ann Arbor has a great childrens museum that my kids love, so I'll make sure we check it out.

[CU Tiger]

Ditto on the Children's museum.
The outskirts area out toward the lake are nice..actual Columbia...well it will feel pretty familiar for someone from Detroit other than the weather.

Armpit of the south is right, and has nothing to do with college affiliation.

Ditto on Maurice's...KKK "uniforms" and segregationist era signs "Whites Only" are the decor of choice and to boot their Q sucks. (Ive had it catered a couple times)

For beaches definitely go south to Charleston and not to Myrtle.

Bout all I got for now. Used to have a few accounts in Columbia we worked regularly, if you come up on something specific let me know Ill gladly try to help

[Blackadar]

Ditto on the Children's museum.
The outskirts area out toward the lake are nice..actual Columbia...well it will feel pretty familiar for someone from Detroit other than the weather.

Armpit of the south is right, and has nothing to do with college affiliation.

Ditto on Maurice's...KKK "uniforms" and segregationist era signs "Whites Only" are the decor of choice and to boot their Q sucks. (Ive had it catered a couple times)

For beaches definitely go south to Charleston and not to Myrtle.

Bout all I got for now. Used to have a few accounts in Columbia we worked regularly, if you come up on something specific let me know Ill gladly try to help

I wasn't going to call it the Armpit of the South, but I agree. I don't much care for Columbia. It's kind of a weird town. It's part college town, part government town, part military town and not much else. I never found much "culture" or any really cool sections of the city. Contrast that with Greenville's cooler downtown area and foothills setting, Charleston's historical areas or Myrtle's tourist-trap feel and Columbia never had much of an identity to me.

It's hotter than blazes during the summer too with no cooling breeze and the mountains & beach too far away to be of much use on a day-to-day basis. Everything south is nasty swamp. The politics are unimaginable and some of the worst shitheels in the nation patrol the halls of the Columbia capitol building.

That doesn't mean that Columbia doesn't have it's good side though. I just never found it. :)

[Desnudo]

How I'm picturing gi's arrival in town

http://www.thefancarpet.com/uploaded_assets/images/gallery/780/My_Cousin_Vinny_9135_Medium.jpg

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's kind of a weird town.

My limited experiences with it lead me to feel like this is a pretty darned good description. There's no real sense of "there" there that I've ever found.

[revrew]

Echoing all good things said about taking day trips to Charleston. Food, history, architecture, culture, the ocean, museums, photo ops, art - love Charleston. Best thing about Columbia? You're close to Charleston.

[Ben E Lou]

Calling Columbia the armpit of the south is unfair as long as Macon, GA exists.

[gi]

How I'm picturing gi's arrival in town


I'm not that good looking. :) Bout sums it up though. :)

Love grits... :)

[gi]

Found a sushi and thai place that's good. Also found a good bar with a lot on tap from local micro brews.

Kroger is here, with all the same product I had in Michigan.

Looking at houses in a lot of communities. Getting the feeling I'm in swamp land. ;)

[Dutch]

Found myself in Sumter, South Carolina for Thanksgiving....so for Friday breakfast I found a little breakfast joint and had some grits. Just seemed like the right thing to do. :)

[gi]

Pretty close to where I'm at now. One of the few good things about the Midlands is the grits. Everything else makes me long for Michigan. :)

[Dutch]

Pretty close to where I'm at now. One of the few good things about the Midlands is the grits. Everything else makes me long for Michigan. :)

Edit: Same thread!

My son just married a girl from Michigan and that's who I was visiting. Small world!

[korme]

Googled that bbq spot and found this:

Barbecue eatery owner, segregationist Maurice Bessinger dies at 83 Feb 24, '14

So, that's good.

[Blackadar]

Googled that bbq spot and found this:

Barbecue eatery owner, segregationist Maurice Bessinger dies at 83 Feb 24, '14

So, that's good.

Good riddance.

[Desnudo]

Is that how he introduced himself at cocktail parties?

[ISiddiqui]

My girlfriend is going to Seminary at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary up in the north part of town, in the ghetto, but Eau Clare High School. Anyways, one of the first thing we heard when asking about BBQ picks was Don't go to Maurice's. It's one of those things to tell everyone who comes to Columbia, I guess.

[BYU 14]

My only experience there was basic training at Fort Jackson June - August, so you know how great that was...

[Dutch]

My only experience there was basic training at Fort Jackson June - August, so you know how great that was...

I bet the breakfasts were good. :)

[BYU 14]

I bet the breakfasts were good. :)

My personal fav was the "med aid" which was basically Kool Aid laced with salt and you had to drink a full glass before every meal as a dehydration prevention measure. Great stuff :)

[Buccaneer]

I love learning about places from others that I haven't been to or experienced. South Carolina is one of the few holes I have left to travel to, with Charleston my #1 un-visited city to go to. Living in North Carolina for a couple of years and learning about Southeastern geography and culture, I always found it interesting to experience the differences between coastal, Piedmont and upstate/mountains. Funny how SC, despite the same geographic regions as NC, has a very different Piedmont than NC. That's what happens you have a very famous historical city on the coast, which NC did not. Good luck.

[gi]

And I'm back again to Michigan, though this time in East Lansing. Glad to be back in the Midwest. Columbia didn't agree with me or my family.

[Bobble]

Welcome back. You just missed a crappy winter and are right on time for the good stuff.

[timmae]

Go Sparty!! :)

[Peregrine]

And I'm back again to Michigan, though this time in East Lansing. Glad to be back in the Midwest. Columbia didn't agree with me or my family.

I lived there for a year and have to agree. I am from South Carolina but Columbia in particular is not my favorite place.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Welcome back. You just missed a crappy winter and are right on time for the good stuff.

Despite the fact that it is kinda snowing outside right now. It's just flurries, but...

[gi]

Missed the cold and glad that the weather is turning. Now to have a summer that is not at a boil all the time. :)

[albionmoonlight]

There's no place like home.

[Dutch]

South Carolina can be a challenge for northerners. My grandparents did it, but even after 30 years they were still "the people from New York. I like to consider myself a 3rd generation southerner and I still dont feel southern. Well, to northerners I do. :)

[britrock88]

There's no place like home.

You're telling me.