Last weekend (August 15-16) was a two-day field excursion for the incoming USC Geography Department's graduate student cohort, organized and hosted by our wonderful Director of Graduate Studies, Caroline Nagel, as well as some of our seasoned graduate student colleagues. It was a whirlwind trip and we got to see a lot of really neat sites. I don't know of any other graduate program that offers something like this for their new students (share if yours did!) so it only further solidified my sentiment of this being an awesome program with dedicated faculty and students, and the right place for me! And if anyone loves a good field trip, it's a geographer!
Our first stop was a historic tour led by Mr. James Quint of the Historical Columbia Foundation of the geography of racial segregation in Columbia during the Jim Crow era. We visited dozens of sites around downtown Columbia and learned about the prominent Mann-Simmons family, whose matriarch was a slave in Charleston who bought her freedom and lived in Columbia before the Emancipation Proclamation. Her descendants lived on this site until the 1970s. The site is now a museum and historic landmark.
We also visited Artillery Hill, which was so named for the confederate artillery factory there, which is down the street from the present-day governor's mansion, itself a historic building which used to be the officer barracks of a military school. We saw the home of photographer Richard Samuel Roberts as well as a the "tourist home" next door, which was a home that was operated as a sort of bed & breakfast/ safe house and advertised as such in the black community so that people of color had a safe place to stay at while traveling through Columbia during the Jim Crow era.
Another interesting stop on the tour was the Big Apple Dance Hall, which was originally a synagogue (Columbia has a historic Jewish community) which was sold in 1936 and turned into a music and dance hall where the dance which would be known as the "Big Apple" was born.
The Big Apple
From downtown Columbia myself and 6 colleagues, piled into the 15-passenger van which was not exactly road-worthy, which Caroline drove the best she could to the Congaree National Park, about 20 miles SE of Columbia. The Congaree is largely swampland, so we'd been warned to be prepared for the heat and the mosquitoes, neither of which ended up being as bad as anticipated.
Mosquito Meter at the Congaree Visitor's Center
I'd done some reading prior to the trip about the park and learned that it is "the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States"(1) and home to some state and national Champion Trees. Champion trees are simply put, giant trees. There is a formula for determining if a tree is a "champion" which measures its height, trunk circumference, and the average crown or canopy spread. The reason there are so many champion trees in Congaree (many thought to be "undiscovered") is due to the area not being logged due to its inaccessibility, combined with the moisture and nutrients supplied by the flooding of the Congaree.
Water gauge on Cedar Creek
Chris giving us an intro to the park
We were really lucky to get a mini-tour of the park from Geography Ph.D. candidate, Chris Kaase, who has been studying the fluvial sediment of the Congaree for the past 5-some years and knows the park intimately. We learned about the seasonal flooding of the park and how water is retained in a complex system of slews, guts, and lakes. We also learned about some of the flora and fauna of the park. The bald cypress tree, Taxodium distichum, is especially interesting with its "knees" that stick-up out of the mud like little posts. These are thought to provide support and stabilization for the tree, though their exact purpose remains unknown.
Bald cedar "knees"
Luckily we did not come across any of the three venomous snakes native to the swamp, the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), and the timber rattle snake (Crotalus horridus atricaudatus). Chris said he regularly sees cottonmouths and although he's never been bit, he keeps a venom kit in his pack as a precaution. Apparently feral pigs are a big problem in the park. They damage saplings and other fauna while rooting-up the forest floor looking for grubs and roots and reproduce so quickly that the population has become invasive and a nuisance, though the park service isn't doing anything to quell the situation at the moment. I hope to return to the park and explore via the creeks and river on a kayak. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll see some river otters! That would be a dream come true.
Sean gazing at a mighty cedar
Me at the bridge over Cedar Creek
End of the trail at Wise Lake
Cute little fungi
Whitish fishing spider (Dolomedes albineus) on the boardwalk - looked like a dead leaf until we looked closer!
Cooper's Country Store on Highway 521
A pit-stop on the way to our final destination of day-1 was unplanned but certainly interesting. It was the historic Cooper's Country Store, which was built as a grocery/gas station in 1937 by Theron Burrows. The store was taken over by his son-in-law upon his death in 1978 and renamed the Cooper's Country Store, which still provides much of the same products and services it did almost 80 years ago! It certainly had a rustic feel inside, like stepping back in time. The selection of pig parts was a bit smelly and I couldn't tell if the vintage can of possum meat by the cash register was a joke or not. One of my colleagues, Sean, treated me to a local Blenheim ginger ale which was spicy and delicious!
Just as evening rolled around we arrived at the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine & Coastal Sciences outside of Georgetown, SC, where we'd be staying the night. It's a research/educational complex co-owned by USC. Being in the pines combined with the smell of bug spray and sleeping on a bunk-bed really brought me back to nights spent on Mt. Lemmon at Camp Whispering Pines when I was a Girlscout back in the early 90s.
We had two cabins which were actually pretty comfortable. Can't beat air conditioning and toilets/showers! Some of the returning Geography graduate students came early to the institute and had made us tacos and had a cooler stocked full of a selection of delicious local beers - quite a nice way to end our busy day! (Thanks Alex, Erika, Aashka & Christy!)
Ol' Faithful a.k.a The Van that Almost Killed Us All
Pond at the Institute
Good beer
We chatted over dinner about the Department and the state of higher education in general, but once we'd all had a few of the local brewskies things weren't so serious and we had a some fun playing a few icebreaker games, one of which involved a rubber chicken.
More shenanigans and excursions awaited us on Day 2. Did I see a gator!?? Was there a shark attack?!! Check back soon for all the excitement of "Field Trip! Day 2" --- COMING SOON!!!
There is a banana spider (Nephila clavipes) who’s
built her golden web between a tree and a bush outside my bedroom window. I see
her every morning when I open the curtains and I’ve caught the cats observing
her as well. I learned today that they are “the only species of the genus
Nephila to be found in the Western Hemisphere”(1). I’m not disturbing her web
because she’s harmless and actually quite beneficial, eating mosquitoes and
flies and other pests. Sometimes they are called Golden Orb spiders and as you
can sort of see from the photo, they truly do weave golden thread! And according to the
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology their silk “surpasses the strength of Kevlar”, so
I’m duly impressed.
Unpacking Namiri
Like my arachnid pal, I’ve been busy these first two weeks in Columbia building my web: unpacking, decorating, cleaning, exploring my
neighborhood, visiting campus, socializing with my graduate student colleagues,
etc. It was no easy task getting my two cats (Bageera and Namiri) here, but my mom helped tremendously
by flying them out with me and my Aunt Carol also helped by setting us up with
their necessities (and treats!) upon arrival in Charlotte, NC. They are adjusting, though they do not get along great with our temporary cat housemate, Mia. I wish that my mom could have stayed longer, though we got a lot accomplished in just 2 days, from getting my bed and immediate house needs, to doing some thrift store shopping and of course, checking out the local eats. These are just some of our delicious meals!
Me & my Seafood Mac N Cheese
Mom & Scallop Salad
Cherry strudel from Cafe Strudel
Mezze plate from Arabesque Lebanese Restaurant
Might be the best calamari I've ever had!
My roommate (who I’ll call Steve because I don’t know if he wants me
sharing about his life on the interwebs) and I share a quaint and quirky,
historic, two-bed room house in the Shandon-Rosewood district. It’s pretty
quiet although just 2 miles from campus and very central to grocery stores,
restaurants & bars, a Rite Aid, a karate center, and oddly, three cigar
shops within 2 blocks of each other. A historic cigar neighborhood? Probably
not, but you never know. It is the South after all…
Front of the house
Back yard, looking toward back of the house
Living room, looking into the dining room
Steve and I get along great. He also participated in WWOOF
abroad (in Italy) like I did in Turkey. He’s very passionate about sustainable
food and farm-to-table lifestyle and is excellent cook. Mostly I have just had
his pizza but honestly, pizza is all I need! I’ve also cooked some meals for
him and so it’s a nice balance. He and his best friend share a garden that they tend together at his friend’s home which
has been a huge success and delivered them quite a bounty this summer! We have
been enjoying fresh herbs and some eggplants from it and have plans to start
growing some more food in our own back yard soon. We have even fantasized
together about getting some chickens! One exciting event this week was finding
a handmade, three-bin composter on Craigslist which we set-up at the edge of the
backyard. Urban farm, commence! So if you know me, you can see why Steve is
such a perfect housemate match for me!
Herb garden and friend's doggie
Homegrown 'maters
I’ve been getting accustomed to my new bike and commuting in
a city where there a littler to no bike lanes, hills, and sometimes 90%
humidity. Getting my butt whopped into shape, which is of course not a bad
thing! I even took the bus yesterday despite other students telling me the
buses here are sketchy and not convenient. I found it quite the opposite. I was
the only on my bus as a matter of fact, and had a pleasant conversation with
the bus driver who warned me about the dangers of biking in Columbia, claiming
drivers would run me over. I did miss the last bus on my way back home and had
a very balmy 4 miles walk back home. Steve yelled at me for not calling him for
a ride, but I thought it was a good excuse to take in more of the town and get
some exercise. I crossed over a lovely little creek, Gill’s Creek, about 1.5
miles from our place. Perhaps I will explore it more when it’s not so humid and
buggy outside.
Gill's Creek
Speaking of bugs, there have not been many roaches (Palmetto bugs as they are
known down here) in our house so that’s a major plus! There are of course a
million mosquitoes outside but I don’t spend much time in our yard as of yet for
this reason. Other than the banana spiders, the only neighborhood wildlife I’ve
observed besides the robins, sparrows, and wrens was a hawk (couldn’t tell what
kind) and a family of three raccoons who crossed the road right in front of me
on my walk home the other night. I was probably a little overly excited about
the raccoons but it’s something I’ve never seen in Tucson before!
Another thing I’ve observed in my new habitat is that the
people here truly are very friendly and courteous. There is definitely truth to
the “Southern Hospitality” reputation. And it’s not just the “sir” and “ma’am”
everyone uses, but in general. People smiling on the street or lending a hand. I even had a man behind me in line at the gas
station offer to pay the extra 40-odd cents for my second Gatorade that was one
sale when he thought I didn’t have the money for it. (It was simply that I did
not want to carry a second bottle in my already overfull backpack.)
And yes, people talk funny down here. It’s fun to pick-up on
some of the slang and dialect that I’m not used to hearing. For example, here
are some “Southernisms” I’ve heard
spoken: sugar, sweet angel, right-quick, bless your heart, go on now n get, ya hear, and of course, y’all.
Next week is the start of classes and I’ll have another
posting up before that going over my field excursion over Aug. 16-17 with my
graduate cohort to the Congaree National Park, Huntington Beach and beyond!
