Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival

We celebrated the tomato at the 11th annual Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival in Columbia, South Carolina.

Tables of yummy tomatoes donated by local farms were out available for tasting.

Handy salt and pepper shakers were on hand too.

The heirlooms above were my favorites! 

Green are crunchy but they have a fantastic flavor.

Vendors were focused on sustainability, local produce and growing your own tasty goodies.

There were also local artisans seller their creations.

Most treats available were tomato forward. This unique menu item was tomato basil sorbet. I have mixed feelings about this! While delicious, followed with some heat, it felt very strange to eat as a frozen dish.

Falafel had been on my mind lately so I did end up with a delicious wrap from The Falafel King. It was perfection!

A variety of local music acts performed which is always my favorite aspect of a festival!

The Randy Lucas Trio is a bluegrass group but they also played a little gypsy jazz for the crowd that day.

Slim Pickens was a lot of fun with their rock style.

Tony Opus has a great sound, tons of charisma and is quite talented with the instruments.

Tyne Angela Freeman has an amazing jazz voice that I loved! She even sang Valerie. I think Amy Winehouse would have appreciated her rendition of the song.

So the festival was very enjoyable even with the heat and humidity of July.

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val

In the Shadow of Monet

In the Shadow of Monet: Giverny and American Impressionism is currently on display at the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina through September 4, 2022.

Giverny was the French village Claude Monet settled in and that which provided inspiration for this work. Many American artists flocked there after seeing the amazing, new style of impressionism. This exhibit displays works of over 40 of these artists who were inspired by Monet.

While there was a Claude Monet on display, I prefer this piece by his step daughter and daughter in law (I had to think that one through too). When her mom and husband passed away, she cared for Monet until he passed on. She inherited the infamous gardens that her father in law painted over and over again and were clearly an inspiration to her as well.

Weeping Willows on the Lily Pond at Giverny by Blanche Hoschede-Monet (1893-1897)

  There were many traditional styles you would expect to see in this exhibit.

Summer Reflections by Louis Ritter (c. 1890)

Some were colorful.

Sailing in Autum by Mariquita Gill (C. 1898)

 Besides nature there are many scenes to enjoy.

Street Scene by Pauline Palmer (undated)

Harvest Time by Dawson Dawson-Watson (c. 1891)

I can hear the leaves rustling in this one!

Carpet of Leaves, Giverny by Will Hicok Low (1901)

The following two were painted by a South Carolina native who never came back after growing up in Columbia and earning her art education at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. She traveled the world and I am enamored by her dreamy painting style!

Three Sisters and Friendly Willow by Blondelle Malone (c. 1904)

Reflection by Blondelle Malone (c. 1904)

 

The First Snow by Lilla Cabot Perry (1926)

Spring Freshets by Abel George Warshawky (not dated)

I would love to be part of this scene below.

West Camp on the Hudson by Samuel Halpert (1920)

Scenes of life in an impressionist style have always been a favorite of mine. 

Confidences by Charles Edward Conder (c. 1900)

Dejuener by Karl Anderson (not dated)

Those were some of my favorites. Definitely an exhibit for anyone who appreciates impressionism!

If you go, the museum is located at 1515 Main St in Columbia, SC.

Open 10am - 5pm Tuesday thru Sunday (open late on Thursdays until 8pm).

website

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val

Reflections

I am finally getting around to a blog post of reflections since the last time I posted one. These photos are taken over all seasons.

These first ones were take at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC.

These are taken at the Riverbanks Botanical Gardens in West Columbia, SC.

These are downtown Columbia, SC. This building reflection shows the weekly Soda City Market.

The clouds look painted onto this building.

Autumn is extra picturesque.

Below is reflected on a granite building providing a muted image.

This building is reflecting a beautiful mural on the opposite side of a parking lot.

These are from park walks in Columbia, SC.

One of my favorites is this dreamy image below with the sky reflecting on a calm section of the Saluda River.

I believe this one below was taken in Savannah, GA considering the Spanish moss and cast iron balcony reflected.

This was likely Savannah too with the fountain reflecting perfectly on glass.

This last one was taken of an overflow basin in Beaufort, SC.

I hope you enjoyed this collection!

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val

South Carolina State Museum

While we visited the South Carolina State Museum for the recent art exhibit, we decided to take a stroll through the rest of the museum.

Another temporary exhibit right now is Apollo 16. Charles Duke was born in NC but grew up in SC. Duke walked on the moon in 1972.

After seeing his suit in person, I found this photo of him on the moon on Wikipedia.

This is a replica of the Lunar Roving Vehicle Duke would have driven on the moon. There are 3 of these vehicles left on the moon from Apollo missions 15, 16 and 17.

While I am not into space exploration and such (since I think we need to be putting all our efforts into earth) this exhibit was interesting. To see of piece of the moon up close it kind of cool!

There is an interesting exhibit showing the South Carolina Habitats that we did not see in the past. Perhaps it is new.

It shows the Coastal Zone with a mockup of the boardwalks I love so much here.

The Coastal Plain which is more inland. The coastal plains actually cover more than half the state.

The Sandhills (this is the region we live in which ranges through the center of the state).

The Piedmont is the northwest region.

The Blue Ridge is located at the base of the mountain range.

The state has something for everyone who loves nature! This is one of the reasons we enjoy living here.

We walked by a couple of dinosaurs.

A prehistoric megalodon. This guy could swallow me hole, no crunching required! 

A mastadon.

We saw the sun on a prompter in real time as seen through a 1926 Alvan Clark refracting telescope.

The museum takes up 4 floors of a cotton manufacturing building formerly known as the Columbia Mills Building.

This museum is always a fun place to visit and great for escaping the heat of summer here!

If you go, the museum is located at: 

301 Gervais Street

Columbia, SC

Sunday noon - 5pm

Monday - closed

Tuesday thru Saturday 10am - 5pm

website

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val