Columbia's motto is: Smiling faces, Beautiful places. And it's true! Pictured above is the State Capitol, where the confederate flag has recently been moved from the top of the building to the memorial commemorating those who fell during the civil war.

The beauty is not confined to places: there is a lot of wildlife as well. While the mosquitos and no-see-ums promised by my guidebook have remained thankfully absent, there are a lot of squirrels, birds, extremely loud grasshoppers called cicadas, and dragonflies. The lamps in the background are from one of the many sportsfields.