TOURING THE HOUSE AND THE FARMER'S MARKET

Every Saturday morning during certain times of the year, Columbia closes down a couple blocks of Main St. and have what they call Soda City Farmer's Market.  Since Columbia is referred to by the native Columbians as Cola, I guess Soda City is a pretty catchy name. 

So, Daughter had not been and wanted to go.  I was all for it. It opened at 9:00 and closed at 1:00.  We decided to try to get there as close to 9:00 as we could.  I think we made it there by 9:30.

This is a look at the vendors set up on main street.

Yeah Pops, Chill Out!

This was a bakery booth. Daughter bought a baguette but wasn't impressed. I thought it was OK.  Pops (Mr. W) and Popcorn ate most of it.

As you can see there were tamales for sale! They looked pretty good.  However, I have decided not to try anymore "Mexican" food until I get back to Texas.  Everything I have been served under the pretense of being Mexican food is NOT Mexican food.

There were a couple of entertainers along the street.  This guy just played his guitar and did not sing.  There was another guy further down that did both.

EVERYWHERE in this area! Boiled peanuts are "the" thing in Tennessee, Virginia, North and South Carolina. So, of course there had to be a booth here.

This guy was making a clay jar.  There were several vendors who made some kind of dish/pottery. Most were very nice.

Two little girls who got a popsicle made by the vendor and it was all natural ingredients! They thought they were going to get chocolate but Daughter made them get one that was all natural.  It sure didn't stop them from eating the whole thing.

 There was a food truck there.  It was actually in an old school bus.  Daughter had gotten very excited about the food truck but I'm not even sure if she saw it.  There were several vendors selling fruits and veggies.  I bought some peaches.  There were several vendors selling pastries, cakes, cookies, muffins, and bread.  I also bought a Hummingbird Cake.  I LOVE Hummingbird Cake and I can't tell you the last time I ate a piece of Hummingbird Cake.  Believe me, it is good.  There were vendors selling food ready to eat.  The Marriott even had a food stand set up right outside their building.  Daughter is excited to go back on another Saturday and take SIL.

They are in the process of buying a house.  It has been a crazy experience but are pretty confident that they have found their house.  Daughter wanted us to see it so we took a trip over to her house. 

They did not want to move to the "burbs".  They are urban, close to downtown people.  I'm not just talking about living in Columbia, SC. They would be that way in most any city they moved to. There is an area in Columbia called Forest Acres.  Most all the homes in this area were built in the 60s.  Most of the homeowners are in their late 70s and 80s.  Younger couples are starting to buy these houses and redo them.  It is close to downtown and is in walking distance to a lot of things. The man and woman who own the house that Daughter is buying are now both in a nursing home and their daughter is selling the house.  It doesn't look like much has been done to the house since the 1960s.  But, Daughter has some great ideas and overall the house has good bones.  Here are some pics.

Front of house

This is the family room.  They are planning to paint the paneling  and the brick on the fireplace. They are putting hardwood floors throughout the house.

As you can see, the owners have put granite counter tops which are nice.  They are going to paint the cabinets.

The formal dining.  The wallpaper in here is really not bad.  But, it is coming down and I think they are going to paint above the chair rail one color and below the chair rail another color.

This is the spare bedroom that is downstairs.  (This will be my room when I visit. :) ) Wallpaper down and paint.

This is the master bedroom.

This is the girls' room.  The wooden shutters are nice.  Popcorn loves the "chandelier" in her room but Daughter told her it is coming down. :)

This is the bathroom upstairs.  The owners had put in a new tile floor, a new toilet, and a new vanity already. The wallpaper with Japanese women is coming down. 

 

I think this was good choice for them.  It has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.  It is in an area where the houses are selling just about as quickly as people put them on the market.  They are suppose to close at the end of this month.  I can't wait to see how it looks the next time I come for a visit.

I also went to a flea market today.  There are 2 really big ones in one of the suburbs that happen every Friday and Saturday.  There was a vendor that was selling a much larger selection of fruits and veggies.  They had HOMEGROWN tomatoes! I LOVE homegrown tomatoes! I could just slice them, put salt and pepper on them, and eat just that for a meal.  Needless to say, I bought some tomatoes. I also bought some miniature plums that great.  The last thing I bought was okra.  I have been wanting to make okra and tomatoes, so now I can. It was too stinking hot to do much browsing at the flea market.  So, we went to Sonic to have lunch and then went for a swim at Daughter's apartment so we could cool off! Ahhhh, swimming pools are a great thing! One of my children needs to install a pool in their back yard! Wouldn't you agree?