Super SoCar Saturday

As mentioned, we had loaded options for today. After briefly kicking around the idea of heading down to campus, we chose to start off the day by simply watching GameDay on tv and were glad to see that as suggested by the school paper, no Confederate flag was waving in the background (like the last time GameDay came to SC in 2006).

According to ESPN, these were the top five GameDay signs rooting for SC versus the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide. I love the "Stay Cocky my friend" sign, but my favorite wasn't pictured--it predicted Low Tide with chance of Sandstorm. After watching Corso predictably don the elephant head, we headed out to the Fall Festival at the State Museum. It was a nice-sized event, very easy to do in a brief afternoon.

There was a nice display of tractors:


Everyone was allowed to climb and sit in them, including this Cockshutt model which we've never seen before:


There were also art and craft vendors and this one was my favorite:


The Pig was there, offering a fishing game for young kids. For better or worse, the girl felt too old to get excited about a walking mascot.


We enjoyed Carolina Hayride's bluegrass version of Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls:


And a BarBQ assortment featuring various styles of BBQ was available for only $10. There was Mustard, Vinegar & Pepper, Light Tomato, and a version made with Cheerwine soda:


The highlight was a screening of A Man Named Pearl, which was followed by a Q&A with Mr. Pearl Fryar himself:


The documentary was a simple story of a man who went from deciding to fight discrimination quietly by winning "yard of the month" to creating fantastic topiaries recognized internationally. Needless to say, the movie was inspiring in its simplicity as was the man himself, who advised us to do something with what you have instead of waiting for what you need.


Velina loved his garden of sculptures, but I hope the bigger inspiring message stays with her too.

As we headed out after the event, I checked out the scores on my iPhone to see that both underdogs, South Carolina and Michigan State, were ahead in the first quarter! We raced home to flip back and forth and watched two very satisfying wins. As we live so close to the stadium, we could hear celebrations, cheering, and multiple playings of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" long after the game.

What a super satisfying Saturday.