Riverbanks Zoo, Garden, and Saluda River Factory Ruins

   Admission to the zoo includes the garden and the ruins. All of them are fairly small and can be easily seen in one visit. The zoo has a nice mixture of large and small animals. Most of the enclosures are adequate and the animals are well cared for.

  The garden is very small but a really good children's play area with sand boxes and splash areas is at the same location.

        

  A 1/2 mile paved mile trail leads to the factory ruins and a small interpretive center.

      

   The zoo is accessible but many of the railing are at eye level for visitors using wheelchairs making it difficult to see the animals.

   The gardens are accessed by a very steep hill. Take the wheelchair accessible tram or drive to the garden entrance parking lot. The garden and the play area are accessible.

   The ruins trail is paved but very bumpy. A ramp provides access to the interpretive center.

    The parking lot is large enough for any RV.  Zoo   34.01021, -81.07227

Blue Sky’s Public Art

   Artist Blue Sky has created three pieces of outdoor art in Columbia, South Carolina. They are all close to each other and easy to view. The chain of "Neverbust" stretches from the 1934  Art Deco style Kress Building, formerly a five and ten cent store, to Sylvan’s, a jewelry store.  It’s located on the opposite side of Main Street from the Columbia Museum of Art.  The other pieces "Tunnelvision" and "Busted Plug Plaza"are three blocks north on Taylor Street.

                             

    All of the pieces can be seen from the street but to get a good view of “Tunnelvision” park either on Taylor Street or in the parking lot near the mural.  Some of the curb cuts are in poor condition so, even though walking/rolling between the two sites is possible, wheelchair users may need assistance.

    RVs can be parked on Taylor and Assembly Streets.  Art  34.00767, -81.03206

Columbia Museum of Art

   The museum is undergoing an extensive reservation and the galleries on the second floor are closed. The first floor galleries are fairly small but admission is half price during the renovation.

         

   The museum is accessible.

   We visited on a Saturday and parked on Assembly Street where parking is plentiful and free on the weekends.  Museum   34.00528, -81.03576

South Carolina State Museum

   The museum is located in the former Mount Vernon–Woodberry Cotton Duck Company mill. The expanse of the mill building has allowed room for a wide variety of  displays – everything from the big bang to space exploration.  There’s also an art gallery and an observatory included in the admission price. Planetarium and  4-D theater shows have additional fees.

        

        

   The museum is accessible.

    Accessible parallel parking, large enough for RVs, is located by the museum entrance.  Additional parking is located in the main parking lot but it’s a bit of a push up a hill to the entrance and the sidewalk does not have curb cuts.  Museum   33.99832, -81.04776

Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden

  Another inspired and inspiring artist! Pearl Fryar has transformed the three acres surrounding his home into a living sculpture garden. When he started in 1981 the land was a corn field. Many of the trees and bushes now trimmed and sculpted were rescued from nursery compost piles. Pearl works on the garden almost every day and enjoys talking with visitors so you may be lucky and get a guided tour.

  The ground is fairly hard but there aren't any paths so most wheelchair users will need assistance. Several neighbors have trimmed their bushes and trees and it’s possible to view their yards from the road.

  Parking is in a grassy lot across the street from the garden. Any size RV will fit. The street dead ends in a large turn around.  Garden    34.20799, -80.2728

South Carolina Cotton Museum

   In the early years of English settlement South Carolina’s plantation economy depended on rice and indigo. That changed after the invention of the cotton gin in 1794. Two slaves operating a cotton gin could deseed 50 pounds cotton in a day. By hand those two slaves could only do one pound a day. Cotton became the staple crop, employing more than eighty percent of the slave labor force.

  This small but nicely done museum follows the progression of the cotton plantations, the devastation caused by the boll weevil, and growth of textile industry.

        

   A short steep, ramp at the entrance door and a door that opens outward makes access almost impossible without assistance.  The interior is accessible. The small Veterans Museum, which shares the building and is included in admission, has display cases that are too high for easy viewing by visitors in wheelchairs.

   Parking is available across the street or in the parking lot at the north side of the building.  Museum   34.22072, -80.24657

John Blue Complex

   In 1883, at the age of 22, John Blue and his wife, Flora, designed and built this house on their cotton farm. Porches with hand carved trim circle both floors of the house and all twelve rooms have exterior doors.  A cotton gin, tobacco barn, country store, and several small homestead houses have been relocated to the grounds. A museum with displays covering Native Americans and agricultural history is located across the street.

   The grounds are opened daily. The rest of the complex appears to be opened on Saturday and Sunday only. We wandered the grounds since nothing was opened but it looks interesting enough to attempt a visit on a Saturday or Sunday – maybe next time. :-) 

  A ramp accesses the first floor of the house. The country store has a ramp but the other relocated buildings do not. The path through the heritage village is hard packed dirt and gravel. The museum is accessible.

   The museum has a parking lot large enough for any RV .  Museum  34.75769, -79.49892

Cape Fear Botanical Garden

   Interconnecting trails loop around 80 acres of the garden which has been left in a mostly natural state. A camellia garden and a daylily garden add color. We visited too late in the year for the flowers but enjoyed the colorful fall foliage. A few buildings have been relocated to the gardens to form a rural farmstead setting. The buildings are opened when staff is available.

        

   Most of the paths are hard packed sand which makes rolling fairly easy however wheelchair users will still need assistance due to soft spots, roots, steep bridges, and hills. The farmstead buildings do not have ramps.

  The parking lot is large enough for any RV.  Garden   35.05678, -78.85792

Museum of Cape Fear

  Fayetteville was settled by Scottish Highlanders in the late 1700s as a frontier outpost and the second largest town in North Carolina. It served as a trading center for goods shipped on the Cape Fear River to and from coastal Wilmington. Many of the Highlands remained loyal to the British government and fought against the Patriots during the Revolutionary War. The town also played a role in the Civil War. A federal arsenal, captured by the Confederates, supplied arms and munitions to the Confederate soldiers.  The arsenal was destroyed by Sherman’s army in 1865 at the end of the war. The small museum covers this early history and other events with artifacts and nicely done exhibits.

        

  Besides the museum visitors may also tour the arsenal grounds and a house built in 1897 by a local businessman. Guided tours of the house are offered everyday but Monday. Guided tours of the arsenal grounds are offered on Friday. We did not have time for either.

  The museum is accessible but the exhibit on riverboats has very steep ramps. A ramp accesses the first floor of the house. To view the arsenal grounds follow the brick path through the back yard of the house.

  The parking lot is large enough for RVs if parked across the spaces or backed up over the grass.  Museum  35.05454, -78.89292