My view & Rome hits the water face first

Remember I mentioned that it's been ridiculously hot in Columbia? It's so hot that the only way we can cool down is to head to the local pool. Luckily, there's a large water park located at Fort Jackson, and not too far from where we live, so I'm thankful we have a place to cool off. Even though it's on the Army installation, it's open to the public, so anyone can come in and have a dip in the cool waters.


Palmetto Falls is a good sized water park located at Fort Jackson's Army base, which is on the east side of Columbia, and right off the interstate. It has a 10,000 ft family pool, two water slides, a 600 ft splashdown pool, a lazy river, and a 2,500 ft kiddie pool (and splash area). It's fairly large, considering that this is an outdoor water park on a military base. In the back end of the park, there's a large play area under a canopy and a rock-climbing wall, but they've been renovating that section all summer so it's closed for the meantime.

As we did at Great Wolf, J and I took turns babysitting Rome at the kiddie pool while we checked out the slides and other parts of the park. The kiddie section is practically gated off, so there's no worrying about Rome getting loose and heading off to the deeper pool areas. Also, the lifeguards (who all seemed to be under 18) were pretty much keeping a close eye on the:

• Runners. Accidents waiting to happen.
• Divers. Apparently, if there's no diving board, then there's no diving. (Forget that cannon ball into the deep end.)
• People sneaking in outside food and beverages. Huh? I can't sip martinis under the canopy? You have to buy your snacks at the vendor in the area.
•  People who like to pee in the pool. And, yes, they have something that turns the water a weird dark green color if urine mixes with the chlorine.

My little merman!

Rome enjoys heading out to Palmetto Falls. We've probably been there 10 times (give or take) all summer long, and I'm gonna miss the place when it closes down after Labor Day in September. Palmetto Falls was open everyday (save for Monday) during the summer, but since it's winding down, they're now only open on the weekends until they close for the season.

I guess we'll have to head back home to Florida to hit the beaches after the pool closes! Either that or check out some of the beaches on the coast of South Carolina. Thank God it stays pretty warm in the South.