Mr. Friendly’s has become the complete manifestation of it’s owners’ philosophy of using locally grown, seasonal ingredients to create unique, artisan interpretations of traditional southern dishes.  To demonstrate just a sampling of what he produces for Columbians during a typical busy day, Ricky Mollohan (owner) took some time after lunch service at Mr. Friendly’s (and before dinner service at all three of his restaurants), to personally prepare three different dishes (one from each) that he encourages the home chef to try.

Ingredients

• 4 Tilapia fillets
• 1 lb mixed salad greens
• 1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1 cucumber-peeled, halved, and sliced
• 1/2 palmetto sweet onion sliced
• 1/4 palmetto sweet onion diced fine
• 6 ears sweet yellow corn, shucked
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 2 bunches cilantro-chopped
• 1/2 cup V8
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups blended oil
• Juice from one lime
• Your favorite Jerk Seasoning blend
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Directions for Corn Relish

In a small sauté pan on medium heat (with a tablespoon of blended oil to coat pan), sauté half of diced onion for 1 minute.  Add shucked corn and mix, sauté for 1 minute.  Corn should be bright and still very fresh looking!  Season it with salt and pepper and transfer to a mixing bowl.  Add smoked paprika, chili powder, 1/4 of cilantro, and 3/4 juice from a lime to corn-onion mixture and toss ingredients until incorporated.  Set aside.

Directions for Vinaigrette

In a food processor, add remaining diced onion, V8, chopped tomatoes, red vinegar, garlic, remaining cilantro and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Blend until tomatoes are broken down and ingredients are well combined.  Begin mixing ingredients again and slowly add remaining blended oil or extra virgin olive oil until fully incorporated.  Add a dash of hot sauce if desired, and be sure to season with salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to bowl and place in refrigerator.

Directions for Tilapia

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In large sauté pan, coat with 1/4 cup blended oil on medium heat.  Season the Tilapia well with Jerk seasoning.  Sear Tilapia in pan for 2 minutes per side and transfer pan to oven for 4-5 minutes to finish.  Use remaining lime juice to top Tilapia once removed from oven.  Set aside.

Assembly

Toss salad greens in vinaigrette.  Put tossed greens into four bowls and dress with cucumbers, tomatoes, and sliced onions.  Top with Tilapia and corn relish.

Enjoy!

Mr. Friendly’s has become the complete manifestation of it’s owners’ philosophy of using locally grown, seasonal ingredients to create unique, artisan interpretations of traditional southern dishes.  To demonstrate just a sampling of what he produces for Columbians during a typical busy day, Ricky Mollohan (owner) took some time after lunch service at Mr. Friendly’s (and before dinner service at all three of his restaurants), to personally prepare three different dishes (one from each) that he encourages the home chef to try.

Ingredients

• 4 6-8 ounce flat iron steaks (can substitute hanger or skirt steaks)
• 2 large vine ripe tomatoes, sliced to your desired thickness
• 2 large handfuls of fresh basil
• 2 cups balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup blanched almond slices or slivers
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 2-4 tbsp blended oil
• Your favorite blue cheese in small wedges or pieces

Directions

For balsamic reduction, in small sauce pan on medium heat, heat balsamic vinegar until it just begins to boil.  Add sugar, stir to incorporate, and reduce heat to low.  Keep a close eye on it as it reduces and stir often.  When it begins to stick to your spoon, remove from heat and transfer to a room-temperature bowl.  It will thicken as it cools.

For the steaks, season Flat Iron steaks with salt and pepper on both sides.  In large skillet or heavy-bottomed sauté pan on medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp blended oil.  Heat oil and carefully add steaks to hot oily pans!  Sear for two minutes per side for rare (add one minute per side for medium rare to medium).  Transfer steaks to cutting board and allow them to cool.

In a food processor, combine basil, parsley, lemon juice, almonds, and garlic.  Pulse until smooth, but with a “pesto” consistency.  Add a touch of oil and pulse again.  Season to taste and continue to pulse if a smoother mixture is desired.

To plate the dish, slice the steaks on a bias against the grain after they have rested.  Dress the plate with the pesto first, and place sliced tomatoes atop the pesto.  Season the tomatoes gently with salt and pepper.  Top tomatoes with blue cheese pieces and set the steak slices against the tomatoes.  Drizzle EVOO and reduced balsamic mixture gently over the entire dish.

Enjoy!

By William Thrift

Despite the summer heat, you’ve done all the right things.  You weeded.  You fertilized.  You discouraged (or killed) pests.  You dragged out the hose and soaked everything before the temperature reached triple digits.  Then your happy plants rewarded you with fruits and veggies.  You ate all you could.  You gave away sacks to friends and neighbors.  You were the person at work who was pushing the soft, ripe tomatoes that would spoil if you let them sit over the weekend.  If this is you, then you may already know about the food preservation technique known as canning, or bottling, or putting up whatever it is that your delighted plants keep on producing.

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The technique was, like many innovations, borne out of a need to stack the advantage on one army’s side, so that they could go on warring through the cold months while the other army retreated or starved.  Napoleon would be the reigning impetus behind the challenge to his countrymen to devise a way to preserve food, so that his army could march straight through the snow all the way to Moscow.  Of course other factors intervened on the short man’s progress, but the world was left with a new way to kill microbes in food and store it for extended periods of time.  While industry favored heating food and sealing it in metal cans, the process also caught on at home by using glass jars.

This is where you enter the picture.  As the heat wanes, you spend more and more time inspecting the condition of your beans, tomatoes, squash, or other vegetables and fruits to decide if they are ripe enough to pluck yet.  Whether you’ve got several bushels or only enough to fill one pot, canning will enable you to enjoy your bounty in the cold months (just like Napoleon wanted to), or your finished product will make great giveaways at Christmas with nifty little labels or a red bow tied around the lid.  Who wouldn’t want a jar of homegrown pickled jalapenos to spice up soup or stew during a drab January?

There are plenty of how-to books, information, and specific recipes for canning.  For instance, whenever I make fig preserves, I rely not only on information that was passed on to me in the oral tradition (like most canners), but I’ve also used a combination of measurements and ingredients from books, magazines, and the internet (one of the most comprehensive references is the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, available several places on-line).  However, the basics remain the same no matter what you’re putting up:

Wash everything.  If you only use your big pot and jar lifter once a year, you’ve already washed it before you stored it after your last canning session.  But it’s a good idea to wash it again right before you use it.  Wash your fruits and vegetables thoroughly.  Wash your jars and lids.

Boil everything.  Well not everything, but definitely boil your jars and lids – anything that will come into contact with food – to sterilize them.  Keep them hot throughout the canning session (cool glass might crack if you put hot product into it).  Always use new two-piece lids and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for treating them.

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Follow your recipe.  Different foods have different densities and acidities and therefore require different preparations.  Some need more citric acid (lemon juice) than others.  Some recipes call for vinegar.  Some foods require longer cook times than others.  For instance, tomatoes usually require less time than corn or pumpkin.

Wait for the pop.  Once you’ve spooned your product into the jar (careful not to slop it all over the rim), place the lid on (gasket against the glass) and screw it down with the ring.  The jar will tell you that it has made the proper seal when it cools and the pressure inside the jar sucks the lid down making a little “pop” sound.

Label and store.  Sealed cans should be stored in a cool, dry, and dark place.  The best temperature range is between 50 and 70 degrees F.  Be careful not to store near hot pipes, a furnace, or a place that will get any direct sunlight.  You can write anything you want on your jars’ labels, but the essentials are: date, contents, and batch number (if you canned more than one).

No green thumb, no problem.  Say you’re not exactly a plant person, and you don’t really know anyone who gives away what they’ve grown.  Well, you can still can!  Visit your favorite farmer’s market or local farm and buy what you like in bulk.  Bring it home and use a well-researched recipe to make your own canned food.  Then impress everyone by handing out your product (with ribbons and clever labels) at holidays!

Barbie Mathis Yellow and White Orchids Watercolor 16” x 20”

Barbie Mathis, a native of Columbia, SC, has been working as a professional

artist since 1980.  Over the years, she has evolved as an illustrator, designer, and painter, working in various media with her main emphasis being watercolor painting. Barbie’s primary focus is on realistic florals and landscapes immersed in layers of colorful glazes, dramatic lighting, and rich, natural backgrounds. She also enjoys doing creative, artsy renditions of people, and has been working on a series for the past two years called  “It’s All About Faith.” The series celebrates the creativity and individuality of her daughter, Faith.

“I like to work in a series and follow through on a line of inspiration until itseems complete, then move on to the next subject matter. I see beauty in nearly everything. However, I always seem to come back to flowers: orchids, irises, roses… I love them all. The variety of colors and designs in each one fills me with awe.”

One can often find Barbie wherever flowers are in bloom as she enjoys visiting gardens for artistic inspiration.  ”Yellow and White Orchids” was inspired by a photo that she took  at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden just west of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Barbie studied Fashion Design and Illustration at Bauder Fashion College in Atlanta, Georgia.  She has since worked in advertising, graphic design, and mat design for various newspapers, printing companies, and art galleries. She has been published by Bentley House Publishing and currently self-publishes several lines of floral fine art prints. Barbie was awarded her Signature Membership in the South Carolina Watermedia Society in 2006. She has exhibited and won awards in numerous shows, and her work is in both public and private collections around the country. In addition to painting, Barbie also teaches watercolor painting and calligraphy. Information about classes, workshops, and where her work may be seen is listed on her website at www.BarbieMathis.com.

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Mr. Friendly’s has become the complete manifestation of it’s owners’ philosophy of using locally grown, seasonal ingredients to create unique, artisan interpretations of traditional southern dishes.  To demonstrate just a sampling of what he produces for Columbians during a typical busy day, Ricky Mollohan (owner) took some time after lunch service at Mr. Friendly’s (and before dinner service at all three of his restaurants), to personally prepare three different dishes (one from each) that he encourages the home chef to try.

Ingredients

• 1 large bag of tri-color tortilla chips
• 1 1/2 lbs fresh #1 Yellowfin or Bluefin Tuna Sashimi
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 lb pepper jack cheese, grated
• 1 large green tomato-diced
• 1 lime-juiced
• 2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 sweet onion-diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the Tuna, it should be cut to 1/2 inch slices for searing.  Season the Tuna with a mixture of 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp of coriander, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp cumin.  On medium heat in a sauté pan coated lightly with blended oil, sear Tuna for one minute per side until edges begin to turn white.  Remove Tuna and set aside to cool.  When Tuna is cool, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

For the Salsa, combine the green tomato, sweet onion, bell pepper, 1/2 of lime juice, and remaining cumin and coriander.  Mix well and set aside.

For the sour cream, combine sour cream, half of the remaining cilantro, and all of remaining lime juice in a bowl and mix until combined (season with salt if necessary).

Arrange tortilla chips on plates and top with pepper jack cheese.  Melt for 2 minutes and carefully remove from oven.

Top with salsa, tuna pieces, cilantro sour cream, and remaining cilantro for garnish.

Enjoy!

A view from the dining room to the kitchen area across the breakfast bar.

Cathy Price

So what’s it like living on the corner of Blossom and Main, just up the hill from Assembly – one of the busiest confluences of traffic (auto and pedestrian) in Columbia?  We asked two owners living in the new Adesso condos to tell us what drew them there and why they love it so much.   You may ask what kind of person would be the first to ante up and buy a pre-construction Adesso condo?  The answer would be Cathy Price, of course. 

Cathy has chosen a formal dining room treatment.

The kitchen has granite counters, stainless upper-end appliances, and lovely tile work.

The spacious patio area overlooking the Adesso pool area offers room for dining.

Originally from Orangeburg, where she worked in her family’s wood preservation business, Cathy had longed to be closer to her daughter’s family in Columbia.  When her former husband lost his battle with an illness, Cathy decided to make a brave move, uprooting herself and relocating right to the heart of Columbia.  Once she moved in, Cathy asked Linda Perrow of Pulliam-Morris to help decorate in her favorite traditional style.  Cathy wouldn’t settle for anything less than Viking appliances in her kitchen.  She liked the place so much, she arranged for her mother to have a condo just upstairs so she has a convenient place to stay while visiting. Location, location, location.  In addition to Adesso’s proximity to USC (where daughter Leigh attends medical school), the location also offers lots of things to do and see within a walk or short drive.  Cathy and new husband Coker now enjoy walking to USC basketball games, shopping on Devine Street, and dining at Motor Supply or Garibaldi’s.  The location also makes it easy to entertain grandsons Brady and Grayson at EdVenture, the Zoo, or the downtown library. Cathy and Coker travel frequently to their house on Edisto Beach, so condo living makes it easy to pick up and go anytime.  But when she’s here, sitting on her expansive patio and watching the sunset through palm trees beside the pool, “resort living” is how she describes her Adesso condo.

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The elegantly decorated master bedroom.

Nicki Carrea

Originally from an Atlanta suburb, Nicki Carrea graduated with a business degree from USC in ’04.  Fortunately she landed a job that kept her in Columbia, and began working in management at Accountemps, a Robert Half Company located on Main Street.  After a few years in a town home near the VA Hospital, Nicki began to feel very far removed from everything – work, dining, and other things she did with friends.  She longed to be closer to everything.

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Nicki’s living room area reflects her casual lifestyle.

So when she heard about the Adesso condos being developed by Atlanta’s Holder Properties, she made the jump back to in-town living. Nicki chose a top floor, two-bedroom model so she could have a place for friends and family visiting from out of town.

Her balconies catch the morning sun high over Main Street, and she can see Williams-Brice in the distance.  Many features appealed to her – the large rooms and open floor plan, quality details like the granite counters, and secure, off-street parking.  She was so excited about her new place that she asked Christy Edens of Verve to help with some decorating and arrangement of her new living spaces.

Looking across the kitchen counter to the breakfast bar area.

They also replaced the stock lighting with more stylized fixtures to reflect Nicki’s personality. But the biggest draw was the location.  Nicki is now a mile down Main Street from her office (skirting around the Capitol, of course).  She jogs around the USC campus, or enjoys the Riverwalk – a mile down Blossom.  She visits the Yoghut (in the Adesso building), or walks to Hunter Gatherer, the Nick, and Immaculate Consumption.  It’s a very short cab ride when she wants to go to the Vista. However, when this young professional wants some respite from her busy life, Nicki needs only to go home where her condo is “surprisingly quiet” high above the hustle and bustle of Blossom and Main.   Special thanks goes to Rosemary Bryant.  In addition to being Director of Sales at Adesso, she also owns one of the condos.  Her close relationship with the residents enabled us to focus on just two of the many who call Adesso, and in-town Columbia, home.

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Ricky Mollohan is Owner & Executive Chef of Mr. Friendly's New Southern Cafe, Solstice Kitchen & Wine Bar, and Cellar on Greene.

So it’s a Sunday, and in the name of Will Ferrell’s character in the movie Old School, you and the family are out perusing Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, or better yet, a nice local shop of some sort.

And then you see it! Glow in the dark wine glasses! Perfect! Awesome!

Not. No, not at all. But now you can find your wine when you are in a dark room!

Well, there’s the problem with this gift…you drink wine with the lights on. Usually.

And what about some other REAL wine “toys” you don’t need? No problem! Here you go…

1) Colored Wine Glasses of ANY kind. Sorry, but one of the most important factors in tasting, learning, and experiencing wine is SIGHT! And therefore your wine glasses should be the color of absolutely nothing. Always. There is no exception. And if you have blue, green, red, or any other color wine glasses, use them for punch, Sangria, Mimosas, or pennies.

2) Eight different shapes of Wine Glasses. Ok, so there are fancy company’s like Riedel that sell a glass for upwards of twenty different varietals of wine. But you know what, that’s simply not practical unless you have some serious cabinet space and someone who really likes polishing glasses. Now there is certainly some truth to the fact that certain wines should be served in specifically shaped glasses…Champagne/Sparkling Wine in a narrow flute-shaped glass, Chardonnay & Pinot Noir in a wide bottom/narrower lipped glass that’s often referred to as a “Burgundy glass”, and Big Reds (Bordeaux style Wines, Napa Cabs, etc.) in a deeper/wider rimmed glass. But beyond that, and with the exception of having a single “all-purpose” glass (somewhere in between the Burgundy-style glass and the Big Red/Cabernet glass), you can give up on the carry-case of stemware when going to taste wine at your friends house. And yes, we’ve had people bring their own glasses to the restaurants.

3) A decanter that is shaped like an animal or something that Cheech & Chong would put to use. A decanter, in it’s most normal uses, is for one of two things…to allow a young, often tannic or overly “ripe” wine to breathe, thus making it more palatable and less harsh, or in the case of an older vintage wine, to separate the wine from any sediment that has built up in the bottom of the wine (don’t worry, it’s totally natural and won’t hurt you). So what does your decanter need to look like? Well, most importantly it should be able to easily hold an entire 750 ml bottle of wine. That is certainly requirement number one. The opening, or “mouth” of the decanter should be at least an inch and a half wide, as it’s oxygen that makes wine “breathe”. And perhaps the biggest reason that your Grandma’s squirrel shaped decanter is not applicable? You have to be able to pour the decanted wine into a glass without hurting someone and/or yourself. You also want to be able to get whatever precious wine you have decided to decant into the glass, and not all over the table!

4) No, you do not need allergy medicine when drinking wine. Why not? Because you are NOT allergic to sulfites. You aren’t. Because if you were, then with the exception of less than 1% of the wine that we drink in this country, your wine shopping would take longer than a resolution to the debt ceiling. For even though some bottles clearly note “Sulfites added” or something similar, pretty much EVERY bottle of wine has Sulfites. So why do some mention it when others don’t? Because it is the law in some places to mention it, whereas it is not law in others. So what is it that gives a person such a bad headache “whenever I drink red wine?”  Well, much like the mistake I made at sixteen years of age when one weekend I jumped from a few Bud Lights to a few bottles of Icehouse (hey, I was a kid!) thus essentially consuming more than TWICE the alcohol, when going from White Wines to Red Wines, there is almost always a significant increase in the percentage of alcohol we consume. And because a Red Wine often has more “age” (aka time in the bottle), those sugars in the bottle are often higher, and thus produce a stronger, and more hangover-inducing product. In other words, trade your allergy medicine for a few Advil!

I could go on and on, but since wine drinking is supposed to be fun and carefree, just remember to keep it simple, keep it clear, and keep a few Advil around when it comes to enjoying wine like the so-called “pros”!

Cheers!

By William Thrift

Imagine for a minute that you’re in the British Colony of South Carolina, specifically a farm in the oppressively humid low country.   You make a living growing and harvesting season after season.  Although plants and land are plentiful, family possessions are few and cherished.  Whatever you cannot grow or make, you buy with the silver coins in your pocket.  When the time comes to pass the torch to your son or daughter, you bring your coins to a silversmith and have him melt them down and form them into a wedding goblet garnished with your family name in script.

This large tea set exemplifies the method of decorating silver that became fashionable in America around 1840.

Two hundred and fifty years pass.  Although some of our low country remains the same, much of it would be unrecognizable to the former colonist.  His farm and house may have disappeared, carved and paved into a new shape much like his old coins.  But his wedding gift remains, handed down from generation to generation, through booming times and depressions, preserved in part by the pride in the family name carved into it.

That’s where Dawn Corley, the Charleston Silver Lady, comes into the picture.  She is the most recent of nine generations of Charlestonians who have handed down, in one form or another, family heirlooms accumulated through the years.  One of the things Dawn inherited was a love of history, fostered by an aunt who collected antiques.  Dawn recalls visiting Charleston’s City Market before it became the city’s most famous tourist Mecca.  Back then, silver heirlooms that had lost their families along the way wound up heaped on a table, selling for as little as twenty-five cents a piece.  Thus, Dawn began her collection as a teenager, concentrating on South Carolina pieces and carefully tracing the history of each piece back to its original owner.  In addition to satisfying an innate need to preserve history, this ensured Dawn that her collection was of historic, as well as aesthetic value.

This piece is actually known as a soup tureen. This particular tureen is of massive weight, and its large size holds two gallons.

Dawn’s collection is ninety percent coin silver – a purely American phenomenon in which highly personal and family-specific pieces were created by melting down silver coins.  Since this method pre-dates the beginning of the industrial revolution (about 1830), she is assured that the pieces are hand-made.  Machines never touched them.  But she is also careful to identify and avoid coin silver pieces that may have been altered or amended during later generations with sterling handles or machine etchings.

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So how did a colonial low country denizen keep their silver clean without being able to buy fancy, modern silver polish?  The simple answer:  they used the pieces every day.  Also, the silver they used was pure (coin of the realm) and didn’t tarnish as readily as some varieties or plated pieces do today.  When the antebellum plantation society of South Carolina began booming in the 1800’s, servants used fine silt from the marshes as a flux and wiped the pieces with a soft cloth.

The cup was created for toasting. This rare cup is from Dawn's Charleston family; descended from one of the earliest silversmith's in Charleston. It is made of a coconut shell and coin silver; circa 1730.

The fox is the finial of a large silver tankard made in London in 1782 by renowned female silversmith Hester Bateman.

Silver has obvious qualities that make it valuable and pretty to display, but why was it so prevalently used as tools for eating and serving food?  Dawn says simply that it’s such a pure metal that germs don’t tend to stick to it.  Silver has long been used for it’s antiseptic qualities not only for eating and food storage, but also as doorknobs to prevent the spread of disease.  Our ancestors would travel with their own personal silver – another reason so many pieces were monogrammed – so they wouldn’t have to eat and drink with someone else’s utensils or cups.

In addition to owning and running Antiques On Main at Historic Karle Place in Lexington, Dawn spreads her passion for history in the form of silver collecting by maintaining an active touring and lecture schedule.  Many of her pieces are loaned to museums or national exhibits – some most recently at the South Carolina State Museum.  To learn more about her, visit charlestonsilverlady.com.

Photo information:  Many of the  items pictured have been copied and reproduced for centuries.  The pieces pictured are the real articles. In collecting, one of the most important aspects is the true story of a piece, which can only be defined by construction techniques, metals used, etc.  It would be very easy to be fooled into thinking that something that looks similar would be of similar age and value. Marks are not the best way to collect silver, as marks can be and often are faked.  Construction and detail are the only ways to be sure a piece is authentic. Combined with authentic marks this would take a piece worth collecting.

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A group of visitors try the exciting experience of whitewater rafting. The Center offers Class II to IV levels of difficulty.

“Rafting is a means to an end.  The end goal is to get you playing outside and rafting is simply one of the ways we hope to get you off the couch”, says Jeff Wise, Executive Director of the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Humans love to play outside. It’s that first day of summer, last day of school type of feeling. We are advocates that your free time is best spent by being outside and being active. ”

The USNWC is located just 15 minutes from Downtown Charlotte.

The Canyon Crossing crosses a series of aerial bridges before zipping back across a 250-foot gorge.

By providing unique and exciting ways that motivate people to get outside, the Center makes a nostalgic plea that beckons to one’s inner Scout, Jem, or Dill. Their take-it-outside sentiment is one that is

frequently lost in a world where the entertainment options are often as sedentary as they are sterile. The USNWC acts as a force to remind us that it’s okay to cut loose, to get dirty and to get into some good old-fashioned fun.

Just ask Rufio, one of the raft guides at the Center. “I love the people you meet on the river. Every trip starts with a raft full of strangers, and by the end, you’re all best friends.” Just over 90 miles north of Columbia, the Center is home to the world’s largest man-made whitewater river with Class II, III and IV whitewater. “My favorite spots on the river are both aptly named, there’s Biscuits n’ Gravy [think breakfast – or what you might lose on this section] and Sketch Wave (do we really need to explain this one?).”

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Guests at the Center have their choice of over 10 different outdoor activities including zip-lines, ropes courses, rock climbing, flatwater and whitewater kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, mountain biking, and of course whitewater rafting. The Center offers all day access to these activities in the AllSport Pass.

Stand-up paddle boarding on the beautiful Catawba River offers a great workout.

With the AllSport Pass ($49/person), guests can play all day (or all season for $159/person) long at a fraction of what it would cost to experience any number of these activities individually.

The Center is designated a U.S. Olympic Training Site by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and played host to the 2008 Olympic Trials and the 2010 USA Canoe/Kayak National Team Trials. And while you may see an Olympian training while you are at the Center, you’re more likely to see families, groups of friends and kids. “Many of my rafters have never been in a raft or on a zip-line, but they are still out here enjoying all that the USNWC has to offer,” says Rufio.

The Center offers one of the largest outdoor climbing centers in the country.

“You don’t need to be an elite athlete to have a good time in my raft. It’s not about being elite, it’s about challenging yourself, working with a team and having fun while doing it.

He casually adds, “And it’s about getting wet, you’ve gotta be ready to get wet.”

Photos provided by the U. S. National Whitewater Center.

Six Gondolas, Giardini ex Reali, Venice, Italy, 1980. Gelatin silver print, 21/45.

Ferro da Gondola, Venice, Italy, 2006. Gelatin silver print, 8/45

On exhibit October 23 at the Columbia Museum of Art is Michael Kenna: Venezia.  Michael Kenna’s work has often been described as enigmatic, graceful, and hauntingly beautiful. The exhibition features 53 black and white images that demonstrate a skilled photographer’s ability to capture on film what we cannot see with our eyes, such as the movement of time and the presence of atmosphere. Kenna has captured the essence of Venice, its romance, its miraculous existence, and its crumbling beauty. Kenna’s long exposures, sometimes lasting several hours during the darkest hours of the night, smooth over the surfaces of the canals, further emphasizing their street-like function in this floating city. With typically meticulous prints, Kenna distills Venice to its iconic, elemental characteristics of water and light.

Images provided by Columbia Museum of Art. Presenting Sponsor: Susan Thorpe and John Baynes.  Participatory Sponsor: Allen K. Anderson.

Winged Lion, San Marco, Venice, Italy, 2006. Gelatin silver print, 7/45.

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