Trip to Columbia, SC

I took this weekend off from the card shop to take a trip from Greenville, NC to Columbia, SC to see my younger brother and to take him some stuff our mom had gotten together for him.

I hadn't gone to see him in a good while, which I feel bad about. We saw each other at Christmas, and talk on the phone and facebook all the time. He and I both have had a crazy year, so it is understood why we have been so busy.

One of the cool things he did right away when we got up on Saturday morning was to look and see if there were any card shops in the area. He found two actual card shops and an antique store (I need a blackberry, or some sort of smart phone and get with the year 2008). We visited the antique store first and found it to be a really cool place. They had two OLD phone booths outside, ready to be bought. I swear someone needs to buy one and put it in the bathroom. Can you imagine, sitting on the potty in an old phone booth...? Am I the only one? I probably should take some meds...

We looked around the inside of the antique store for a bit, when my brother pointed out the boxes of baseball cards that he saw. There were a BUNCH of 1987 Topps boxes for $20 each, so I was beginning to be disappointed in that we may be at a place that would only have 80s and 90s crap that would be overpriced. Uggggh...

I took a look at their display case and saw a stack of 1953 Bowman. Ironic, don't you think?

I say Ironic because on Tuesday, my best friend (you know him... Max) came over and discussed his desire to procure a 1953 Bowman Pee Wee Reese. Now, I'm at a card shop and eureka, a stack of 1953 Bowman. Out comes the cell phone. I sent Max a bunch of texts about the hopes to come across a 53 Reese, hoping that we'd get lucky. I asked the shopkeeper if I could take a look at the stack. He asked if I was looking for any card in particular, and I replied that I was hoping to get a Reese at a reasonable price.


The shopkeeper disappeared for a few minutes after I found that the stack in the case did not yield a Reese. He came back with a box of 1950s vintage cards, a whole row devoted to 1953 Bowman. We looked through that and still no Reese. I did find something that cought my eye though...

1953 Bowman Stan Musial. Yeah, so it is clearly in ROUGH shape, but I refuse to be handcuffed by condition. I saw the card. Texted Max (his reply: Ooooooooo). Found out that I could purchase the card at a VERY reasonable price, then it became mine. Take a look:

Pretty sweet, I think. I'm so dang happy with it. If I had some more money, I would have bought a few more '53s. I think it is a really beautiful set. I was glad that I could confer with my 'card partner' during the transaction (God I love texting, hahaha).

Feeling terrible that we had spent so much time in the antique store (while my son was dragging my brother around in order to show him an antigue typewriter), I decided to end my purchasing with the Musial and not ask about any other vintage stuff. Apparently, though, my brother enjoys antiques, so that made me feel better once he pointed that out. We decided to try one of the other card shops which happened to be nearby.

We stopped by the other card shop, and since it was getting close to lunch time, I kept this visit short. I bought a few packs of Topps Unique and a pack of UD Signature Series. I pulled the above Team USA Jersey... Not bad.

We went to lunch at a small hot dog stand in Columbia, and followed that up with a trip to see the University of South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Duquesne Dukes at Gamecock Stadium. Yaaay Cocks! It was a beautiful day to catch a game, as the temperatures were in the mid to upper 60s (it was 50s in Greenville) and no clouds in the sky.

The Cocks ended up winning 11-3, which was nice. I plan on catching a few college games this year (ECU and NCSU especially), so it was cool for my first one to be a SC game.

Did you know that Brian Roberts finished his college career at SC? You didn't? Well, now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

My son Chris getting ready for the game.

The view from where we were seated.

I really enjoyed my time in Columbia, expecially since it invloved me taking a minute and spending some much needed time with my brother, who I don't see near enough. I plan on making the trip a lot more, which is good. The ride is kind of long, but it isn't too bad. I hope he had as much fun as I did!