How We Go Columbia: Zoo, museum, parks make Columbia kid-friendly place to be

My kids have a hard time understanding how great it is to be close to a really nice zoo, and I think that’s great. I can remember how amazing the few zoo experiences I had as a child were, and my guys get a half dozen trips a year to see the elephants and gorillas, feed the giraffes and be a perch for the birds. A reasonable annual membership means we get unlimited access to the zoo, free carousel rides, free pony rides, free train rides and discounts on the zoo’s skywalk as well. And then there’s the Lights Before Christmas and Boo at the Zoo at Halloween. You can even spend the night on special occasions.

But that’s not all kids have to enjoy in the area.

There’s Edventure children’s museum with its rotating exhibits along with stalwarts like the Eddie statue/kids maze and the fire truck, and the State Museum across the parking lot, which often has great exhibits for kids as well.

Lexington County offers Saluda Shoals Park, which has a splash pad, bike trails, fishing and playgrounds for kids as well as tons of activities for grown-ups. Lexington also now has the Blowfish, a summer league baseball team that moved this year from Columbia to a new park on the aptly named Ballpark Road.

University of South Carolina athletic activities run from September through May and many are priced right for families with kids looking to get out of the house.

Next year, we’ll be able to add official minor league baseball to the mix when the team formerly known as the Savannah Sand Gnats is relocated to Bull Street. Add it all up, and the Midlands is a great place for kids.

Josh Kendall is a relative newcomer to Columbia. When he and his family moved here with two small children in 2010, they found a welcoming city with lots of amenities that made the transition easier for the kids.

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 2:40 PM with the headline "How We Go Columbia: Zoo, museum, parks make Columbia kid-friendly place to be."