My first visit to Clemson University

Clemson, SC-- For more than a decade, it's been just an exit off of Interstate 85 as I commuted between my home in Richmond, Va. and Georgia-- where I both worked (at WXIA-TV in Atlanta) and went to school (at the University of Georgia).

Today that exit was a destination enroute to my lunch venue-- Clemson University as I made my way to Charlotte, North Carolina.

I had a particular reason for wanting to visit Clemson this time. The athletic powerhouse has been a perennial backyard non-conference rival for the Georgia Bulldogs.

But, in less a month, the boys from my present academic home-- The University of Alabama Crimson Tide will have a season opener against the Tigers of the ACC (not to be confused with the Tigers of the SEC-- the ones on the Plains).

No, I didn't visit "Death Valley," the nickname for the Clemson Football Stadium (also the nickname for the LSU stadium).

This short 30-minute walk across the center of campus took me to none other than tha library-- and a gave me a chance to get a few photographs of this nice academic setting that is kind of off the beaten path.

Yes, if you're driving down I-85 or up I-85, you see the "Clemson University" signs. But, then you don't figure out until you're off the interstate that you have to drive 11 miles to get to Clemson and the campus, which is one of two major research universities in the Palmetto State. (The other is its arch in-state rival in the Midlands, the University of South Carolina in Columbia)

Because it hosts a convergence journalism conference each fall, I make the trek to the University of South Carolina at least once (last year I went twice) a year.

Check out one of my last postings from there.

Two big things I learned today on my short trip to Clemson-- it used to be a all-male military school and its location is kind of different-- in Pickens County, SC (I didn't realize there was a Pickens Gounty SC like we have a Pickens County AL) and it's near Sandy Springs, South Carolina.

I had fun visiting this ACC school. Now let's see what happens when the Tigers come down I-85 to meet the Crimson Tide August 30 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.