South Carolina Dept Parks, Rec & TourismWhat’s New
• Oceanfront Boardwalk and Promenade: Spanning 1.62 kilometres, this raised boardwalk stretches between the 2nd Avenue and 14th Avenue piers. Parts of it wind through dunes and trees while other areas are lined with shops and restaurants. Myrtle Beach.
• Children’s Museum of the Upstate: One of the largest children’s museums in the U.S. features 18 interactive exhibits, performances, classes and camps. Greenville.
• Gullah storytelling: Traditional story tellers from this West African culture stage comedy, praise singing and wisdom sharing at the Gullah Cuisine restaurant in Mount Pleasant. Charleston.
Attractions
• Riverbanks Zoo and Garden: Ranked among the top zoos in the U.S. Riverbanks provides naturalistic habitat with abundant horticulture treatment to more than 2,000 animals. A large botanical garden, too. Columbia.
• Middleton Place: Home of Henry Middleton, President of the First Continental Congress and America’s oldest formal landscaped gardens. Charleston.
• South Carolina Aquarium: Depicts the natural habitats and environments of the state in a two-hour journey. Charleston.
• Boone Hall Plantation: Established in 1681 by one of the original settlers of South Carolina. Mt. Pleasant.
• EdVenture: For children 12 and younger, this high-tech and high-touch educational facility boasts 450 individual exhibits. Columbia.
• Kings Mountain National Military Park: Where mountain pioneers won a decisive battle against the British in 1780. Film and marked battlefield trail. Blacksburg.
• Great Swamp Sanctuary: Walking, biking, canoeing and kayaking plus ponds, butterfly garden and wildlife feeding stations. Walterboro.
South Carolina Dept Parks, Rec & Tourism• Old Slave Mart Museum: The only remaining preserved site in South Carolina where human beings were sold as slaves. Extensive interpretive exhibits tell the story of the domestic slave trade and how that features into the overview of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Charleston.• Carolina Opry: Award-winning show blends music, comedy and dance. Dazzling laser production LIGHT is a new permanent show at The Carolina Opry. Myrtle Beach.
Events
• Canadian-American Days Festival (March), Myrtle Beach.
• Carolina Cup (steeplechase) (March), Camden.
• South Carolina Festival of Roses (April), Orangeburg.
• Spoleto Festival USA (late May to early June), Charleston.
• South Carolina Festival of Discovery and Barbecue Cookoff (July), Greenwood.
• Euphoria (wine, food and music festival) (September), Greenville.
• Beaufort Shrimp Festival (October), Beaufort.
• South Carolina State Fair (October), Columbia.
• Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival (October), Hilton Head Island.
South Carolina Dept Parks, Rec & Tourism• Chitlin Strut (November), Salley.Places
• Hunting Island State Park: Secluded semi-tropical barrier island. A 19th-century lighthouse is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
• Historic Brattonsville: This Revolutionary War battle site features 29 historic structures and trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. McConnells.
• Landsford Canal State Park: The best preserved of numerous South Carolina river canals from the 19th century retains remnants of all its major structural features. Catawba.
• Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River: The South’s first National Wild and Scenic River and one of the premier whitewater rafting rivers in the eastern U.S.
• Myrtle Beach: Boasts more than 123 championship golf courses; several amusement and water parks; the world’s largest collection of outdoor American sculpture; Ripley’s Aquarium; the Waccatee Zoo; and Alligator Adventure.
• Heritage Green: Urban arts and cultural campus with four museums – the Greenville County Museum of Art, the Museum & Gallery at Heritage Green, the Upcountry History Museum and the Children’s Museum – plus the Greenville Little Theatre and public library. Greenville.
Hidden Gems
• Congaree National Park: Over 10,117 hectares of pristine river bottomland forest near Columbia. Includes boardwalk and hiking trails, primitive camping, paddling, state record trees and abundant wildlife.
• Hobcaw Barony: Once a royal land grant in 1718 that was eventually sub-divided into 14 individual plantations. A three-hour guided van tour travels a portion of the original King’s Highway and includes historic sites, like Friendfield Village, the last 19th-century slave village on the Waccamaw Neck.
• Cheraw: A charming small town in the state’s northeastern corner boasting blocks of immaculate antebellum homes. Jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, grew up here and is memorialized in a life-size statue in the centre of town.
• Conway: The historic trail map offers a self-guided tour of stately old homes, picturesque churches and more than a dozen buildings and sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other sites: the Riverwalk to Riverfront Park; art studios; and at the Horry County Museum.
Did You Know?
State Motto: While I Breathe I Hope
State Flower: Yellow Jessamine
State Bird: Carolina Wren
Fast Facts
Region: THE SOUTH
America’s Byways: Ashley River Road, Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway, Savannah River Scenic Byway.
Direct Flights: Air Canada, Porter Airlines
Cruise Lines: Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines
Sales Tools: Travel trade section on website includes links to DMOs and itineraries; Hot Deals; South Carolina culinary website; South Carolina golf website; South Carolina girlfriend getaways website.
Info: South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism
1-888-TRVLSC (878-5272)
www.DiscoverSouthCarolina.com