What lies Beyond the Love of Charleston?

The Adjutants General of 54 states and territories set their sights on Charleston for the 2013 National Guard Senior Leaders Conference. I remember the looks on their faces when I told them that we were not going there. Charleston outgrew our budget, I said, and we will have to look beyond the love of Charleston.

I didn’t puff up the facts about Charleston’s popularity. In 2012, the year before the conference, “readers of Conde Nast Traveler voted Charleston the top city on the planet!” But before disappointment took hold, I told the assembled leaders not to worry. Beyond the love of Charleston, South Carolina has a unique beauty in every region. We’re going to Greenville, I said, the Piedmont, where gentle hills cascade from mountains that offer some of the most scenic views in the world.

I wasn’t puffing up the facts about Greenville, either. In 2012, the same year, National Geographic named Jocassee Gorges, in the Piedmont, “one of 50 of the World’s Last Great Places.” – Discover South Carolina

What lies beyond the love of Charleston is more South Carolina to love!

You’ll begin to see when you drive inland from the coast of South Carolina. Here’s a sampling of my favorites.

Lowcountry

The Coastal and Sea Islands of the Palmetto State are so beautiful that the favorites are endless. Eddie and I love them and always show them to our guests. But beyond our love of Charleston and Beaufort, we also love inland Lowcountry communities.

Walterboro’s downtown Historic District offers a southern charm that earned it the fitting name “Frontporch of the Lowcountry,” An experience in Southern hospitality, red rocking chairs on the street invite visitors to browse antique shops or have lunch at one of the numerous restaurants. A walk around town offers diverse architecture from the prewar period to the mid-20th Century. Not far from Walterboro are historic ruins worthy of the drive. The Pon Pon Chapel of Ease Ruins is a fifteen-minute drive. Old Sheldon Church Ruins, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, in Beaufort County, a thirty-minute drive.

Cypress Gardens – Moncks Corner

The 170-acre Berkeley County Nature Preserve is an exquisite gem of Lowcountry nature. Take the time to look closer by paddling around the cypress trees at your leisure or with a guide. It’s an ideal venue for photography buffs. Professional photographers from Charleston introduced me to its picturesque beauty and easily accessible trails. Since then, I’ve taken my friends there, too.

Pee Dee

Francis Marion at Witherspoon’s Ferry – Johnsonville

What’s not to love about a man who arrives in the swamps of the Pee Dee, takes command of a group of Patriots, and outsmarts one of the brightest British commanders of the American Revolution? My favorite monument is the Statue of General Francis Marion at Witherspoon Landing near the Lynches River. Sculptor Alex Palkovich captured Marion’s confident determination and the wild excitement of South Carolina’s iconic State horse, the tenacious Marsh Tacky.

Scenic and Natural Areas of the Pee Dee

The Pee Dee Region of South Carolina has some of the most scenic rivers in the world. The best way to see them is from the water. I aim to take more pictures of these beautiful rivers, but I’m not the best in a kayak. The only way to do it is with a guide. Eddie and I have used numerous guides in the area. They help us enjoy the rivers, get pictures, and stay safe.

Beyond the Love of Charleston, there’s the Midlands

Columbia, West Columbia, Caycee – Three Rivers Greenway

Eddie and I love to walk and jog along the Three Rivers Greenway, a network of trails in Columbia, West Columbia, and Caycee. We’ve lived on the Saluda River for many years and walked the entire network of 15.5 miles. Our two favorite places are the Riverfront Park and Canal (2.5 miles) and the West Columbia/Caycee Riverwalk (4.5 miles). Riverfront Park and Canal Walk offer striking contrasts of scenic vistas. It’s a gentle flow on the canal side and a dramatic confluence on the other, where the Broad and Saluda Rivers merge to form the Congaree.

The Gervais Street Bridge is my favorite section of West Columbia Riverwalk Park. Walking under the magnificent concrete-reinforced structure, I think of the activity of people there through the years. What were they thinking as they gazed at this magnificent spot? Its timeless beauty also reminds me of life’s transience. Constructed in 1929, it replaced the covered wooden bridge that Confederate Soldiers burned during the Civil War.

Soon, the trail merges onto the Caycee Riverwalk and continues under the Blossom Street Bridge to my next favorite section. Sunlight disappears, and the air turns cooler. It’s the enchanted forest of long-forgotten fairytales.

Edgefield Town Square and Historic District are on the National Register of Historic Places. No fewer than ten S.C. Governors were born or lived in Edgefield. The lovely town has antique stores, cafes, and beautiful historic structures.

Upstate

Looking beyond the love of Charleston will certainly lead you to the mountains of Upstate. Backroads in the Carolina Mountains are dreamy rural settings. Autumn offers some of the best leaf-peeping driving or walking. The foliage envelops you in a tunnel of gold walking. During the winter, I remember wishing I lived in Oconee County as a child. We watched anxiously for school closing when it snowed. It was always in the mountains and seldom in the lower Piedmont. In the Spring, mountain laurels and rhodendrons turn the mountains to shades of pink and red. Summer in the Carolina mountains is for climbing waterfalls and swimming in shallow streams.

Travelers Rest, S.C.

Many small towns in South Carolina grew along the railway corridor. In the delightful town of Travelers Rest, the corridor now forms a 22-mile greenway, Swamp Rabbit Trail, from there to Greenville. Eddie and I rent bicycles in the area and always eat at the Whistle Stop at the American Cafe.

Other South Carolina stories on Travel Notes & Storytelling

Did You Know That Alligators Love Pink?

“The Best Company” at the S.C. Military History Foundation

Flashback to the American Revolution – Ninety Six, South Carolina

Journey Through South Carolina: A Photographer’s Love of the State

Travel Notes

For a complete sightseeing guide to South Carolina, get a copy of Scenic Driving South Carolina, 3rd Edition, by John Clark and Patricia Pierce. Released this month, it’s available online at the link, on other sites, and in bookstores. There is no better travel companion for seeing the beauty of South Carolina! It’s a handy guide in the car, containing detailed descriptions, road maps, colorful pictures, and an index.

Scenic Driving South Carolina, Including Ceasars Head, Coastal Islands, Charleston, and Congaree National Park, is a must-have guide for seeing Charleston and beyond the love of Charleston as you’ve never seen South Carolina before!

John and Patty selected some of my photos to add to this beautiful 3rd Edition Scenic Driving South Carolina.

It is an unbelievable dream to have some of my photos published in the best South Carolina travel guidebook!

Thank you to my friend, Colonel Wayne Beam, USA, Retired, for encouraging Patty to see my photo exhibit at the State Library. Also, thanks to Hannah Majewski at the S.C. State Library for recommending my presentation “Photo Journey Through South Carolina.” I’ve presented it at numerous venues this year, and more are scheduled for next year. This review is from the Military Officers Association of America, Upstate S.C.

“a captivating, informative, and truly beautiful photographic journey through South Carolina as seen from the Palmetto Trail, which begins in Oconee County and goes to the ocean in the Lowcountry. We are blessed to live in such a beautiful part of this country.” – MOAA, Upstate S.C.

Finally, with all our travels outside of South Carolina, Eddie and I are grateful to Dr. Tom Mullikin for turning our attention back to the natural beauty of the Palmetto State.