Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

Hiking 2019 Week 33 Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand area of South Carolina is probably one of the most popular parts of the state. People have been flocking to the area for over 50 years to enjoy the beaches. Even though I grew up in Florida, my family would meet other family members in the summer at Pawleys Island. I remember staying on the beach, playing putt-putt golf, and setting off fireworks. Since moving to South Carolina, my family doesn’t visit Myrtle Beach as often. Since it’s about three hours from Columbia and Charleston is only about an hour and a half, we tend to go to Isle of Palms or other Charleston beaches. But there are two state parks in the Grand Strand area and one plantation state park just south of the area. We decided to do a day trip to visit all three. Myrtle Beach State Park Our first stop was Myrtle Beach State Park . It is an oasis in the middle of all the tourist areas of Myrtle Beach. You have a glimpse of what the area must have looke...

2019 Hiking Week 32 There are only three state parks that are former plantation homes. One that I posted about before is Redcliffe Plantation , outside of North Augusta. Another is Rose Hill Plantation, in the upstate region. The closest town to Rose Hill is either Whitmire or Cross Anchor. Neither is very large. So if you plan to visit, be sure to have good directions! There are good signs to the site but it is back in the Sumter National Forest area, off of I-26. Rose Hill Plantation is named for the rose garden that it has, but it was the Gist family that built the home. William Henry Gist was governor of South Carolina just before the state seceded in the 1800's. The house was unoccupied after a couple of generations until the early 1900's when a man bought the property and worked on restoring it as a museum. The state bought it in 1960 for a state park. It has a nice, long driveway, quite a few buildings on the grounds, and some trails and picnic areas for visitor...

2019 Hiking Week 31 Over the Labor Day weekend, I took advantage of the cooler & drier weather and biked the Easley to Pickens Doodle Trail. This trail is about 7 1/2 miles long and runs on an old railroad line from Easley to Pickens. Easley is about half way between Clemson and Greenville. It's a fun trail that isn't as popular as the Swamp Rabbit Trail and has more hills than other rails-to-trails trails. This weekend, it was pretty busy with many others taking advantage of the nice weather. There are multiple areas that you can park to access the trail. There is access from downtown Easley, a park just outside of Easley, and the new Doodle Park in downtown Pickens. We tried to park in the park outside of Easley but it was full. So we drove a little down the trail to another parking area near an old factory. Wildflowers along the trail. Along the way, the paved trail goes through neighborhoods, industrial areas, a cemetery, and even by what we call the "f...