Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

South Carolina State Parks Looking back over this past year and the many different state parks, it’s hard to say which park would be my favorite. There are a total of 47 state parks in South Carolina. The parks are so varied, I thought it would be best to do a list of superlatives instead. First, its probably helpful to talk about the different types of state parks we have. There are the beach parks that have beach access, camping, and they preserve the area as close as they can to its natural state. Then there are the mountain parks, which provide hiking, camping, and access to the mountains of the state. There are also many state parks that seem like their primary purpose is to provide a natural park for residents in the area to hike, camp, picnic, and have access to a lake or other body of water. Many of these parks have gathering spaces for the community to use. Finally, there are parks that preserve some part of the history of South Carolina. Many are plantation homes or sit...

SC Tour - 2018 Highlight As I was thinking about this series of blog postings and what kind of places I want to share, I remembered a place we visited after Christmas in 2018. We were in Charleston for a night and on our way back, we stopped at the Audubon's Frances Biedler Forest, outside of Summerville. The forest is a little bit difficult to find, but you can follow the signs from I-26 and they will get you there. You feel like you're driving to someone's home. But the forest is part of an 18,000 acre bird and wildlife sanctuary! When you visit, you're only seeing a small fraction of the land, but it is beautiful. It reminded me of Congaree National Forest. There is a raised boardwalk that takes you less than 2 miles around and it has many interesting info signs along the way. I was particularly interested in the effects that the 2015 flood and Hurricane Hugo had on the area. The park staff were very friendly and informative. They also had some exhibits inside the...

In 2019 I decided I wanted to up our amount of hiking and being outdoors. I'm always inspired this time of year to get outside. There's something about hiking when it's cold and dry and the trees are bare of leaves. I think it comes from hiking with my parents often in the winter. They usually do a Christmas Day hike which I'd love to join them for one year. I've thought about getting park passes, like the South Carolina State Parks Pass, but before I commit the money to that, I thought we'd see how much we might need it. Most parks are pretty cheap to get in ($5 or less) and there are many of places we can go for free. I also got one of the SC Park Passports where you get it stamped at each park and when you get them all stamped, you are an Ultimate Outsider. Fun. Besides SC State Parks, I love that we have the Palmetto Trail . One day it will go from Oconee to the beach. It comes right through Columbia. It's not 100% complete now but there are a lot of ...