Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

2019 Hiking week 34 Hi all. I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I’ve been busy traveling and celebrating my birthday. It’s been a busy past few weeks. This past weekend the weather was pretty iffy. They were calling for rain but then it ended up not being too bad, even though it was warm. So Friday we headed out to Irmo, just outside of Columbia, to hike in Harbison State Forest . I would guess that most people in Columbia have been to Harbison State Forest, or at least have heard of it. It’s a nice park with over 2,000. There are multiple trails that you can hike or mountain bike on.  Over the years, we have visited Harbison Forest multiple times. There are lots of different trails we can hike on and they are well marked. Many are 3-4 miles long which is good for an hour or two hike. I like some of the trails that go all the way to the Broad River. The area is mostly pine trees and sandy soil and there are a variety of difficulty levels to pick from.  ...

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...

2019 Hiking Week 30 Can you believe that in  the 14 years that I've lived in Columbia since college, I haven't been out to Dreher Island State Park? One of the villas on the lake. We recently made the trip to Dreher Island with a couple of kayaks on our car that we borrowed from some friends. After a couple of wrong turns and driving into Newberry County, we made it to the park. The park is a series of islands on the lake that are connected. There’s a large marina and boat ramp that seems to be the most popular attraction. There are also campgrounds, cabins, villas, and picnic shelters for people to reserve. They have quite a few options for cabin-like rentals in the park. There are villas, which are like larger lake houses, there are cabins, which are simple but sleep ?? People, and there are these huts that look like one room cabins with simple accommodations.  In my opinion, some of the best looking sites were the camper and tent sites at the end of the isla...

2019 Hiking Week 29 Most of the time, people in Columbia take I-77 North to visit Charlotte. Whether it's for a flight, a concert, or just to shop at IKEA, many drive right past the Rock Hill area. Rock Hill is home to Winthrop Univeristy and has become a suburb of Charlotte. I enjoy stopping there on my way in or out of Charlotte, or sometimes we go there just because of the good restaurants and breweries there.  Recently, we were going to be in the area so I wanted to stop by the Glencairn Gardens . They were featured in the book "Classic Carolina Roadtrips"  and I thought of how many times I had been to Rock Hill but hadn't seen these gardens. They are just outside of downtown Rock Hill. Since we visited in the middle of summer, it was pretty green but not a lot of flowers. The park is 11 acres in the middle of an older neighborhood. It has many different sections: lawn, amphitheater, ponds, waterfalls, a "victory garden" and children's...

Hiking 2019 week 28 Devil’s Fork State Park is on Lake Jocassee, in the mountains of South Carolina. If you’re looking for a place to cool off, I recommend this lake. It’s one of the prettiest lakes in South Carolina. Lake Jocassee doesn’t have much development. Most of the shoreline is prohibited from development. Also, the park is one of the few access points to the lake. So the boat traffic is pretty low compared to nearby Lakes Keowee and Hartwell. Because of the cold water temperatures and the location of the lake, the water is very clear and blue. It’s refreshing on a hot day.  There are many ways to enjoy Devil’s Fork State Park and Lake Jocassee. The park has campgrounds, a boat ramp, a swimming area, and paddle rentals. There are also trails in the park for hiking. Recently, we rented a tandem kayak and set off from the park along the shoreline. There were quite a few others on paddle boards and kayaks too. We found a couple of places along the way that had beach ...