Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for south carolina
America’s Only Tea Plantation
By Linda Tancs
Located on picturesque Wadmalaw Island in the heart of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, Charleston Tea Plantation is the home of America’s homegrown tea, American Classic Tea. A historical treasure, every Camellia Sinensis plant growing on the grounds of the plantation is a direct descendent of the 1888 crop grown by Dr. Charles Shepard, who founded the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, South Carolina. He produced award-winning American tea until his death in 1915. Thereafter, his tea plants were transferred to a potato farm on Wadmalaw Island that later became the plantation beloved today. The plantation is open year round, and harvesting and production are in full swing now. In fact, the plants’ blooming season is at its peak. Enjoy the beauty of the fields with a trolley ride and have a cuppa. The grounds are located right off Maybank Highway.
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A Chieftain’s Table
By Linda Tancs
Legend has it that South Carolina’s Table Rock got its name from a Cherokee chieftain who used a ledge of Table Rock Mountain as a dining table to feast on the bounty of his hunt. Indeed, long before this area of the Blue Ridge Mountains become Table Rock State Park (one of 47 state parks), its Cherokee inhabitants named it Sah-ka-na-ga, the Great Blue Hills of God. The extensive trail system carries hikers past streams and waterfalls to the top of Table Rock and Pinnacle mountains. Pinnacle Mountain is the highest peak located entirely within the state.
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History on the Waterfront
By Linda Tancs
History awaits along the waterfront at Patriots Point in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. That’s where you’ll find the USS Yorktown, the 10th aircraft carrier to serve in the U.S. Navy. Originally named Bon Homme Richard, it was renamed Yorktown in honor of the Yorktown that was sunk during the Battle of Midway in 1942. The carrier participated significantly in the Pacific Theater, earning 11 battle stars for service during World War II. It was decommissioned in 1970 and later towed from New Jersey to Charleston to serve as the centerpiece of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.
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The Arts Captivate Charleston
By Linda Tancs
Internationally recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival, Spoleto Festival is the American counterpart to Spoleto, Italy’s Festival of Two Worlds. Set in Charleston, South Carolina, the event was founded in the United States in 1977 by Spoleto’s organizers in Italy, among them Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Taking place tomorrow through 7 June, the annual celebration of the performing arts fills the array of venues in one of the South’s most charming cities with performances by renowned artists as well as emerging performers in opera, theater and dance as well as chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music.
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A Monumental Architect
By Linda Tancs
Robert Mills is one of the earliest architects born and trained in the United States. One of his most prominent designs is the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Adhering to classical design, he focused mostly on public buildings like monuments, prisons, colleges and hospitals. A notable exception is the Classical Revival residence for merchant Ainsley Hall and his wife Sarah in Columbia, South Carolina. One of only five National Historic Landmarks in the city, the Robert Mills House is a well-kept testament to the architectural prowess of one of the nation’s best designers. Now a museum, the house boasts decorative arts of the early 19th century in styles including American Federal, English Regency, and French Empire.
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Beachy Keen in the Lowcountry
By Linda Tancs
Just two islands north of swanky Hilton Head, South Carolina’s Hunting Island State Park is the antidote to overdevelopment. In fact, it’s one of the few remaining undeveloped Sea Islands in the Lowcountry. And with miles of hiking trails and one of the longest public beaches in the region, it’s easy to understand why it’s one of the state’s most visited properties. Rising above the tall palms and natural ferns is the namesake lighthouse, the only one in the state open to the public, offering irresistible views of the Atlantic Ocean, the park and the surrounding marshes.
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On the Road to Yorktown
By Linda Tancs
On this date in 1781 the Patriots won a decisive victory over the Redcoats in Gaffney, South Carolina at the Battle of Cowpens. Formally a pasture before becoming a battlefield, Cowpens National Battlefield is the site where a military maneuver known as a double envelopment took place, the only such tactic to take place during the Revolution. The result at Cowpens started General Lord Cornwallis on the road to Yorktown that eventually led to the British surrender there.
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Celebrate the Sweet Potato in South Carolina
By Linda Tancs
In the southeastern U.S., the sweet potato is, as the saying goes, as American as motherhood and apple pie. Its illustrious heritage here began around 1543 when Spanish explorers found sweet potatoes growing in what became Louisiana. In Colonial days sweet potatoes were an item of trade and were shipped from large Carolina plantations to northern cities. Later, during the Civil War, the sweet potato became one of many substitutes for coffee by being dried, parched, ground and brewed. Is it any wonder, then, that such a storied and useful vegetable would be celebrated each year in Darlington, South Carolina. On 8 October on the Public Square in Darlington is the annual Sweet Potato Festival, where over 17,000 tater-lovin’ folks will gather for crafts, music, live entertainment, a car show and plenty of food, including–of course–sweet potato pie. Do you have a favorite sweet potato recipe? Share it in the comments section.
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Open House in Charleston
By Linda Tancs
Calhoun Mansion is an 1876 manor house of italianate design and the largest residence in Charleston, South Carolina. It boasts Tiffany lighting, a 75 foot domed ceiling, 35 rooms and 23 fireplaces. For a fee you can tour this house, which happens to be a private residence. The gardens are free to tour, however, and they are spectacular. During Historic Charleston Foundation’s 64th Annual Spring Festival of Houses & Gardens today through 16 April, you can tour stately homes like Calhoun. Tours and events vary daily.
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The PGA of Mini Golf
By Linda Tancs
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a family-friendly destination. After all, the nearby Children’s Museum of South Carolina has interactive exhibits and programs such as a science lab and a kiddie ATM. And what could be more family friendly than miniature golf. Myrtle Beach is known in many circles as the mini golf capital of the world. So it probably would come as no surprise that the area hosts a Masters National Pro Mini Golf Championship at Hawaiian Rumble, a course sporting a 40- foot lava rock volcano that erupts every 20 minutes or so for a few seconds. The event, held this year between 14 and 17 October, is the official national championship for top professional mini golfers in America. It is approximately five and a half miles from Myrtle Beach International Airport and similar distances from Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing. Look for the Hawaiian Rumble sign at the intersection of Highway 17 and 33rd Avenue South.
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