Greenville & Travelers Rest, South Carolina

This is one of the most meaningful trips we have taken in a long time, putting it all into words has been tricky!

Last summer when we were asked to leave our home of 7 years and didn't know where to go, unable to afford California any longer, I reached out on social for areas of the country people would recommend we visit. There were so many and we kept a lot on our list, but one that I kept tucked away was Greenville/Travelers Rest, South Carolina. Greenville is the bigger city with Travelers Rest being a smaller town sitting just outside of it to the north. I kept these in mind but off the table for a few reasons: I never pictured us in the south. Or I never picture myself there. I wanted longer, colder winters and thought I disliked humidity very much so. There was something else in me putting up a front but I couldn't really figure out what it was — I just knew I didn’t want to even consider the south or southeast.

Truthfully, I didn’t know much. I had never been to the area and didn’t give it thought outside of “sounds super humid and hot and far from mountains”. Then after trying out Idaho, moving back to California, and spending 6 months in our new rental, it came back into my mind. I was out of my first rimester sickness with our second pregnancy and trying to think on where we should visit over the summer to contemplate moving our family to — Greenville was put on my heart heavily. Not a single other state or town came to mind, it was genuinely the sweet Lord saying to me over and over in my heart “go here”.

I was pretty intimidated by this feeling. I had many doubts and kept bringing them to Him every day, knee deep in research of the area. After 2 weeks of prayer and research and more prayer, I brought the trip idea to Scott. Not really an idea of my own, but one that I truly believed God was telling me over and over “your peace is in going”. I can write more on this experience another time, but, this is why we went.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are to the north, in 3 hours there is beach to the east, the area has distinct seasons, oodles of farms, homesteading land, small communities of incredibly kind people, easy going homeschooling, and a family history I didn’t know I had — lets talk more on that last bit!

A few days before leaving on our trip I get a text from my grandma. It is sharing with me how she is 12 generations the descendant of the man who founded Greenville, South Carolina. His name is Nathaniel Green and apparently he was a quaker who built ships. The British kept stealing his ships so he joined the infantry and became second in command to George Washington and helped America win the revolutionary war. Apparently afterwards he settled in upstate South Carolina, founding Greenville. Even more interesting was my grandpa, who she is married to, is 12 generations the decedent of the Greers who founded the town of Greer, right outside of Greenville. My grandpa even went to grammar school in upstate South Carolina too. I knew none of this when looking into the area and planning our trip — I got the chills receiving this message! I added it to the list of ways I felt like God was pulling us to this area.

Now, onto the trip.

Here I am entering into my third trimester of pregnancy and we arrive on the hottest week of the summer! Perfectly put to the test — and you know? I was really okay, I did amazing actually. Riley and Scott were a little more affected (Scott was constantly drenched, haha) but we made the most of our time out and about all day every day. Probably doing activities that no one in their right mind who lives there would do at the time of day we did them — but we had to make it work in order to see as much as possible while recovering from a 3 hour time change. I was just overjoyed to be here. The warmth outside matched the warmth of the community, there was a humility to everything — people, buildings, nature, etc. There was a peace in me knowing this is exactly where God wanted us to be on this day at this time, too.

Day 1

Here is our first day in the area, we spent it in Greenville exploring the downtown area and a few spots around the city. We were definitely hot and jet lagged but we got to see it and that was so important before venturing out to the other areas the rest of the week. The downtown area was very quaint and green and full of nice small businesses — M. Judson Booksellers being our favorite! We spent some time there after rocking in the chairs out side of the General Store and getting some coffee at Methodical. After we walked down to Falls Park on the Reedy. Very cool and I’m sure much more enjoyable on a cool evening or morning, or in fall and winter as well. The people were all lovely, the families sweet, and the grandparents just pouring love out on Riley. It was a nice first dose of the south and I already felt more peaceful and at home than I have in any other areas we have visited in the country. We picked up some bread from Rise Bakery on the west side of town before grocery shopping at swamp rabbit grocery afterwards as well. Both were awesome spots we really enjoyed.

Later that afternoon, after cooling down and relaxing at our AirBnb, we went to Claire’s Creamery for some ice cream (so good, cute spot) and went downtown to Unity Park to let Riley play in the splash pad before dinner at The Commons. Truthfully, we were melting from the heat but loved the splash pad so very much. I just couldn’t get over all the green trees, ease of parking, the lack of crowds, and an approachable place to explore. We aren’t particularly “city” people, so we knew this wasn’t our area to settle in or be near on the regular, but it was important that we knew the area that would be nearby to us to visit for some special occasions or amenities.

Day 2

The day I fell in love with South Carolina, visiting Travelers Rest and the nature above! Goodness. This is the cutest little town. We started an Tandem, a coffee house that serves amazing crepes. Scott got the cinnamon roll crepe but next time we want to all get some of their savory crepes, or the waffles, those looked epic and delicious. It was late in the morning so we had already eaten breakfast but got some drinks and sat and enjoyed ourselves here a while.

Next we drove up to MacGregor’s Orchard to get some peaches, walk the orchard, and see what that experience would be like. It was amazing. I don’t think I’ve stopped talking about those peaches since this day! The kindest man was running the stand and showed us around, let us walk the orchards a bit, and I stocked up on veggies for dinner as well as some sourdough and two bagfuls of peaches. They were all ripe for eating, straight form the shelves. I’ve never eaten something so fruity and sweet.

Next we drove to hike around Poinsett Bridge up the road. It was incredibly magical and held beautiful history. I loved how nestled in the trees we were and was thankful for the clouds and slight drizzle this day, cooling us all down. After we drove to Table Rock State Park. Riley played on a little playground while Scott ate a bite on a nearby picnic table, then we hiked the little ways into the most serene swimming hole. We couldn’t believe we had it to ourselves (Carrick Creek is the name of the trail). The only photo I have is the iPhone snap below, I believe I shared more videos of this spot on social if you browse my highlights from our trip. It was so cooling and and healing. I was at extreme peace here and very grateful.

We headed home afterwards and cooked up some tasty dinner with MacGregor’s produce. Later I found out that my grandma had been to that same orchard for a family reunion many moons ago, just adding more to the history I never knew I had in this place.

Day 3

We were in the car on our way to head to one of the big lakes that morning and I grab Scott’s phone to reroute us to a blueberry picking farm I remembered wanting to go to up to Traveler’s Rest at the last minute, so glad for that heart pang! We stopped to walk the cute downtown and get coffees at Bridge City (loved this spot and what a nice person helping us out there too). Then we hopped in the car and headed for the little farm. I found them by searching on Google Maps a while before our trip, as is how I find most things, and it was the sweetest of places. A lady with her grandson greeted us, it was piping hot and 11am, not when you should go ideally but we had the best time!

One of Riley and I’s favorite books to read is Blueberries for Sal and she was so delighted to live out the book in real life. She could have genuinely picked blueberries all day if we let her. What a diligent little harvester! She would say “I could just pick and pick all day mama” then at the end said “once we eat these all up at home we can come back and pick some more”. I couldn’t have agreed more with her, blueberries are delightful to pick. When we went to check out our two buckets were only $4.40. My mouth dropped. We didn’t even have to pay to pick. As Californians we are so used to everyone wanting to charge us for everything they can at the most premium price, this was such a genuine and peaceful experience. A great reminder that places like this do still exists in the country. I would return here happily. These are some of my favorite photos from the trip too!

Afterwards we headed to a swimming spot for the afternoon called Long Shoals. It is a big rock waterslide of an area with different swimming pools. Again, totally free, and just off the side of the road with a wood staircase down to the creek. We had a great time swimming here and the kids and moms were so very kind. One mom about 50 feet away from me noticed me sitting in the shade and I watched her open her cooler, take out an ice cold water bottle, and walk up the rock to me to ask if I was thirsty. These are the people here, more concerned with others than themselves, and so loving and thoughtful.

We checked out a lake spot afterwards and were pretty hot and tired. But it was nice and the country store peaches filled Riley’s and I’s tummies very happily. We drove home afterwards picking up some dinner to eat back at our rental properly whooped and having had a very full day.

Day 4

I woke up heartbroken that this was our last day in upstate! Which is such a good sign. Could not have experienced a better send off from the area before our drive to Charleston than to have visited Megan’s property to pick flowers in her orchard she had just opened to the public to visit. What a blessing to arrive here and meet this kind family! The farm animals were so sweet and the flowers absolutely gorgeous. What an incredible piece of land they have cultivated just brimming with life and nature sounds. We picked two jars filled of flowers after the nicest conversation with Megan herself. We drove with them in our car to brighten the drive and AirBnb down in Charleston for the next few nights. I want to print every one of these pictures and hope you enjoy them too. The little grasshoppers and bumble bees were straight out of a story book.

Thank you for this time, Megan <3.