 | Here are the specifics on my trip: eating, staying, packing. Greenville has an airport, but we flew direct from San Francisco to Atlanta and rented a car, a two- to three-hour very pleasant drive. If I lived closer, I’d take a long weekend there in the spring or fall. (I hear winter can freeze, and summer is humid.) This town is totally do-able, and renews my faith in small town America. |
What I Packed
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I used a roller bag and my Tom Bihn Pilot. Everything worked out, and I had plenty of clothing. I could have done without the shorts (AC was freezing) and two of the tops. Our Airbnb house had a washer/dryer, so I washed once. Next time, I’m traveling lighter, with fewer clothes and fewer toiletries (too many trial-sized lotions, first aid items, and foot care products that could have waited till I got home).
Where We Stayed
| We stayed at a lovely Airbnb house near Fluor Field, about a 20 minute walk from downtown. The house was a lovely little two-bedroom brick house with nice appliances, furniture, and linens. Here’s the link. I really like staying in Airbnb digs. You feel like a community member more than a tourist, and the hosts are always quite helpful with local information. Even well-planned travel has its crazy days, and starting my day with a quiet cup of coffee at a kitchen table lets me feel collected and peaceful. A nice glass of wine on the couch before bed doesn’t hurt, either. |  |
Where to Eat
| My number one favorite place to eat in Greenville was Henry’s Smokehouse. It looks like a dump, which I think is a good sign for a bbq restaurant. You order at the counter and sit down inside or outside. When your order is ready, the waitress walks around hollering out your number until she finds you. The bbq was delicious, the potato salad was divine, cole slaw was superb, and the other sides were not lacking in anything. I think I ate there three times, until my body gently reminded me that it would like more vegetables. |  |
 | The Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery served us a delicious lunch of sandwiches, salads, pogacha (Turkish calzone), and a raspberry pastry I would sell one of my children for. But I don't have to because I can just buy one for $3. You know what I mean. We ate outdoors at picnic tables under canvas tarps, watching people rent bikes next door and swerve off down the Swamp Rabbit Trail. |
| If you need to feed starving teenagers who have been acting civilized all day and need to eat protein and let off steam, go to Sticky Fingers on Main Street. They have bbq, salads, ribs, burgers, and all the fixins. Another nice option is Tito’s Pizza on Pleasantburg Rd. Red leather booths, pizza, pasta. You can’t go wrong. |  |
 | Luna Rosa Gelato was there for me when I needed it. I generally don’t care for frozen treats of any kind (I know, it’s weird not to like ice cream), but on a hot sticky day, even I break down for an Italian lemon sorbet. Under an umbrella, with a pre-thunderstorm breeze, it was the nicest temperature I’d sat in all day. Trio’s on Main Street was a great place for lunch with girlfriends. We had big beautiful salads and soups (dark green salads are rare here, you have to look for them) with bread for those of us who still touch gluten.(photo of soup and salad) |
Also on Main Street, Soby’s New South Cuisine has a lovely Sunday brunch with Southern standards like grits (I still don’t like grits, sorry, South), shrimp and pasta, banana pudding, sausage, and new-fangled concoctions like corn tortilla breakfast casserole and the most delicious kale salad I’ve ever tasted. I got the recipe: shredded kale, shredded carrots, cranberries, and a dressing made of orange blossom honey and white balsamic vinegar. The salad alone is worth a repeat visit.
The teenagers on this trip couldn’t get enough of Waffle House and Sonic. We did stop by each of those places, but only for the kids. Well, I did have a few onion rings. Also a corn dog. Maybe a mozzarella stick. But that’s it. Sonic had happy hour every day from 2-4 with half-priced slushes, so I took one to my son a few times to fortify him between debate rounds. Sometimes, it’s pretty easy to make your kids happy.
The teenagers on this trip couldn’t get enough of Waffle House and Sonic. We did stop by each of those places, but only for the kids. Well, I did have a few onion rings. Also a corn dog. Maybe a mozzarella stick. But that’s it. Sonic had happy hour every day from 2-4 with half-priced slushes, so I took one to my son a few times to fortify him between debate rounds. Sometimes, it’s pretty easy to make your kids happy.
What to Do
Well, first off, go downtown. Walk around. Marvel at the civic planning that went into Greenville. When towns started losing their identity to the suburban mall culture in the 70’s, Greenville said NO and planned a lovely downtown. It’s what many towns are trying to get back to now, with outdoor pedestrian malls like Santana Row in Silicon Valley.
| Get a massage. Some people collect souvenirs, I collect massages. Creative Health has a health food store on the street level, and in the quiet, peaceful basement there is a relaxing sitting area and massage rooms. I don’t know what Joanie was doing with those hot rocks back there, but I want her to do it again. |  |
 | Go to the rooftop bar, Sip, and try the pear-infused bourbon. It was my first bourbon, and I’m sold. Also, those people work magic with twinkle lights. |
Live music and theatre. During our ten days in Greenville, there were outdoor concerts and dance shows in the amphitheatre by the river, Shakespeare in the Park, and on Friday nights Main Street turns into a pedestrian street with live music. I couldn’t believe the variety of concerts and programs.
| Ponder the afterlife. Go to the cemetery. Christ Church on Church Street has graves from the 1700s with epitaphs that make you think. Or, go to mass at St. Mary’s and hear Mass in Latin. St. George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral had a Greek festival that packed the streets.
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| OK, here’s a wild one. During my upbringing in the South, I saw how the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement shaped our country, and I have seen how much things have changed, and how much some things have not changed. While there was no official segregation during the 70’s and 80’s, there was plenty of unofficial segregation, in neighborhoods and churches, and plenty of discrimination in my hometown and in some of my family members. Only when I left the South to go to grad school in Michigan did I begin to see how prejudice hurts communities and individuals, and how some of my own words perpetuated the attitudes that are so harmful. However, to my Silicon Valley suburb kids, raised on tolerance and diversity, the Civil War and its aftermath were just a chapter of American history, and they often do not understand the recurring racism they see on the news. We visited the Museum and Library of Confederate History so that our kids could understand the fascination some people have with the Civil War and try to understand how those attitudes fit in with the racial tensions we see in the US today. The docents, descendants of Confederate veterans, told us about the War of Northern Aggression, how Lincoln was a tyrant, how African-American Confederate soldiers fought proudly for the South, and how the Kennedys got their fortune from bootlegging (not sure what that has to do with the Civil War, but we just let them talk). |  |
The artifacts were interesting, but most interesting was the gift shop, with Confederate flag ties, bumper stickers, paper dolls, key chains, pocket knives, books, and other paraphernalia. This was particularly interesting to us because the week before this trip my younger son’s middle school had a Civil War re-enactment and the South did not use the Confederate flag, just a generic red and blue flag. They explained to the students that the flag is offensive to many people because of what it stood for, and I’m glad that that is what my children are learning. However, to fully understand the continuing problems in our country today, it’s important to examine the issue from all sides. Our California kids left the museum perplexed by the conflicting views of history and sobered by the subtleties of modern racism. You can outlaw lynching and white-only water fountains, but you can’t outlaw prejudice and bigotry. Because those are more subtle, they are harder to get rid of.
All in all, I’d say our time in Greenville, SC, was very great! Some things I remembered from my childhood are still there--white frame houses with hardwood floors, great food, and humidity. However, I didn’t see as many Confederate flags as in the 70’s, and there is more healthy food, if you look for it. If I were within 500 miles of the place, I’d happily spend a long weekend there. There was fun to be had, and I found it!
All in all, I’d say our time in Greenville, SC, was very great! Some things I remembered from my childhood are still there--white frame houses with hardwood floors, great food, and humidity. However, I didn’t see as many Confederate flags as in the 70’s, and there is more healthy food, if you look for it. If I were within 500 miles of the place, I’d happily spend a long weekend there. There was fun to be had, and I found it!
