Only in South Carolina

Photo Credit: Lake Murray Country CVB

Discover the hidden gems of South Carolina that you won’t find anywhere else. From the “World’s Smallest Police Station(link is external)” in Ridgeway, to the largest collection of outdoor sculptures at Brookgreen Gardens(link is external) in Murrells Inlet, your readers are bound to experience the Palmetto State’s best-kept secrets. Here’s a small sampling:

  • Millions of Peaches: South Carolina is the leading peach producer and shipper east of the Mississippi river and, funny enough, the town of Gaffney made their water storage tank in the shape of a peach (Peachoid) – you can see it off of I-85 between Greenville and Charlotte – worth pulling over for and snapping a photo!
  • Monkeying Around: Monkey Island (aka Morgan Island), an uninhabited island near Hilton Head Island, is home to the only free-ranging colony of Rhesus monkeys in the United States. There are about 3,500 monkeys on the island! You might catch a glimpse of the monkeys by boat.
  • Forests and Fireflies: It might seem unlikely that a national park could be undiscovered in any way, and yet Congaree National Park(link is external) is certainly a hidden gem. It’s one of the least visited national parks in the country, yet it is home to the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in the southeast. Each May, visitors may even see the dance of the fireflies, where they will synchronize their flash for an amazing, natural light phenomenon.
  • Tea-rrific Teapots: There are teapots for days at J’s Tea-rific Teapot Museum(link is external), in Elloree, South Carolina, where you’ll find a collection of 5,001 teapots, and a ginormous, 20-foot blue teapot (with more teapots inside)! They serve High Tea which consists of hot tea, iced tea, three courses (including homemade scones) and a selection of sweets. You can choose the teacup you’d like to use and which hat you’d like to wear. All proceeds go to a local animal rescue center, For All Paws.
  • Purple Martins Summer Retreat: Each summer, between end of June and beginning of August, the skies over Lunch Island on Lake Murray (link is external)come to life as the Purple Martins arrive for their summer vacation. It is estimated that more than one million birds venture north for the summer and roost on the island, giving spectators a rare look at one of nature’s true phenomena. The sky gets dark and millions of Purple Martins fill the pre-dawn and evening skies each day. This Phenomenon can be seen via boat on Lake Murray. This is a great social distancing activity and there are many boat rentals available.

Media Contact

Brie Logue, Tourism Public Relations Manager, [email protected](link sends e-mail)
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