Get Dizzie in Cheraw! SC Jazz Festival is buzzing fine music, arts, bepop parade, food and more…

“Bebop on down to Chee-raw, South Carolina” October 16 -18 weekend at the lively annual SC Jazz Festival.
Enjoy world class jazz, a bebop parade, jazz crawls, SC Cotton Trail Artisans’ exhibit, gospel music, and many fun free kids art activities.
Single concert tickets are $15 ($25 for both nights) and include Main Stage events.
For [...]

Free and romantic Hilton Head attractions: mysterous Leamington Lighthouse, a ghost legend and military treasure

Featured on the National Register of Historic Places, the Leamington Lighthouse, is a legendary historic site on Hilton Head Island.
Originally known as the Hilton Head Range Light Station, the unusual skeleton and cypress wood structure was built to guide ships into Port Royal Sound.
It is the only historic lighthouse on Hilton Head Island and [...]

Life is good at Sea Pines! Hilton Head free fun things to do with kids

On our second Hilton Head vacation I finally got a chance to explore the amazing Sea Pines Forest Preserve.
Admission is free, however visitors need $5 all day guest pass to get inside the Sea Pines Plantation.
In less than 2 hours we came close to alligators, anhingas and blue herons, and stepped back in time [...]

“B” is for butterfly! Enjoy Hilton Head’s newest free family attraction at Coastal Discovery Museum

Hurray for the new butterfly exhibit at the Coastal Discovery Museum on the Honey Horn plantation. Children of all ages will be delighted to walk around jolly butterflies and see them emerge from chrysalises.
The outdoor garden is a shutterbugs and green thumbs mecca. There are so many beautiful flowers, plants and trees butterfly love to [...]

Be a proud Marine at historic Parris Island Museum

Be inspired, thrilled and for ever humbled at the amazing Parris Island Museum near Beaufort, an 8,000 square feet ode to “The Few.The Proud. The Marines”.
Admission is free and the museum is open daily 10AM – 4:30PM except New Year’s, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. More info (843) 228-2951 or the website.
You’ll get a pass at [...]

A Taste of Freedom Park, Charlotte’s best outdoor family recreation

Freedom Park is an oasis of natural beauty, peace and healthy relaxation in the heart of the Queen City. Charlotte’s “Central Park” has indulged, pampered and energized, in a rite of passage, entire families for generations.
Fun things to do
(Freedom Park parking and activities map)
• Hike, jog or bike on miles of trails along the lake [...]

Vibrant, resilient and mysterious, St. Helena Church towers historic Beaufort almost 300 years later…

Recently I visited one of the most iconic churches in Beaufort and the Lowcountry, the St. Helena Episcopal Church. Thanks to our lovely guide the free tour was a pure delight (that’s quite a feat with my young and restless 5 years old!).
St. Helena church was established in 1712 as a colonial parish of the [...]

A heart felt return to Old Sheldon Church

On my second visit to Beaufort and the “Palmetto Phoenix Church” I discovered touching stories of love, passion, freedom and despair.
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The heart-breaking loss of a child…
“I’ll weep no tears upon the grave
Where lies my darling out of sight
God has but taken what He gave
And made my child a Seraph bright
He early tastes the promised bliss
And [...]

Free weekend fun in Walterboro: The Great Swamp, Artisans Center and Tuskegee Memorial

Great Swamp Sanctuary
The Great Swamp Sanctuary is South Carolina’s newest nature-based attraction providing the ultimate Lowcountry experience: a pristine black waters swamp filled with history, culture, recreation and education.
The swamp is located within the ACE Basin and its entrance is just minutes from I-95. At 842-acre, the Sanctuary is the East [...]

Delight your soul with vibrant roses and iris flowers at Edisto and Sumter Swan Lake Gardens

A sea of roses, a swamp of irises. Brilliant colors, sublime aromas and joyfulness in the air. You can’t help but feel happy!
Best things in life are free. And yes the incredible Edisto Memorial Rose Gardens in Orangeburg and Swan Lake and Iris Gardens in Sumter are free to attend.
This Memorial Day weekend bring your [...]