The Top 5 Reasons to Visit Greenville, South Carolina Now
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Nestled up against the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the heart of South Carolina's Upcountry, Greenville is a true Southern belle. With an ever changing culinary landscape, a charming downtown, recreational opportunities galore and a thriving art scene—this once sleepy Southern town is going to make you fall in love all over again.
Source: Visit Greenville
1. THE SHOPPING
If you're one of those people who revel in visiting one-of-a-kind boutiques and come take-a-peek shops, you're in luck. Downtown Greenville’s Main Street is more just window shopping, it’s a great place to find exactly what you're looking for and maybe even something you haven’t thought of yet.
Source: Visit Greenville
Favorite shopping districts include Downtown, Augusta Road, Haywood Road, Magnolia Park, Shops at Greenridge, West End Market and the Historic District. You’ll find a variety of high-end specialty shops, fine clothing stores, flower shops, health food markets, and decorating resource centers can be found near old-fashioned hardware stores.
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2. THE ART
Greenville, South Carolina is overflowing with public art done by talented local artists and it seems like a new installation is appearing daily. The city’s architecture plays a large role, as it helps capture the rich diversity of its art scene. The Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery’s Old Master painting collection provides a rare viewer experience outside European cities with beautiful masterworks by recognized artists.
The Gallery’s baroque paintings represent one of the most important in America. That’s why many of the streets and parks of Greenville are home to 95+ pieces of stunning original art.
From the whimsical to the “wow,” you’ll encounter pieces that make you smile, make you think, and make you feel. Greenville has an online map with detailed descriptions, Greenville Public Art Tour, to help you plan your own walking art trail.
3. THE CUISINE & COCKTAILS
The Farehouse is located in the heart of the historic Taylors Mill’s Dock No. 3. The mill began its life as the Southern Bleachery and Piedmont Print Works during the height of the Greenville area’s reign as the “Textile Capital of the World.” A local favorite for inventive, farm-to-table cuisine, and hand-crafted libations that are both seasonally influenced and well balanced, cocktails you must try include the Whiskey Sour—concocted with whiskey, house sour mix, egg white, and aromatic bitters, as well as the Mill Martini with either vodka or gin, dry vermouth, smoked olive brine, and bleu cheese-stuffed smoked olives.
The Farehouse menu focuses on casually refined favorites such as New York-style pizza, pub-style appetizers and dinner specials using fresh, locally-sourced meat and produce. Favorite dishes include Grilled Salmon kissed with smoke, Israeli couscous, asparagus, mushrooms, and pearl onions, Not Your Mom’s Blackened Chicken Alfredo with fettuccine, lardons, smoked cherry tomatoes, zucchini, peas, garlic, and pearl onions, Pasta Primavera with fettuccine, lardons, smoked tomatoes, pearl onions, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, fresh spinach, and pesto cream sauce, as well as Smoked Wings with house-made green goddess, ranch or FareHot sauce.
For meat lovers, try the Butcher Block with a grilled 8 ounce filet or 12 ounce ribeye served with seasonal vegetables, roasted fingerling potatoes and bleu cheese crema.
4. THE GARDENS
Start at the gated entrance, which showcases the trees and one of the many fountains. Furman University’s Asia Garden is noted for its “unusual and tranquil beauty.” Highlights include Asia-inspired plantings like bamboo, Japanese maples and varieties if iris. The Janie E. Furman Rose Garden features 800 rose bushes, a 19th-century gazebo and a charming fountain.
The Place of Peace is the first Japanese temple ever to be dismantled and reconstructed in America. The adjoining Asia Garden are designed to stimulate your experience of connection to the earth and all the peoples of the world. Stroll, meditate and experience deep calmness.
5. THE ARCHITECTURE
On the National Register of Historic Places, Gassaway Mansion, was built circa 1919 and is considered the largest residence in South Carolina’s Upstate. The 40-room house was by Walter L. Gassaway, a banker and textile mill owner and his wife, Minnie Quinn Gassaway. Although the mansion was mainly used for entertaining, the 110-acre estate also included a working farm and dairy.
Source: Gassaway Mansion
The three-story house is "an unusual example of eclecticism," blending neo-Gothic and neoclassical elements that include six Doric columns, a Palladian window, a castellated tower, two rooftop patios, and a massive porte-cochère. Stone for the random bond masonry was in part taken from a mid-nineteenth-century grist mill on the Reedy River.
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WHERE TO STAY IN GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
Experience a revitalizing sense of luxury at The Westin Poinsett Hotel with its coveted 4-Diamond rating and location in the heart of downtown—this historic hotel is one block from the Peace Center. Step into the sophisticated lobby where the staff stands ready to assist.
