I must confess — I traveled during the coronavirus pandemic. As dicey as it is, I succumbed to the temptations of visiting the low-risk members of my family. They were certain that we could remain socially distant and that everyone would wear masks and maintain strict hand-washing protocols, never letting our guard down, not even for a quick hug. So, without hesitation, I took the chance, and booked my flight to Greenville, South Carolina.
I had never visited this city before; I’d only briefly seen Charleston and nearby Asheville, NC when I was a child. My family were certain that I would fall in love with it. It turns out that if you’re going to go somewhere during this time, the expansive wilderness of the Blue Ridge Mountains and spacious bike trails and rivers of the Carolinian high country isn’t too bad. With this in mind and my overwhelming desire to share a kitchen with my gourmand sister, I strapped on my N-95 mask, covered it with my buff headscarf, put on my goggles, and entered LAX.
Air Travel during the pandemic is as surreal as I thought it would be. You have a mixture of the overly cautious, wearing everything but lab-grade hazmat suits. Then there are the stubborn people blatantly ignoring common sense, decency, and luckily strict FAA mandates, whining to security about their “rights being violated.” Fortunately almost everyone I encountered was respectful, safe, and most of all, friendly to other stressed-out travelers.
After a few hours I landed in Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. Classic southern rock blared over the loudspeaker as I ran outside to air hug my family. We had a lot to talk about — mostly how much my family loves Greenville! — and I was hungry for some Southern cuisine. My family, well aware of what would make me happy after arriving, made cheesy grits with shrimp gravy and took me on a long drive and obligatory history lesson throughout the city.
Greenville’s going through changes. Recently, thanks to a flood of industries setting up shop here, affordable property values, a booming food and entertainment scene, and enough natural scenery to drive any outdoors enthusiast wild, the place is growing considerably. This new branding, as a new mecca for young professionals eager to live their dream while accessing a limitless supply of craft beer and yoga studios, has created a new Greenville that’s exciting to discover, even as the world seems to have stopped.
Greenville started out as a Cherokee hunting spot until the first settlers started arriving in the late 18th century. The most notable of these early European settlers was Richard Pearis who built a plantation above the Reedy River, establishing Greenville as a legal county. Although Pearis was the first to officially establish a permanent settlement here, it was not named after him. That honor came to a Southern Revolutionary War commander named Nathaniel Greene.
The textile industry, the life and blood of Greenville, began in the early 19th century, starting with a wealthy businessman named Vardy McBee. McBee, like many notable figures of the time, was a wealthy slave owner. The legacy of this unfortunate side of history prevails. For some, referring to the former slave owners as ‘fathers of Greenville’ is, as you can imagine, a sensitive issue.
The town escaped the destruction so many cities and towns faced during the civil war and quickly grew as one of the top producers of cotton in the country by the turn of the century. Business owners and legislators worked tirelessly to build parks, hospitals, office buildings and modern industries that began to flourish. This growth seemed to be neverending until the Great Depression gutted the region of available work opportunities, driving mass unemployment and poverty.
After WWII many Northern companies as well as military industrial complexes came to Greenville to capitalize on its available work force and proximity to other large cities. Today the city is home to hundreds of international organizations including BMW and Michelin. This boom in industry has triggered an explosion of new growth and development that has taken many locals by surprise. Housing prices and the general cost of living have gone up exponentially, especially in the downtown area where most people are choosing to live. The economic boom and demand for housing has created another demand that has now set Greenville apart from many cities in the US: places to have fun and an infrastructure that allows it.
The city of Greenville has become one of the most bike friendly places in the United States. Downtown is now full of day rental shops, bike lanes, and bicycle based community activities. Trails connect the city with a vast network of mountain biking tracks leading into the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
Road Bikers, joggers, and runners can easily circumnavigate the city’s metro region by a two lane urban pathway known as the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It opened in 2009 and continues to draw tons of people looking for exercise and fun ways to get around. Several popular restaurants, breweries, cafes, and markets have been developed along the 22-mile trail and remain popular places with plenty of outdoor seating.
Food, especially Southern comfort food, lies at the heart of the region. Thanks to a combination of culinary pride, innovative planning, and a highly competitive yet supportive local food industry the city’s food scene is ever-expanding and continues to bring Greenville into contention as one of the South’s food capitals.
Within the growing city limits there are hundreds of new locally owned restaurants and food trucks that cater to an increasing demographic of picky eaters. People can wander by foot or hop on the trolly to explore the busy food and entertainment center. The city’s restaurants range from award-winning fine dining, traditional southern, to international street food including taco trucks and noodle bars. I was introduced to the incredible Middle Eastern staple known as The Pita House. The friendly and unassuming family run business serves arguably the best middle eastern food you’re going to find anywhere.
As cosmopolitan as Greenville has become one thing remains the same: the local’s love of Southern cooking. This is expressed not only in the restaurants preserving the traditions but inside people’s homes. From cheesy grits covered in shrimp gravy to tangy, crab and catfish stews, and meaty collard greens; southern cooking is done right here. Let’s not forget about boiled peanuts. These delicious snacks are served in any number of bars, festivals, roadside stalls, or food carts.
First and Foremost, when talking about South Carolina’s high-country fare, BBQ is king. Here a whole pasture raised pig is thrown over pits of burning hickory and smoked for hours until juicy and tender. The cuts of smoky goodness are then doused in a tangy mustard-based bbq sauce and served with all the traditional fixins like homemade slaw and mac n cheese. Henry’s Smokehouse was where I popped my unalloyed upcountry BBQ cherry and subsequently became a fiend for the stuff.
Low Country Boil is another Carolina tradition that many households around the state enjoy. It’s an easy-to-make combination of shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes cooked in a generous amount of cajun spices and beer. Once everything is cooked you serve the ingredients on a newspaper strewed table. This is communal finger food at its finest.
For a taste of the local produce I popped into the Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery located just off the Swamp Rabbit Trail in the city’s historic westside. I spent almost an hour perusing the lovely outdoor cafe and grocery stocked with a huge range of specialities. From local honey, rabbit, to pickled green tomatoes, dried okra, and plenty of mouth watering fruit.
For fans of craft Breweries and Distilleries Greenville is a hive full of activity. I sampled a few beers at the Birds Fly South Ale Project. It’s the passion project of its two founders Lindsay and Shawn Johnson. Both are Greenville transplants, having lived across the country they finally settled in Greenville to start their business. Their beers are incredible, focusing on farmhouse style ales, sours, and saisons, and the outdoor spaces were perfect for imbibing and socializing safely during the pandemic.
Moonshine has always been synonymous with South Carolina. Its name comes from the days when distillers used to distill their whiskey in secret, under the moonlight so to speak, hence the name moonshine. The distilleries are now legal (most of them) and the recipe has remained the same for centuries. Corn is converted into a sweet mash, fermented until it reaches peak alcohol content, and finally distilled. The secret ingredient in good moonshine other than quality corn is even better water which the highlands of the Carolinas have plenty of.
During the 2020 pandemic everyone is suffering, in some way or another. People in Greenville are lucky to have incredible natural spaces at their disposal, to help the compounding anxieties that are hammering away at us during this uncertain time. I took the opportunity to drive with my family up the 276 into Brevard, NC to enjoy each others’ company in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Along the way we enjoyed several natural landmarks and swimming areas including our tucked away secret swimming hole in the Davidson river.
The first stop on our trip was the famous Bald Rock Heritage Preserve. This massive graffiti-decorated granite outcrop seems to curve into space several hundred meters above the green valley below. It’s one of the spots local teenagers have come to for generations and has, according to some close sources, been the backdrop to many people’s youth-full experiences in romance and psychedelics. This is easy to understand from its unbeatable views of Greenville and Table Rock.
When you come up the endlessly curving highway the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area surrounds you. Here there are several beautiful waterfalls hidden amongst the forest, accessible to hikers all year long. Almost immediately around a sharp bend you come to the Caesar’s Head Spring, a small natural roadside spring that’s been supplying thirsty travelers with delicious mountain water for generations.
Soon you come to Brevard, NC, a charming little town tucked deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s surrounded by incredible hiking and natural areas including several waterfalls that are some of the most picturesque in the South. From here it’s a short drive north along the Davidson river and several small mountain creeks that flow under the narrow highway.
Of this region’s famous waterfalls the most visited is Looking Glass Falls. Its proximity to the highway makes it an easy stop. Many people enjoy swimming underneath its raging waters, an activity that’s hard to beat during the scorching summer months.
Just north of Looking Glass Falls is the popular summer spot known as Sliding Rock. Just as its name suggests it’s a huge granite rock with a smooth surface and an endless flow of cool mountain water covering it, creating the perfect natural water slide. My family and I looked in amazement as crowds of people walked within a foot of each other to the top take-off area, chatting and laughing as if this was a normal year free from a pandemic. We looked at each other puzzled at the blatant carelessness and left the beautiful landmark for the people to enjoy. As they say in the South, “bless their hearts.”
Continuing our outdoorsy family fun we drove to the historic Saluda Dam with the Saluda Outdoor Company’s inflatable tubes. Tubing is one of those timeless rural American experiences that’s perfect for families and groups of people. Luckily for us, one of the side effects of the Covid-19 threat is that there were very few people on the river with us. It was incredible to have the entire river to ourselves.
I capped off my visit to Greenville in its charming downtown, roaming around the historic neighborhoods and the serene Falls Park on the Reedy. The park covers the area around the waterfalls that were once the center of the booming early textile industry. What’s most impressive is the 108m long pedestrian bridge that horseshoe’s above the waterfall and hiking trails below, suspended only on one side, allowing unobstructed views of the cascading river and downtown skyline.
No matter how packed my schedule was with invaluable family time and relaxing moments outdoors I missed a key aspect of the culture here: socializing with strangers. I’m looking forward to returning after the Covid crisis to mingle with people at the bars and restaurants downtown, enjoy low country boil with not only my family but their close friends as well, and enjoy the natural surroundings with people without worrying about getting sick and spreading it to others. Returning to Los Angeles I fitted my n-95 mask, prepped my hand sanitizer bottles, and boarded the crowded airplane. Returning home to a lonely two week self-isolation period and my favorite books to keep me company I made myself a bowl of cheesy grits and okra and eased back into life in Southern California.
Great article! Glad you enjoyed your visit. Wished you had shown picture of the pedestrian bridge at Falls Park. The bridge shown is not it and readers not familiar with Greenville may be confused with this photo.
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I should have grabbed a photo of the bridge while I was there. I’m going to ask my sister to take one for me and use it in the article instead.