Over a bank holiday weekend, my boyfriend, Jake, and I were desperate to get out of town and explore somewhere new, so we decided on Greenville, SC, a small but vibrant city only a few hours drive from where we lived. Read on to see what we did, the rookie traveling mistakes we made along the way, and what’s on our list for the next time we return.

HOW WE SPENT A LONG WEEKEND IN GREENVILLE

Saturday:

We entered the city limits around 1:00 pm, and my stomach immediately started growling. I ignored the grumbling and instead focused on my surroundings: the sidewalks full of people as they walked towards the gates of the baseball stadium, metal sculptures on almost every street corner, outdoor seating for a ton of restaurants (my stomach roared again), and storefronts with the cutest window displays. Going to Falls Park on the Reedy was at the top of my itinerary, and my stubbornness wouldn’t let my stomach win. But as we descended the stairs that would take us to the park, I spotted the cutest cafe, Carmella’s Cafe and Dessert Bar. I decided to let my stomach have the victory, so Jake and I ordered sandwiches —roast beef for me and Italian for him— before sitting outside to enjoy the food. Afterward, we explored Falls Park, a 32-acre park full of lush green lawns, beautifully landscaped flower beds, and plenty of places to sit and enjoy the Reedy River. One thing you can’t miss is the Liberty Bridge, a large pedestrian suspension bridge that takes you across the river and gives you the perfect view of a waterfall that goes through downtown.

We crossed the bridge walking hand-in-hand and allowed the flow of people to carry us deeper into the park. I immediately spotted a small stage down at the bottom of the hill, and upon further investigation (i.e. Googling), I learned The Upstate Shakespeare Festival takes place every summer at the park. The shows run from the end of May to mid-June and then again from early July to the end of July. I made a mental note to come back and check it out if we had time (we didn’t 😞), and continued to meander along the path taking in all the vibrant greenery around us. It took us a while to realize that we had left the grounds of Falls Park and had ended up on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, a 28-mile greenway that traverses along the Reedy River and connects to the park.

We strolled along for a few miles, taking in the tranquility of the picturesque setting. The one thing that surprised me the most about Greenville is how much nature is incorporated into the city! I didn’t realize it was such an outdoorsy city. It really puts the green in Greenville.

After a few hours of walking, we agreed it was time to call it a day and check into our Airbnb, but not before stopping back by and picking up dessert from Carmella’s: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for Jake and Cannoli Cake for me.

Sunday:

On Sunday, Jake’s family met us in the morning at the Greenville Zoo. We had anticipated the zoo to be a full-day experience but it ended up only taking a few hours to see all the exhibits. The zoo wasn’t very large, but the grounds were well-kept and there were still plenty of animals to see¹. 

Since the zoo took less time than we thought, we had more time to explore the city! We ended up leaving our cars in the parking lot and hopping back on The Swamp Rabbit Trail (it connects to the zoo!) and walking downtown instead; it was about a 1-mile trek back to Falls Park. We had lunch at Grill Marks, a cool dive bar with lots of burgers, fries, shakes, and drink options. I got the An-THAI Burger – ground chicken patty, slaw of carrots, cucumbers, jalapeños, red onions, and Thai vinaigrette. It was really tasty, but I had a bite of Jake’s smash burger and instantly wished I had got that instead. Sometimes a classic smash burger is the way to go. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon with Jake’s family wandering around downtown and checking out a few local shops before walking back to the car. For dinner that night, I really wanted to try Roost, but when we got there they were turning everyone away because their computers were down (instead of getting upset, I’ll use that as a reason to go back to Greenville). The restaurant we ended up eating dinner at was Thai Basil Cuisine where the atmosphere was cozy and the food was delicious. 

Monday:

Monday morning we had made plans to check out Travelers Rest, a cutesy town about 15 minutes away, since my coworker had given me a long list of must-try places. Little did I know as we drove in the rain towards our destination that we were about the make two major rookie mistakes.

• Rookie Mistake #1 – Monday was a holiday, which meant a lot of small businesses were closed. Having spent my entire life living in a small town, I should have known most places would be closed on Mondays, especially for a holiday!
• Rookie Mistake #2 – The only restaurant that was opened had a line of people outside standing in the pouring rain to order, and neither one of us packed a raincoat/umbrella. Note to self: always be prepared for any type of weather condition.

So our visit to Travelers Rest was short-lived as we quickly turned the car around and headed back into Greenville, where we ended up finding a hidden gem, Bex’s Cafe & Juice Bar (I will go back!) that had the coolest vibes, tasty bagels, and delicious coffee. Before we began our journey home, I requested we visit a bookstore I had spotted during our downtown excursion on Sunday. M. Judson Booksellers was such a dreamy place for bookworms. I could’ve easily spent all day (and all my money) there as I wandered the aisles, pointing out my favorite books and ones I’d been dying to read to Jake. I settled on buying two books. Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin and then a blind date with a book, which turned out to be a delightful surprise and one I can’t wait to read. 

Then we headed home, playing the alphabet game where I practicality begged Jake to tail an Xterra as we rushed to find the letters ‘tuvw’ before we got off the interstate.

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IN A SNAPSHOT:

a quick round-up of the best things we did, favorite restaurant, travel regrets, and one thing on our list for next time

A MUST VISIT…

M. Judson’s Booksellers 

Leah: Truly a booklover’s delight. The shop has an expansive collection of books that’s neatly organized by genre. One cool thing is how the shop included a ton of staff recommendations. I loved seeing what books the staff were recommending in each section. I wished we had checkout out the cafe downstairs, but we had already grabbed coffee from another spot. I can envision myself next time going to grab a latte at the cafe in the bottom level and then taking my time browsing through all the shelves.

The Greenville Zoo and then walking on the Swamp Rabbit Trail to downtown*

Jake: I love being outside. I love animals, and zoos have always excited me. Downtown was really cool because of how intertwined it was with nature.

*note: If you’re not up for walking, I noticed a lot of bike rentals around the city, so you could easily rent an e-bike to get from downtown to the zoo.

CAN’T MISS RESTAURANT…

Carmella’s Cafe and Dessert Bar

Leah: I was completely smitten by the cafe’s decor and overall aesthetic, but it was the Cannoli Cake that made my heart swoon. So decadent. 

Jake: I liked the cafe’s atmosphere, getting to sit outside, and being close to the park. It was the homemade ciabatta bread that won me over.

WE LEARNED OUR LESSON. MAKE SURE YOU…

Leah: Choose an Airbnb (or hotel) that’s walking distance from downtown. While the house we rented was cute and a great deal, I just wished it was closer to downtown. When I booked it, I had pictured waking up early and walking to get coffee or going for a nightly stroll and stopping by a hip bar for a nightcap. In reality, we were too far to do any of those activities. Next time I’ll do more research to make sure we’re staying in a place where we can walk to restaurants and the greenway. Lesson learned. 

Jake: bring shoes for walking because my freaking feet were hurting! I didn’t except for there to be so much walking. Greenville is a very active city.

ON OUR LIST FOR NEXT TIME…

The Warehouse Theatre’s Upstate Shakespeare Festival at Falls Park 

Leah: my ideal evening would be going to grab sandwiches from a local deli for a picnic in the park while watching local actors perform Shakespeare. 

Greenville Drive Baseball

Jake: I’d like to see what a Friday night scene down at the baseball stadium is like.

1. As I was gathering all my research to write this post, I learned that the Greenville Zoo announced the death of their African Lion, Chuma. “He was humanely euthanized due to the rapid irreversible worsening of his degenerative joint doses and spinal neurological issues.” 😢 ↩︎

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Thanks for reading!

Now it’s your turn! Have you ever been to Greenville, SC? What are your favorite spots in Greenville? Got any travel tips? Let me know in the comments.

Coming up next on The Chapman Chronicles: a new Weekend Edition to help jumpstart your weekend. See you Friday!