Sometimes you can be so focused that you miss the big picture. I finally saw what I was missing last week in Greenville, SC.
I had been to Greenville twice before for the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament but had never really seen the area.
Either weather or injuries kept us from much more
than watching basketball at Bon Secours arena. We were focused on basketball.
But this year we had time, and sunny skies between games, to explore the area on foot.
Greenville, SC is closer than you think. It is less than a four-hour drive from Crossville, just an hour past Asheville.
Since we follow the Lady Vols and SEC basketball, it is an easy choice to go to the conference championships most years. But, you don’t need an excuse to visit Greenville; it is an excellent nearby road trip anytime.
Just to give you some perspective, the listed population of Greenville is about 72,000. Asheville NC, is 90,000, and Knoxville is 190,000.
Main St. in Greenville is lined with shops, including an always-fun Mast General Store and many nice restaurants. We have eaten at Trio Restaurant several times and really enjoy its good food and reasonable prices.
There is also a Yee-Haw Brewery, just like the new one in Knoxville, where the Tennessee Vols cheerleaders, mascot Smoky, and band showed up both Saturday and Sunday before the basketball game to do cheers and play “Rocky Top” for the customers, who were mostly all Lady Vol fans.
So how does Greenville relate to an article about enjoying nature?
Greenville shows how you can find plenty of nature right in the middle of a city.
What we missed on our first two visits was beautiful Falls Park on the Reedy.
The Reedy River flows right under Main St. just a block from the main the downtown area. The first Saturday in March, the area was alive with adults, kids and leashed dogs enjoying the green environment and even wading in the river in the middle of a city.
But Falls Park on the Reedy is not just a park along a river. The river and its signature waterfall is surrounded by walking/biking paths, gardens, flowers, benches, porch swings and ducks. It is well maintained and clean.
We sat on a bench and used the Merlin app on our phones to identify the many birds we heard singing …brown thrasher, mockingbird, Carolina wren, etc.
The centerpiece of the park is the breathtaking Liberty Bridge over the river.
This wide, stable, pedestrian-only suspension bridge is almost five stories above the river, more than 100 yards across, and can support more than 1,000 people at one time. Its unique design is hailed as an engineering masterpiece.
It is not scary, like some pedestrian suspension bridges, but 12-feet wide and solid underfoot.
You can easily spend an entire day walking around the downtown area and through Falls Park on the Reedy. But for a little more exercise, you can take the Swamp Rabbit paved trail from Falls Park, through Furman University, to the city Traveler’s Rest. It is a full 44-mile round trip if you do the full out and back.
If you want even more nature, you can visit the Greenville Zoo or nearby Paris Mountain State Park.
So, if you are looking for a nearby two- or three-day road trip, consider Greenville, SC.
Enjoying nature doesn’t have to mean backpacking and camping out. You can enjoy nature in the middle of city, and Greenville is a perfect example of that.
Comments, questions or suggestions for future nature articles are welcome at don.hazel@gmail.com