Story Ideas

Need inspiration? Story ideas abound across South Carolina

Here are just a few ideas that could be the basis for stories for print or broadcast. These story ideas are updated on a regular basis.  To discuss any of these, get contact information or just brainstorm a bit, please feel free to call Director of Public Relations, Devon Harris, at (803) 734-1743 or e-mail her at dharris@scprt.com. 

 

The Three Sisters.

            Like three siblings each with their own personality, South Carolina ’s coast is anchored by three major attractions: Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Hilton Head Island. Each has beaches, golf, accommodations a plenty and lots of great restaurants, and each has its own distinct personality – the hustle, bustle neon lights and outlet and mall shopping of the Grand Strand, the historic charm and growing haute cousine of Charleston, and the marshy patina of a sunset over the semi-tropical retreat that’s the state’s largest sea island, Hilton Head.

Charleston :

Making it His Magnolia: Taylor Drayton Nelson has a plan. The 11th-generation of his family to preside over Magnolia Plantation, one of America’s first grand public gardens and birthplace of the American trade in azaleas and camellias, Nelson is continuing the legacy of his late grandfather, the storied property’s previous proprietor, by combining a message of conservation, exemplified by the property’s Audubon Swamp Garden, with history, captured, among other places, in the Barbados Tropical Garden, which helps tell the 300-year-old story of the farm’s founder, Thomas Drayton of Barbados, and his contemporaries. Nelson now is adding his own signature; for instance, renovating the property’s slave cabins to help better tell the story of this storied spot and that pivotal part of the history of the American South.  

An Inside Look at the Holy City : There’s no shortage of ways to get a guided tour of Charleston . By bike, bus or horse-drawn buggy, local experts are on hand to share the historic sights of the Holy City . But to get a really intimate look, why not hire a personal tour guide such as Linda Wohlfeil? Under the name “Absolutely Charleston,” she tools guests around town in her comfy Cadillac, adding a first-name basis familiarity to the people encountered along the way as she shows off her hometown. And you might even get inside a private club or home where the guests usually aren’t paying tourists.

Genteel Gents Set the Tone: Chris Nobles , the public relations manager at the Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau, likes to say that the front lines of hospitality in this most hospitable of cities are the “greeters,” people such as parking booth attendants, shuttle drivers and front-lobby hotel staff. Clarence Davis and Johnny Alexander are two men worth taking into any foxhole in that battle to keep the “ Holy City ” atop the annual list of the nation’s most polite cities. They’re the uniformed greeters, bell captains and concierges at the Mills House Hotel, an elegant, historic Holiday Inn property in downtown Charleston . They’ve spent close to 60 years between them on the job, making guests feel welcome, greeting locals and tourists alike passing by on the sidewalk along the intimate King Street setting, and passing on their knowledge of the hometown they so obviously cherish. You might even be able, with a little talking him up, get one of them to reveal his secret flounder-fishing spot.

Agriculture:

Lowcountry Farm Goes Back to Roots: Celeste Albers and her family run a 35-acre farm – the Green Grocer - on Wadmalaw Island near Charleston whose free-range chickens and eggs, colorful produce and other organic offerings have become the must-have of the haute cuisine scene in the Holy City .

America ’s Only Tea Plantation: Just south of Charleston on Wadmalaw Island is America ’s only tea plantation. The Charleston Tea Plantation is home to thousands of tea plants and a processing factory. Tours and grand old live oaks, along with a comfortable front porch for taking in the remarkable view, also are attractions here. home to thousands of tea plants and a processing factory. Tours and grand old live oaks, along with a comfortable front porch for taking in the remarkable view, also are attractions here.

Rice plantations: South Carolina ’s first true cash crop were on rice plantations. Slaves from West Africa who knew how to grow the aquatic grain were brought over to create the paddies by using the tidal flow of coastal creeks and great plantations were born. Many of the rice fields now are maintained as hunting grounds for waterfowl while there are still a handful of rice-producing sites in the state.

            Plantation Life: More than 2,000 plantations have been recorded in South Carolina , and many are still in operation or maintained as historic sites, all in various iterations. Highlights include the 300-year-old Charleston-area landmarks Boone Hall, Magnolia Plantation, Middleton Place and Drayton Hall. Others have new lives, such as Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, an old rice plantation that now interprets that experience along with boasting the nation’s largest collection of outdoor sculpture. Antebellum plantations, whose owners often included some of South Carolina ’s most fiery statesmen, include Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site near Union, Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site near Aiken and Hampton Plantation State Historic Site between Georgetown and Charleston .

 

Archaeology: South Carolina has a number of active archaeological sites. Three the public are invited to are Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, site of the first permanent European settlement in the Carolinas; Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site just up river, site of a remarkably preserved colonial village; and the Topper Site on the Savannah River in Allendale County. There researchers from the University of South Carolina are leading a team that has uncovered what team leaders believe could be the tools and other artifacts from human beings who lived there 50,000 years ago or more. If provable, that would make it the oldest such remains found in North America if not the Western Hemisphere , and rewrite science’s understanding of pre-history on this side of the globe.

Edgefield/Trenton:  

All in Edgefield:

A particularly historic little town, Edgefield is home to 10 of South Carolina ’s governors, including Strom Thurmond. The nation’s longest-serving U.S. senator is buried with a prominent monument in a gracious little cemetery just off the town’s main street. The town also boasts historic homes and a National Heritage Corridor Discovery Center , where robust exhibitry tell the colorful story of this agricultural and historical area. To many, Edgefield is synonymous with pottery. In the early nineteenth century, a new tradition of alkaline-glazed stoneware was developed using local materials to produce inexpensive containers for local use. By 1850, at the height of Edgefield stoneware production, five large-scale factories existed in the area. The most famous was a man known simply as Dave, a slave and then free man who signed his name and sometimes inscribed apparently self-written verses in his larger pieces, at a time when most African Americans were not allowed to learn to read or write. The county historical society led the establishment of The Old Edgefield Pottery, which now offers visitors a look at original Edgefield pottery, reproductions for sale and a look at the history of local pottery, which actually goes back more than 4,000 years to the original Native American inhabitants along the Savannah River.  In Trenton , just a few miles from Edgefield, is the Bettis Academy.  Rev. Alexander Bettis, a former slave, established Bettis Academy in 1882 to provide education for African-Americans in South Carolina . Bettis Academy provided both day and boarding options for its students. At one time, it served an area about the size of the state of Rhode Island . Bettis Academy closed in 1950 but has been revived in the form of a small, well-done museum with evocative photos and other exhibits and a gift shop.  One of the highlights in the state’s Heritage Corridor is Ike Carpenter. Sitting in front of his gas station turned woodshop in Edgefield, the third-generation woodcarver crafts kitchen implements, pioneer-style toys and bowls that would do a trencherman proud with tools that often date to the colonial days. A regular on the re-enactment circuit, Carpenter also enjoys guests at his home shop, freely sharing stories of his tools and his trade how much he is enjoying passing his family tradition on to his daughter and young granddaughter.  The little town of Edgefield is home to a large organization, the National Wild Turkey Federation. The hunting advocacy and conservation group’s headquarters features a robust museum about the natural and cultural history of America ’s favorite game bird. Interactive exhibits play a major role, including an actual helicopter where visitors can sit inside and watch a fascinating, lifelike video through the cockpit windows of a vivid prescribed burn used to maintain suitable habitat for flora and fauna alike. 

 

Horse Country: South Carolina has three “horse country” communities: Aiken and Elloree and Camden. 

             Elloree, with its charming, revived little town center, is home to a popular trials for thoroughbreds and quarter horse. Camden has long been a national center of steeple chases, as well known to the general community for the parties as the ponies, and Aiken is a breed unto itself. The town has a number of polo fields, a sport popular since the town blossomed in the late 19th century as a winter home for wealthy northerners.

            Aiken has a number of large estate homes, some of which now are public gardens and gathering places, and what’s billed as one of the nation’s largest urban parks, several thousands acres of woods crisscrossed by horse trails. There are a number of other green spaces, including a Carolina bay, in city limits and the town even has several streets that have never been paved, for the sake of horses’ feet as they are taken from farm to field. Aiken also has a vibrant, old-timey downtown full of shops and restaurants. Bustling year-round, it really fills up during Masters Week in nearby Augusta , Ga.  

 

Wildlife/Nature Preserves: South Carolina has a large number of nature preserves and other protected wild green spaces, from the mountains to the sea. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of acres of land managed by the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, national and private agencies have large holdings.

             For instance, there’s the ACE Basin , which contains large areas of pristine marshland and shoreline in the Lowcountry. The ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge’s Edisto Unit headquarters near Edisto Island is an old plantation home, set in a silent large field full of ancient live oaks and surrounded by marsh to the horizon. Cape Romaine National Wildlife Refuge north of Charleston is particularly isolated and serene, standing silent sentinel on the ocean’s edge.

The Audubon Society also maintains two large sites in South Carolina, the 13,000-acre Francis Beidler Forest in Four Holes Swamp in Santee Cooper Country and the 3,100-acre Silver Bluff Audubon Center on the Savannah River near Aiken, where endangered wood storks gather by the hundreds each summer, along with other spectacular birds such as Mississippi kites.


Take to the Trails

From the mountain passes to the beaches and marsh, walking, hiking and biking across South Carolina is a growing passion for many in the Palmetto State . The S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism maintains an unusually robust, award-winning site that contains information on trails of all kinds across the state, including the Palmetto Trail, which when completed will cover 425 miles from stem to stern. The site includes maps, descriptions, directions and more.

 

Revolutionary War 

South Carolina saw a lot of action during what was perhaps America ’s first civil war. More than 245 skirmishes and battles were fought here during the Revolutionary War, many of which pitted neighbor against neighbor, Loyalist against Patriot, with nary a native European around. Other battles pitted British regulars against outmanned but determined locals, including the legendary Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” and Gen. Thomas Sumter, the “Fighting Gamecock.” Major battles are commemorated at Ninety Six National Historic Site and Kings Mountain National Military Park. Musgrove Mill State Historic Site tells the story of a fierce battle fought there by upcountry Patriots and Loyalists, and Camden hosts a re-enactment each year and maintains historic sites that recall the battle fought there and Lord Cornwallis’ occupation of the city. Charleston , of course, also has its share of Revolutionary War sites, including Fort Moultrie.

 

Civil War

The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter out in Charleston Harbor . The nation’s bloodiest era ended four years later shortly after the city of Columbia burned to the ground during a visit from Sherman ’s Union troops. A ferry now takes visitors from Liberty Square and the Fort Sumter museum maintained by the National Park Service out to the fort itself. The only Civil War battle site preserved by the state is at Rivers Bridge State Historic Site  where the remarkably intact breastworks still stand testament in the silent woods on the banks of the Salkehatchie River to the fierce two days of fighting that marked a final Confederate stand against Sherman’s troops as they entered South Carolina after burning Atlanta.          

Southern Culture/National Heritage Corridor 

Bounded at one end by the port city of Charleston and at the other by the Blue Ridge Mountains, the South Carolina Heritage Corridor contains driving tours of historic, cultural, and natural resources that tell the lively story of South Carolina's centuries long evolution and culture. Learn of rice and indigo, pirates and patriots, slaves and freemen, cotton fields and mill villages, swamps and waterfalls, railroads and back roads, spirituals and bluegrass. The Corridor also maintains robust Discovery Centers complete with museums in Blackville and Edgefield.

 

The Flavor of South Carolina

South Carolinians care about their food. They even divide the state by barbecue regions. Mustard-based in the Midlands, vinegar-based on the coast and in the Pee Dee , ketchup- and tomato-based in the Upstate. And visitors quickly learn: Many of the best places are mom-and-pops and Mom and Pop are typically open only Wednesday or Thursday through Saturday. Sometimes Sunday. Other popular foods? Grits are everywhere. Only Yankees put butter and sugar on them. The Lowcountry has shrimp boats, shellfish seafood and shrimp shacks. Fish camps are a popular retreat, much like barbecue huts, in the Piedmont in the Rock Hill , Chester and Lancaster areas. And if you ask for tea, it comes iced and sweet, unless you say otherwise. 

  

Party Time

Food festivals and arts and musical gatherings are a big deal in South Carolina . Perhaps the premier event is Spoleto USA in Charleston . There are many others, too, including Greenville’s Artisphere, various arts and music festivals in the gallery and nightclub district called the vista in Columbia, and, of course, the Irmo Okra Strut, the Salley Chitlin Strut, the Pelion Peanut Party, various watermelon and cotton festivals, seafood fests in the Lowcountry, and the list goes on and on. Lists of special events are on the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Web Site.  

 

Golf Capital of America

 
South Carolina has more golf holes per capita than any state in the union. With more than 380 courses blanketing the state, golfers can find the game they’re looking for, and for the price they can pay. The state’s offerings include some of the highest-end golf resorts on the continent – such as Kiawah Island Golf Resort  – and a large selection of excellent public courses, including two at state parks – Cheraw and Hickory Knob. Myrtle Beach , of course, is considered a mecca of golf, with more than 100 courses in the area. Hilton Head has more than two dozen, including Harbour Town , home of the prestigious Heritage tournament, staged each week after the Masters. Kiawah’s Ocean Course, meanwhile, has hosted the Ryder Cup, with the Senior PGA scheduled for 2007 and the PGA Championship in 2012.

 

Meet at a State Park

South Carolina ’s State Parks offer unique locations for meetings, retreats or reunions. Twenty-six out of the 46 state parks has facilities that will accommodate meetings, family reunions, weddings and other special gatherings. State parks with overnight accommodations and meeting facilities can be found in beautiful locations ranging from oceanside , lakefront or in the midst of a cypress swamp. First-rate golfing, nature trails, boating, swimming, and other outdoor pursuits are among the amenities.

Public Gardens

 South Carolina has a number of outstanding public gardens. Brookgreen Gardens at Murrells Inlet contains the nation’s largest collection of outdoor sculpture amidst the setting of thousands of acres of old rice plantation. “Plantation Row” near Charleston features some of America ’s first and oldest continually maintained gardens, now open to the public, at Magnolia Plantation and Middleton Place.  Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia has an outstanding, large walled garden featuring a collection of old roses and a wide variety of perennials, annuals and ornamental trees and shrubs.  (It's also a world-class zoological park.)  The South Carolina Botanical Garden  is another large, diverse facility, located at Clemson University.  Also worth a good look, the spectacular rose plantings and river wetlands boardwalk at Edisto Memorial Gardens in Orangeburg, the Iris Gardens at Swan Lake in Sumter, Cypress Gardens in the black water cypress swamps near Moncks Corner above Charleston and Kalmia Gardens at Coker College in Hartsville.