South Carolina Department of Parks Recreation and Tourism - Where To Next - A Travel Podcast With Francesca

On this week's episode of WTN, Duane Parrish, Director of South Carolina Parks, Recreation & Tourism, joins the program to give me the inside scoop on South Carolina! Duane details what's to love from Charleston to Myrtle Beach, the impressive golf community, the amazing culinary scene, and more! Duane also gives me a few hidden gems to check out and highlights everything South Carolina has to offer!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome back toWhere to Next, a travel podcast with
me. Your host my name isFrancesca Presti, and joining me this morning
Dwayne Parish, director of the SouthCarolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Dwayne, thanks so much for joiningme this morning. Thank you,
Frantisca. We are so excited totalk all about South Carolina. Discover south
Carolina dot com is where you wantto go for all the information you need
to start planning your trip today.So Dwayne, let's just jump right into

(00:22):
it. Let's talk South Carolina.Fantastic. Yes, I am small state
shaped like a triangle, about fivemillion people, but a lot to offer
inside that triangle, from the mountainsto the sea where the base the Bludge
Mountains, it runs all the wayto the ocean, the coast, and
so much in between. My gosh, there's so much. You can come
here and spend a week and notget half of it done. But beaches,

(00:43):
mountains, golf, outdoor recreation,all those things have been popular since
post COVID. A lot of whatwe have to offer right now. Yeah,
absolutely, and like you said,so much to offer truly in South
Carolina. I know it's a bigvacation destination as well. Lots of friends
growing up that would frequent Myrtle Beach. I was just telling you, you
know, before we started this interview, I have a very good friend who
just got back from Charleston yesterday.But South Carolina is a big state,

(01:06):
like you said, with lots todo, so maybe you could give us
a few of South Carolina's hidden gemsfor those looking to vacation down there.
She'd be glad too. Yeah,people are very for me with Charleston,
it's been the number one destination fromcondeast and travel leisure now for the last
seven or eight years. And MyrtleBeach. But you're right, there are
a lot of hidden gyms even alongour coast, places like Beauford, South
Carolina, a little smaller than Charleston, located just south of that, and

(01:27):
then Georgetown, South Carolina, justto the north of just to the north
of Charleston, but south of theGrand strand of Myrtle Beach, special places,
great phenomenal fishing, deep sea fishing, phenomenal food along there in terms
of seafood, and just a greatbeaches to go to. White Sands lay
out on the Beach take it Easy, just a great couple of hidden gyms

(01:49):
along the coast. But then therest of the state, gosh, as
I mentioned outdoor recreation since COVID hasbecome extremely popular, wonderful state parks,
the hiking that you can go onflat land near the coast, or go
up at the base of the BludgeMountains and hike up a little more strenuous
trails. But those kinds of things, mountain biking, paddle boarding, canoeing,
kayaking, all of which we hadto offer in a lot of our

(02:09):
state parks. And then lastly,in the middle part of the state,
little town's called Aching and Camden haveequestrian, very heavy on the questions,
lots of horses, steeplechase racing andthe likes. You can go horseback rotting,
or you can just go take inand watch some of the races that
take place there. So a lotto offer in between. And you can
drive to any part of our statein less than three and a half hours.

(02:29):
And wow, one of the beautifulthings about going around South Carolina back
car Yeah, that is something Idefinitely didn't know, So what a fun
little fact there. And I loveplaces that have something for everyone, and
that's the best sort of trip.You know, everyone's got something that kind
of floats their boat. And youcan check all of this out and discover
south Carolina dot com to learn moreabout South Carolina and to start planning your

(02:50):
trip today. And I know thatyou just mentioned quite a few hidden gems,
but South Carolina, over the years, it's become a little bit of
a golfer's paradise. And so Iknow we've got a big golf community in
our area. But can you tellme a little bit about the golf scene
in South Carolina. Yes, alwaysbeen a state known for beaches and golf.
We've hosted the RBC Heritage now thisnineteen sixty nine in Hilton Head,

(03:10):
and then we hosted several majors,including the PGA Championship a couple of times,
a Ryder Cup, We fosted somemother PGA events, and we just
signed a new deal with the PGATour to host a Myrtle Beach Classics starting
in May of twenty twenty four thatwill also take place. So we've been
a state known for beaches and golf. The Grand Strand are Myrtle Beach offers
over ninety five golf courses just alongthat linear stretch there. But then there

(03:31):
are mountain golf courses. And I'lltell you one little hit in secret you
can do in South Carolina. Youcan wake up in the morning in the
summer and play beach at literally onthe ocean in the morning. In that
afternoon to go tee off in themountains at about three thousand feet in elevation
and play the same day golf twentyfour seven. I like it to wine
exactly. And I don't know aboutyou, but I am pretty laser focused

(03:54):
when I'm traveling, especially when I'mgoing somewhere new. On food. I
like to eat. I've always likedto eat. I love exploring the different
cuisine and all the different places thatI travel. And I know that Charleston
and you know, the entire stateof South Carolina has an impeccable culinary scene.
So I love for you to expandon that a little bit if you
could. Sure be glad to alot of James Beard Award winning chefs throughout

(04:15):
our state, particularly in Charleston.Charles has sort of been called the New
York of the South sometimes when itcomes to food. But we also have
those undiscovered places like our curated BarbecueTrail. We offer all types of the
four sauces here. Barbecues are verypart particular food for a lot of people.
We have two hundred and twenty fourof those restaurants around the state.
We offer things like bull peanuts thatyou can just buy beside the road,
pimina cheese, she crab soup,all phenomenal things that are somewhat local to

(04:39):
this region or to the state thatwe have to offer. A low country
bull which is just a special thingto sit down and have among friends and
family. A lot of great places, phenomenal great white linen tablecloth restaurants,
and bull peanuts beside the road.We have it all and everything else in
between. There's no shortage of differentdelicacies down there, Am I right exactly?
There's a lot of things here,them food that will make you know
it it's for food, but alsofancy food. But but honestly, it's

(05:01):
healthier than it's ever been, andyou just will have you'll just enjoy and
go home with a full stomach,you know. And that's a really interesting
point that you just brought up.It's healthier than it's ever been. Because
Southern cuisine kind of does have areputation for being literally the most delicious mouthwater
in cuisine out there. But there'sa lot of milk, there's a lot
of butter, there's a lot offlour. So maybe you could tell us
a little bit about how it's becomea healthier option these days. Well,

(05:26):
I think some of those things havebeen replaced. You just mentioned them,
and there's still butter, and they'restill being wrong. I mean, you
only do so much exact exactly,just not as much as it used to
be. They're healthier ingredients now we'vediscovered how to do those things and then
portion control just not as much ofit. But those things are you know,
she cramp soup is you know,the cream in there is part of
what makes it really good. Sothat's always going to be in there,

(05:47):
but you know, but it cannotbe quite as rich as it used to
be, or things like that thatare not quite as instead of instead of
a bowl, maybe a cup,right exactly, maybe just like yeah,
exactly, you know, it's aboutquality than it is about the quantity.
But then we have a lot ofhealthy but we have some of the most
fresh vegetables around they're grown in ourstate too, and obviously all very healthy
for you. A lot of greatplus places here. I'll name one in

(06:11):
particular, husk and Charleston, wherethe menu changes each day and they really
truly is farmed the table. Whateverthey get from the farms that day is
really what they prepare. And alot of places are doing that now and
that's become but that's typically very healthy. I love that absolutely. Duane Parish,
director of South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, on with
me this morning Discover south Carolina dotcom where you want to go for more
info and to start planning your trip. Today talked a lot about everything that

(06:34):
South Carolina has to offer, fromthe mountains to the beaches and everything in
between. But it really has beenthe center of pivotal moments in our nation's
history, dating back centuries. Reallyso for the history A buffs out there
listening, what should they be checkingout when visiting South Carolina? What Chawleston
obviously is one of our most historiccities. Of course, the first shot
of these Civil Wars fire from FortJohnson on to Fort Sumter in Charleston,

(06:55):
and you can visit Fort sumter.It's a National park today. It is
out in the Charleston Harbor. Butalso we have over two d and twenty
Revolutionary War sites in South Carolina,the second most only two New Jerseys.
Oh wow, there's some some pivotalbattles that took place here during the Revolutionary
War. And we're coming up onamerica Sister Centennial in twenty twenty six,
and so a lot of these sitesare being sort of updated, dusted off,

(07:15):
and made a little more visitable ifyou will that you can come down
and see that. We have aLiberty Trail which is a good portion of
those that you can come through andsee some historic place battles and things that
took place during our nation's sort ofbirth, if you will coming up here
at the anniversary of the Revolutionary War. So those are two quickly things I
would certainly check out. But Charlestonis the most historic city, but there
are a lot of other historic placesaround the state. But pivotal moments took

(07:39):
place during those both of those battlesin our history. Absolutely well. You
can find out more at discover southCarolina dot com. Dwayne Parish, director
of South Carolina Department of Parks,Recreation, and Tourism. Dwayne, I
want to thank you so much fortaking some time and giving us the inside
scoop on everything that South Carolina hasto offer. And I'm gonna be checking
those flights down to Charleston sometime soon. Let me tell you, awesome love

(08:01):
to have you. Thank you somuch for taking some time for us here
this morning. Thank you. Francescoappreciate it as well,