Greenville, SC

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walter-hiott-downtown_greenville

In recent years, Greenville has really become a hot destination city, and if you visit, it will be no surprise that this is the case. It has two qualities that you don’t usually find in the same place – it’s both under the radar and teeming with activity. It’s casual and still fun.

Along the tree-lined Main Street, there are several nice hotels, from big and name-brand to more quaint and personal, and mostly at pretty reasonable prices. It’s also lined with boutique stores, and plenty of excellent restaurants that even the foodies in your group will find difficult to criticize. One such restaurant is the Tupelo Honey Cafe. Though it does have locations around the country it doesn’t come off as a chain in any way. It’s good old southern cooking that even a lifelong Southerner will love.

In addition to the southern charm and cool atmosphere, Greenville offers visitors stunning natural beauty. It’s nice to add a hike or an outdoor excursion of some sort to any trip, and the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains offer plenty of opportunity for this. You can trek, or if you stuffed yourself too much at Tupelo Honey Cafe the night before you can drive, to beautifully scenic vistas. You actually don’t need to stray too far away from the city for nice natural scenery. It’s the sort of place that incorporates the natural landscape into the design of the city, with brooks and rivers running right through it.

Greenville is definitely worth the visit if you haven’t been. If you have, there’s probably no need to tell you it’s worth another trip.

Eleuthera

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walter hiott eleuthera

Eleuthera is an island in the Bahamas that offers all of the relaxation, serenity, and beauty typically associated with this archipelago country. The name “Eleuthera” is derived from the Greek word meaning free, and when you go there and feel the stresses from everyday life melt away – once you finally get through the seemingly impossibly tiny airport and an inevitable issue with a rental car transaction – you’ll probably come to feel that the name is an apt description of how you feel during your stay.

In addition to the scenic beauty of its choral reefs and crystal clear water, Eleuthera is one of the only places in the world with pink sand beaches, a really interesting sight for most people who are used to, well, sand colored sand. Lending an additional air of wonder to an island already full of it, the pink hue of the sand on some of the beaches is caused by thousands or millions of broken coral pieces, shells, and calcium carbonate left behind by tiny marine creatures with red and pink shells that live in the coral reefs that surround the beach.

One really interesting institution on Eleuthera is The Island School, where high school students from around the world can go for a semester to learn about how to be green, how to snorkel, and most importantly how to be engaged global citizens. With the campus and the surrounding ocean as their laboratories, The Island School partners with a world class science research facility to explore Eleuthera both culturally and environmentally. If a short vacation in Eleuthera is amazing, imagine how lucky the students who attend this school are to spend a whole semester or summer there, and to learn more thoroughly about its ecology and culture.

Jamaica

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walter hiott jamaica

Jamaica is widely regarded as an island paradise and optimal Caribbean vacation location, which it is. But the clear turquoise water and white sandy beaches that are usually called to mind are only a small part of what the island has to offer. Like most islands in the Caribbean, there is also lush vegetation, mountain ranges for hiking, and rare and interesting natural phenomena. Days could be spent exploring the island, though if a relaxing week on the beach is more your speed, there is abundant opportunity for that too.

The Blue Mountains, which include the highest point on the island – Blue Mountain Peak at an elevation of 7402 feet – are a major attraction in their own right, made even more attractive by all that the rest of the island has to offer. There are plenty of excellent places to hike in the world, but few in such close proximity to such world class beaches. Hiking on the Blue Mountains is notable for the wonderful views and scenery, and if you are driven enough to wake up at 2 in the morning, you’ll have the opportunity to see one of the most beautiful sunsets at the peak anywhere in the world. Then you can make your way down the mountain and rest your tired bones on the Jamaican beach. Few days of your life could rival that one.

Dunn’s River Falls is another excellent attraction, both because it is a unique geological formation and because you can have a lot of fun visiting. There is a guided trek up the Falls, and you need to stay very focused during it, but it is really fun and you might find that you have a certain sense of accomplishment afterwards.

Jamaica is an often mentioned, almost cliche Caribbean destination, and there are definitely islands that are a bit less touristy, but a trip here once is well worth it, and you might find that you have so much fun that you’ll want to return.

The Great Smoky Mountains

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Walter HiottAs I’ve mentioned, the greatest family vacations don’t always involve sandy beaches, luxurious hotels, and historic cities. As pleasant as these types of trips always are, some of the most enjoyable vacation experiences involve getting out into the Great Outdoors, being a little bit active, and seeing some natural beauty. The National Parks provide a great opportunity for this. One of my favorites is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’m not alone, by the way. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited of all National Parks in America with over 9 million visits per year.

Because we have family in the area, we have spent a considerable amount of time in the Chimney Rock and Lake Lure areas of North Carolina. These happen to be great departure points for day trips into the mountains. If you are just interested in a casual excursion, your best option is a hike. With hundreds of trails, hikes in the Smokies never become repetitive, and even if you find a trail you like and hike it over and over again, the scenic beauty will be enough to keep it from feeling redundant. There is also zip lining and rafting if you want to get involved in something a bit more exciting than a hike. Smoky Mountain is also the home of a natural water slide – Sliding Rock.

If you are in nearby Asheville, NC, you might want to spend some time at the Grove Park Inn. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Grove Park Inn is over a century old, features breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and has hosted many notable people, including US Presidents (sorry to sound too much like a travel brochure, but it’s all true).

So, a trip to the Great Smoky mountains actually can be the best of both types of vacations I have mentioned here – at the Grove Park Inn you can luxuriously experience history while going into the Great Outdoors.