South Carolina has a lot of tourist locations within the state.  Myrtle Beach is the miniature golf capital of the world.  Mini golf is not the only outlet for the tour pro in you.  It is home to some of the most beautiful and challenging coastal courses.

South Carolina is the state that gives Georgia a run for her money on peach production.  Johnston claims to be the peach capital of the world.  The other largest product of South Carolina is tobacco, and was established in 1898. It had some other strange record setting events.  In 1954, Strom Thurmond became the first U.S. Senator elected by write in vote.  He went on to serve until he was in his 100’s.

There are many more things to learn about the state.  Here are a few of the facts that you would not find in a text book.

• Red Spider Lilies were first planted in the US, in the Willington-Mt. Carmel area when Dr. James Morrow sent them and other plants from the Orient while he served as surgeon with Commodore Perry’s expedition to open trade with Japan.

• Every few years, Irmo has a sighting of some kind of water monster that inhabits Lake Murray. The monster first ‘surfaced’ in 1973 when residents of Irmo and Ballentine saw a cousin of the Loch Ness Monster. It was described in The Independent News in 1980 as “a cross between a snake and something prehistoric.”

• A noble Catawba Indian who befriended early Camden settlers, King Haiglar is often called “The Patron Saint of Camden.” Today, he reigns over Camden in the form of a life-sized weather vane which graces the tower of what once was the circa-1886 Opera House.

• South Carolina’s smallest county is McCormick at 360 square miles while the largest county is Horry at 1,134 square miles

• The first battle of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter.

With all of these facts pounding on your door, how can you not plan a visit?  Or better yet, pack up and move on down, or up depending on where you are.