South Carolina

Established in 2003, Congaree is one of the country’s newest national parks, yet it boasts the southeastern United States’ largest expanse of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest.

Life moves as slowly as a Southern drawl at the Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a plantation-style luxury resort in the South Carolina Lowcountry. I’m torn between not wanting the days to end and wishing night would fall so I’d be that much closer to witnessing another glorious sunrise on the marsh.

You don't think inside the box. Why sleep in one? The South is full of unexpected accommodations, from a nineteenth-century castle to a Hobbit hut to the tree house of your dreams. Let us introduce you to sixteen offerings that are anything but ordinary.

Since Southbound debuted in 2013, our staff and contributors have logged thousands of miles, consumed millions of calories, and taken countless notes and photos to showcase the very best destinations around the region. Although every place we’ve covered is special, some left a particularly powerful impression. Here, we give you the best of the very best, our favorite spots in the South.

George Read is co-founder of Read & Mullin LLC, an appraiser of fine arts, antiques, coins, maps, and more. He has published more than seventy-five articles on the arts and antiques market. "The very best...

Grammy Award–winning singer and former Hootie and the Blowfish front man Darius Rucker was born and raised in Charleston, and lives there with his family. His third solo country album, True Believers, was released...

Spared by Sherman’s troops during the Civil War, Beaufort is among the South’s most well-preserved cities. Think quiet streets lined with antebellum homes painted in soft pastels, centuries-old oaks draped with Spanish moss, and historic churches set among residences and businesses.

While most lobbies serve as a place for visitors to catch their breath after a day on the town, the one at the Willcox is a spot where the town wanders in to unwind.

An oyster-cloaked, oak-dense, and moss-draped island off the southernmost tip of South Carolina is soaked with myth, stories, and legends, along with a dash of Gullah black-magic curses meant to keep developers away.

As the mother of two small children, my self-reflection time is limited to an occasional glimpse in the mirror, followed by the realization I haven’t showered in two days. But here I am in...