Inside: A list of Fall Festivals near Spartanburg, SC
Another thing to look forward to during the close of summer is festivals, and we have the best fall festivals near Spartanburg, SC! Leaves crunching underfoot, the smell of pumpkin spice wafting from a coffee cup, and all things apple-related usher in the fall season. There are no shortages of celebrations in Hub City, so let’s get to planning the fun you and your family can have this fall!
Sunflowers at Thompson Family Farms
*We are currently updating the list for 2025*
This list is provided for informational purposes, and events may change or be canceled at the last minute. Therefore, please be sure to confirm the status of an event before heading out.
If you are looking for a wild adventure that you can enjoy from the comfort and air conditioning of your car, this Drive-Thru Safari in Georgia is the answer. Lake Hartwell Wildlife Safari is a 60+ acre attraction in Hartwell, GA. Here’s everything you need to know to plan your own trip to Hartwell, Georgia’s Lake Hartwell Wildlife Safari.
Thank you to Lake Hartwell Wildlife Safari for providing us with complimentary admission for the purpose of this review. All words and opinions are those of the writer.
Are you a retiree looking for retirement communities in Greenville, SC? Or maybe you and your family have just moved to Greenville and have parents eager to follow you to the area? In this article, we’ll share some of the best senior living options at Greenville, SC retirement villages and Greenville, SC retirement communities in the Upstate.
What is a 55+ or Age-Restricted Community?
“55+ Community” is a term you’ll hear often when researching retirement living. These communities are designed for active adults (typically age 55 and up), offering amenities and homes tailored to low-maintenance lifestyles.
Many feature:
Single-story floor plans and easy-entry access
Clubhouses, pools, and fitness centers
Social events and group outings
Lawn and exterior maintenance included
Some offer homes for purchase, while others operate more like traditional apartment-style leases or continuing care communities. There’s something for every lifestyle and level of independence.
Retirement Communities in Greenville, SC With Homes for Sale
Interested in owning your home in retirement? These Greenville SC retirement communities offer homes for purchase:
Retiring in Greenville, SC means access to top-notch healthcare, a walkable downtown, beautiful parks, and a thriving cultural scene. Whether you’re looking to buy, lease, or find a community that offers long-term care services, Greenville has a variety of options that fit your lifestyle.
Kidding Around has guides for every age of kid- even the grown-up ones.
Looking for incredible fall vacation homes to witness the colors of fall pour over the mountainside? It may seem early, but the time is NOW to book vacation rentals in the mountains to view the fall foliage. The mountains of North Carolina are famous for their dramatic shows during fall when the leaves change. There’s no better way to enjoy it, than with a hot cup of coffee in your jammies at sunrise. Here’s a list of vacation rentals where you can enjoy the fall colors.
Are you looking for a great place to stretch your legs out and get some exercise in Spartanburg, SC? The Mary Black Rail Trail offers residents and visitors to downtown Spartanburg more than just an urban hiking trail. It’s a spot that will even appeal to kids of different ages & interests.
The Mary Black Rail Trail in Spartanburg, SC
The Mary Black Rail Trail
About 2 miles one-way, or just under 4 miles out-and-back, this converted train track trail is a popular spot for locals to run, walk, jog and bike in Spartanburg. Convenient access from several different spots makes hopping onto the trail easy.
Do you have a family adventure to Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, GA planned for this summer? We checked it out to create this Six Flags Over Georgia review, and we have all the information you need to have a fun day there with your family. Complimentary tickets were provided for this review.
Six Flags Over Georgia is one of the few theme parks that provides thrilling rides with heart-pounding excitement mixed with more gentle rides for smaller kids, concessions, events, and shows.
Here’s what you need to know when planning a trip there with your family. This review is a compilation of two trips to Six Flags Over Georgia.
Watch! The sights & sounds of Six Flags Over Georgia
About Six Flags Over Georgia
The theme park is located a little less than three hours from the Upstate, depending on traffic, in the Atlanta metro area. It’s a massive park with 40+ rides. Hurricane Harbor is the water park inside of Six Flags Over Georgia that opens Memorial Day weekend.
Like other theme parks, Six Flags Over Georgia offers a Flash Pass, a way to get to do more rides without waiting in lines. These are add-ons to your one-day ticket and start at $60.
Roller coaster at Six Flags Over America
Getting to Six Flags Over Georgia
The first thing to remember about Six Flags Over Georgia is that it is basically in Atlanta, which means traffic. We suggest getting there a little before the park opens so you have enough time to get on the rides on you want. If you’re doing this as a day trip, you need to allow around 3-3.5 hours to get there.
We followed the directions from the Six Flags site; and they recommend taking 85S to 285W, then 20W, which takes you right to the park. Make use of your GSP though in case of backups and look at alternate routes. And bring your patience.
Parking at Six Flag Over Georgia
Parking was a breeze. There are multiple ticket booths where you can have your parking pass scanned or purchase parking. We recommend purchasing parking beforehand just to save time. They do offer Speedy Parking and Preferred Parking for an extra fee. The lot is large but there is zero shade so be sure to bring one of those reflector things for your car if you don’t want to open an oven when you get back. And pay attention to where you park so you can find your car after a long day of coasters.
Sky Screamer at Six Flags Over Georgia
There are also three tram pick-up locations in the parking lots that will shuttle you to the front entrance. We walked from Lot 1 and were to the entrance before people that we saw waiting for the tram. De[ending on where you park, it’s not a long walk.
Be sure to have your tickets ready to be scanned for easy entrance. It is a thousand times easier to buy tickets beforehand and have them on your phone than it is to wait in the Will Call/Ticket line. We went in the early afternoon and the line took a really long time, almost 30 minutes.
Plan of Attack for Rides at Six Flags Over Georgia
We recommend downloading the Six Flags Over Georgia app because it’s awesome. You can easily pull up locations of rides, shopping, and dining options. You can see how tall you must be to ride the rides and the wait times for each ride. There’s also a really handy map, which had a blue dot so you can see where you are in relation to where you want to be.
If you have more than a few people in your family, look at the app before you go or the Six Flags website to figure out what rides you want to ride on and height requirements and make a list of the ones you really want to do and go to those first. We found that the longer we were at Six Flags, the longer the wait times were. There are also screens around the park to check the wait times.
Great American Scream Machine
Also, look at a map beforehand because you’ll need it when you try to figure out which rides to go on and where they are in relation to the other rides you don’t want to miss. Also, check out the app to see if any rides are closed.
The Food at Six Flags Over Georgia
Six Flags offers different Dining Passes that you can add onto your tickets, which I honestly love. I think these are just good options when it comes to planning out your day if its in your budget. The 2025 Dining Pass options are: One Meal/One Snack/One Beverage is $22.99/person and the Unlimited All Day Dining Deal where you get one meal of your choice every 90 minutes and get an All Day Drink Bottle is $44.99/person.
They also offer a one day drink bottle with unlimited refills for $19.99/each. If you want to do this option, go right when the park opens or you get there otherwise you could end up waiting in long lines or wandering around for a long time trying to find someplace that isn’t sold out of them. Honestly, this is the clincher because Georgia summers are dreadfully hot and we saw no water fountains. I even brought refillable water bottles in my tiny bag for that purpose but didn’t see anywhere were I could fill them. That refillable day bottle is worth it.
There are a lot of different options for dining like taverns, cheesesteaks, burgers, BBQ, a even a diner. Try to go on off times, like not right at Noon or 1pm for lunch because lines are long. And look at the festivals they offer every year, where you can try different food, like Oktoberfest from September 13th to November 2nd, 2025.
Also, try to plan your food adventures around your most thrilling rides. For example, maybe do the more heart-pounding in the morning before you go eat a chili cheese dog for lunch. Just a thought.
If you want to bring a lunch to eat in your car to save money, you can definitely do that. Be sure to get a re-entry wristband on your way out so you can get back in.
Rides at Six Flags Over Georgia
I have one more adventurous daughter and another more timid one when it comes to roller coasters, which certainly made the day challenging. We ended up riding a fun, smaller roller coaster, the Dahlonega Mine Train. It’s a good intro into the faster rides and is perfect for younger kids who are not quite ready to try the big ones, and has a height requirement of 42 inches.
We also rode the country cars, which I let my youngest drive. Of course, driving any car for kids is going to be fun. There are so many fantastic roller coasters that I wanted to really get in on the scream fest but will have to wait for another time!
Six Flags Over Georgia car ride
I’m a complete adrenaline junkie when it comes to roller coasters and have not met a roller coaster I didn’t love. The ones I really wanted to try were: Goliath, Superman, Georgia Scorcher, Batman, and Twisted Cyclone. Most of these had long, long waits – around 60 minutes at minimum – by the afternoon on a Saturday. This is why you need to plan what you want to really want to ride on and go there first unless you can swing a Flash Pass.
There are lots of great kid-focused rides like smaller Ferris Wheel-types, swings, and a beautiful carousel. Monster Mansion is a great one because the dark boat ride is a nice break out of the heat.
Water Park at Six Flags Over Georgia
At Hurricane Harbor, the water park found inside Six Flags Over Georgia, we rented a large locker. There are small, large, and jumbo, with the bigger the locker, the higher the cost. Then we headed for the wave pool to cool off. There are plenty of life jackets for kids that may need them and they have multiple sizes. My son had a great time in the wave pool, but the large Paradise Island structure was calling his name, and we went there to watch him play.
Now, anyone that has lived around this area for a while knows that the weather is very unpredictable in the early evening hours. And while the entire day had been virtually cloudless to this point, all of a sudden a thunderstorm came through. The water park was immediately shut down, so we changed back into our regular clothes.
Unfortunately, in the time, we were changing a severe storm warning was issued, and all of the rides in the park were turned off. We quickly left the water park area and stopped in a t-shirt shop for about 15 minutes. When the weather broke, we took off again, and got ice cream while the rain started again.
Ultimately it was getting rather on into the evening, with no indication that rides would start up again anytime soon. From the time they shut down the water park at 5 pm, and we got back to our car at 6:30 pm, no rides were running. It was a nice cool down, though.
Six Flags Over Georgia’s rain policy according to their website is: “There are still a ton of activities that are amazingly fun in any kind of weather––including indoor shows, restaurants, shops, games, and arcades. If rain, wind, or electrical storms force us to close certain rides for your safety, they will re-open as soon as safe operations can be assured. Refunds or rain checks for inclement weather are not offered.”
So, our day was cut somewhat short. We had a great time prior to the storm, and my son said he really liked Six Flags a lot. I think we will probably wait until he’s a bit older to go again, however, as the biggest attractions at Six Flags Over Georgia are the roller coasters. There are a lot of them.
Parent Tips: Six Flags Over Georgia
While we mentioned many tips in this story, here are a few others:
Bring/ear sun protection. It’s hot and you’ll get sunburned if you don’t have sunscreen or rain protection.
Download the Six Flags Over Georgia app for helpful info on rides, wait times, and a map.
The park is huge so plan which rides you want to go on and do them first. If you can afford it, get a FLASH Pass so you can enjoy even more rides.
Get the refillable water bottle. Dehydration is not fun.
While the park does have a lot of kid and family-focused rides, I think it’s best for kids closer to age 10 and up who love adventure and roller coasters. For most of more moderately intense rides, kids need to be at 48 inches for the medium coasters and 54 inches for the bigger ones.
Go early! Plan to spend the day there if it’s a day trip and leave the Upstate early.
If your kid wants to see some Looney Tunes characters, be sure to check the schedule of appearances when you get there.
Get tickets ahead of time online. You’ll save both time and money.
Look at the dress code before you go, especially for the waterpark: “All guests must wear proper attire, such as bathing suits or board shorts. Thongs, G-strings, or transparent swimwear are not permitted.”
You can bring bags and small backpacks into the park but not on the rides. You can either get a locker for a fee or leave them on the platform.
Visit Six Flags Over Georgia
Tickets start at $35 online (or $79.99 at the gate) and change depending on the date you want to go. It’s absolutely better to get the tickets online versus when you go. You can purchase a refillable water bottle, FLASH passes, and parking ($35+) online as well when you purchase your ticket.
Season passes start at $59/person. If you go more than once, a season pass is certainly a good deal, especially if you purchase the Platinum Level ($150/person), which includes parking.
Use the map below to find great lodging near Six Flags Over Georgia. Through an affiliate relationship with Stay22, Kidding Around earns when you book through this map.
Has your family ever visited Six Flags Over Georgia?
Are you looking for a gorgeous, yet spooky and haunted hotel to stay in while visiting Chattanooga? Haunted hotel lovers will enjoy the Read House hotel in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. This historic hotel is beautifully decorated, highly rated, and carries a very unique history of paranormal activity. We stayed in the Read House hotel during our family vacation, and have all the details on why it should be your first choice when booking your stay in Chattanooga.
If you need a new date night idea or something one-of-a-kind for your next event, we’ve got the perfect idea for you. Alchemy Comedy Theater in Greenville, SC will make you laugh so hard your stomach hurts. Every show is different. Every show is hilarious. And every show will keep you on your toes.
Overview of Alchemy Comedy
Located inside Coffee Underground in downtown Greenville, Alchemy Comedy Theater has been making people laugh since 2011. Weekly offerings include a combination of improv, stand-up, and sketch comedy.
All shows are live and incredibly energetic and interactive, featuring different local performers each week. The atmosphere is also laid-back and casual—no stuffiness about it. Coffee Underground offers food, coffee, and alcoholic beverages on its menu for patrons to enjoy before, during, and after the show.
What Alchemy Comedy Offers
Alchemy Comedy Theater offers a variety of different shows, classes, and special events throughout the year. You can even hire them for your next event!
Comedy Shows: Improv, Stand-Up, and Sketches
Fans of shows like “Whose Line is it Anyway” and skits on the “Tonight Show” will love Alchemy’s improv shows. I have no idea how they come up with things so quickly that are so funny. They’re truly unique comedic experiences.
If you attend, you may even get the opportunity to participate in the fun on stage! It’s been said that the more shows you attend, the funnier everything gets. All upcoming improv, stand-up, and sketch comedy shows can be found on Alchemy Comedy’s calendar.
Improv Comedy Classes
The Alchemy Comedy Theater offers improv classes throughout the Greenville area. Each 6-week-long class is held weekly from 6:30-9:00 pm. There are a variety of classes based on experience, but in order to reach the next level, you need to graduate from the previous class. The only graduation requirement is to attend at least 4 of the six classes.
However, there’s no comedy or theater experience needed in order to take Improv 101. Alchemy Comedy Students also get free admission to their shows while enrolled in a class! You can read more about their classes on Alchemy’s website.
Comedy Workshops and Shows at Your Next Event
You can also hire Alchemy Comedy for your next event! Whether it’s for business or personal fun, the theater offers group workshops, private shows, and even performances. These specialty workshops are great for businesses, students, and birthday parties. They even did a private show for TEDx Greenville. Read more details about hiring Alchemy Comedy.
Have you ever visited Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar in Greenville, SC? Milkshakes that take on a life of their own are the trend now in frozen desserts, and a new player is in the Upstate. The Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar, has an excellent location right near Fluor Field in Downtown Greenville! We stopped by for some seriously delicious treats and wanted to share the fun!
The Greenville location is run by Lisa Dozier and her husband. Lisa left a career in the corporate world to open the shop and it has been nonstop since they opened their doors in August of 2022. This Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar location is Lisa’s baby and it is immaculately clean, well-organized, and well-run. Plus, they literally have pretty much any combination of milkshakes you can think of. I was impressed.
The Menu at Crazy Mason
There are over 50 menu options and combinations of milkshakes at the Crazy Mason, plus a few other treats like sundaes and even pie. If, for some reason, you don’t want a crazy milkshake, you can order some delicious Blue Bell ice cream.
The Milkshakes
The signature item is a milkshake in a branded mason jar, filled and topped with delicious things like cookies, cake, cheesecake, and more. The menu boasts over 35 regular and seasonal flavor combinations with everything from the Dashing Through the Dough, which has cookie dough inside the milkshake plus a ball of edible cookie dough on top next to the giant mound of whipped cream, which also has cookie dough balls sprinkled on it. The milkshake is amazing.
Or you can go for the Have Your Cake & Eat It Too which consists of birthday cake ice cream in a swirled blue marshmallow mason jar with a vanilla frosted rim, a cupcake, whipped cream, and lollipop. I want to know who comes up with these ideas. They seem to have a pretty cool job.
Are you more of a traditionalist? How about a banana split as a milkshake? The Bananas Over You shake has all of the elements of a traditional banana split, perched on top of a vanilla, banana, and peanut butter flavored milkshake.
More of a coffee and donut person? But First, Coffee might be the shake you need to choose. Have you ever seen a donut on a milkshake before?
We’d had a rough day, but ending it with this crazy donut shake was definitely a solid decision.
Guests can also order mini versions of the Crazy Masons as Crazy Cups. These smaller versions are perfect when your kids want something like cotton candy-flavored ice cream, and you are eyeballing the berry cheesecake and chocolate masterpiece. The kids get the Crazy Cups, and mom gets what she wants.
Crazy Desserts
The Crazy Mason also offers an ice cream sandwich called a Crazy Bomb, sundaes using waffles aka Crazy Waffles, and a slew of other dessert treats, including cheesecake and donuts cinnamon rolls, slices of pie, and more. These are called what else, but Crazy Desserts.
One other cool thing is that you can keep your mason jar as a souvenir. There are rinsing stations at the shop where you can easily rinse out your mason jar and take it home and reminisce about the milkshake and ridiculously tall dessert you once ate.
Dairy Free & Vegan Options at Crazy Mason
There are two flavors of oat-based vegan/dairy-free ice cream at Crazy Mason. The flavors can be substituted in any Crazy Mason shake, plus there are a few totally dairy-free desserts already on the menu. So you don’t need to worry about getting some delicious options for dessert at Crazy Mason if you follow a vegan or dairy-free lifestyle.
I have to avoid a lot of dairy, so this Hot Fudge Sundae made with the Vanilla dairy-free ice cream at Crazy Mason was a perfect option. We added the Reese’s Pieces, because…..why not?
Not-so-crazy desserts:
Looking for a smaller dessert? These little sundaes made with two scoops of ice cream are definitely less crazy, but still let you enjoy some tasty fun.
The Crazy Mason also has several arcade games to keep kids entertained when they down their crazy mason milkshakes. This would be such a great option to combine with a Greenville Drive baseball game since the stadium is right across the street.
Are you thinking about taking a family vacation to Edisto Beach, South Carolina? Luckily, we have put together a guide to everything you need to know to plan the perfect vacation. Local mom Julie has tips on lodging, fun, food, and more!
In a sea of beach destinations full of traffic and tourists, Edisto Island, SC is a hidden treasure. With minimal commercial development, you can enjoy the many local restaurants, shops, and miles of palmetto-lined beach, without the traffic and crowding that many South Carolina beaches are famous for.
Where to Stay on Edisto Island
This map contains Stay22 Affiliate links.
A little about Edisto Island
With both of us working full-time and only having 2 weeks of vacation per year, my husband and I wanted to get the most out of our vacation. We did a lot of research and considered many of the popular destinations in this area, but eventually settled on Edisto for many reasons.
We wanted something that would not be crowded with tourists. Traffic is minimal in this area. The accommodations nearby fit our budget. Plus, there were plenty of options for entertainment within a reasonable distance from our cabin.
Edisto Island is famous for having a clean beach and for having an unusually high number of fossils and seashells to collect.
Where to Stay at Edisto Beach
There are many houses to rent at varying price points at Edisto Island, but our favorite places to stay are the cabins/villas at Edisto Beach State Park. Located on the salt marsh at Scott Creek, the cabins are about 1½ miles from the ocean and are historic Civilian Conservation Corps locations. Available are five one-bedroom cabins/villas (can accommodate four people) and two three-bedroom cabins (can accommodate six people).
These are modern cabins, so you can expect all of the comforts of home, such as air conditioning and heat, queen beds, linens and towels, dishes, appliances, a television with satellite, a screened-in porch, Wi-Fi, and a grill with a picnic table outside. Guests of the cabins have access to a private dock for fishing or just relaxing by the water.
Also available at the park, about a mile away from the cabin site,s are 111 RV sites with electricity and water access and five tent sites. Discounts may be offered in the slow season, generally in the fall and winter.
Things to Do on Edisto Island
Although Edisto Island is not highly commercialized, there is still plenty for a family to do to keep busy and entertained. Here are just a few of the activities that many families enjoy:
Visit the Edisto Beach State Park Nature Trails. These trails are for biking or hiking and will take you deep into the forest and along the marshland for an unforgettable day trip. Visit a 4,000-year-old Native American shell mound and experience the marshes and wetlands up close.
Search for seashells and fossils on the beach (Edisto Beach is famous for this).
Go on a guided kayak tour where you may get a glimpse of dolphins up close! The island is home to a maritime forest, so there is a lot of wildlife and beautiful things to see.
Explore the Edisto Island Museumto learn more about the island and its history. You’ll learn about the island, African American history, Gullah culture, and more.
Visit Botany Bay Plantationand see the boneyard beach, a beach full of petrified trees with unique structures that are great to explore and photograph.
Eat at one of the unique, local restaurants such as McConkey’s Jungle Shack or the SeaCow Eatery, just to name a few. Enterprise Pavilion is a waterfront bar, restaurant, and gift shop, and is a great place to check out, as well.
Play golf at the Plantation Course at Edisto.
Take a day trip to Charleston, South Carolina, which is only about an hour’s drive away from Edisto Beach!
