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Posts Tagged ‘Pickens SC’

Table Rock Tea Company: Visit an Authentic Tea Farm Right in the Upstate

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Did you know that you can visit an authentic tea farm right in the Upstate, SC? Table Rock Tea Company is only a 45-minute drive from Greenville, SC, and they grow, processes, and sell tea. We went for a tour to learn about all that’s brewing at Table Rock Tea. 

Within the first five minutes of our awesome tour at Table Rock Tea Company, the Upstate’s only tea farm, my mind was blown. I can’t tell you what it was exactly that did it because it’s a fun fact that Jennifer, the owner, loves to tell guests. But it’s only the beginning of learning all about how tea is grown and processed right here in the Upstate of South Carolina.

We have lots more educational fun in the Upstate if that’s what you’re looking for.

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Christmas Things to Do in Easley and Pickens County, SC

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Looking for holiday things to do in Easley and Pickens County? There are holiday events, places to see Santa, tree lightings, lots of Christmas parades, shopping events and much more all happening right in Pickens County. Celebrate the season with some of these Christmas things to do in Easley and Pickens County for the whole family.



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Discover A Relic From The Ice Age at Nine Times Nature Preserve in Pickens, SC

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Are you looking for a place to hike in Pickens, SC, then Nine Times Preserve is one of the places you should check out! Nestled on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains with over 500 acres of protected land and 134 species of native wildflowers to encounter, who can resist this nature preserve? Find out about this nature preserve and how to get there.

Nine Time Preserve in Pickens, South Carolina

There is so much to see and do in Pickens County, South Carolina! We’ve discovered another place to explore with your family no matter the season! If you love hiking trails and hidden gems – we’ve got a perfect place to check out. You might even come across a flower that is thought to only exist in the Upstate!

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Twelve Mile Recreation Area Has One of the Nicest Beaches in the Upstate

Have you visited Twelve Mile Recreation Area, a Clemson City Park on Lake Hartwell? Grab the swimsuits and those inflatable tubes because local mom Liene brought her kids for swimming and found a park full of family-friendly amenities that make it a great spot to spend a summer day. Here’s why you should visit and what to expect!

You can find more lakes that allow swimming in our list of swimming holes near Greenville, SC.

Things to Do at Twelve Mile Recreation Area

  • Swimming
  • Playing in the sand
  • Picnics
  • Boating
  • Fishing
  • Playground
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These Escape Rooms in Upstate, SC Will Have You Racing to Beat the Clock!

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Are you looking for a fun, yet challenging escape room in Greenville, SC? With unique storylines and challenging puzzles, escape rooms have steadily been growing in popularity over the last decade. We gathered a list of escape rooms throughout the Upstate that are perfect for date nights, birthday parties, teambuilding exercises, and other group events. Time to pause that mystery podcast you’ve been listening to for hours and unlock your inner Sherlock Holmes to solve all the clues before time runs out!

This article includes:
Greenville County Escape Rooms
Spartanburg County Escape Rooms
Pickens County Escape Rooms
Anderson County Escape Rooms

Escape Artists Greenville
Escape Artists Greenville, SC

Escape Rooms: Important Things to Know

  • Before heading to the escape room venue, it is highly recommended (and sometimes required) to book your appointment ahead of time.
  • Many of the escape rooms in the Upstate have an age limit or require a parent to accompany any minor. Some rooms are not recommended for children due to the theme.
  • Please contact the escape room you wish to attend for additional rules, pricing, booking an appointment, and information about their location.

Escape Rooms in Greenville County

Escape Artists Greenville- Downtown209 East Stone Avenue, Greenville | 864.509.9305 
Offers 6 private escape rooms of varying levels of difficulty. Requires at least 2 players to complete (some rooms require a minimum of 4 players). Players under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, with some themes being inappropriate for younger players. Read our Kidding Around review of Escape Artists Greenville to see if Bethany beat the clock!

Best for kids: Yuletide Magic Maria took her kids to do Yuletide Magic during their Greenville Staycation.

Escape Artist Yuletide Magic

Escape Artists Greenville- Hampton Station1320 Hampton Avenue, Bay 11C, Greenville | 864.509.9305
Offers two 60-minute private escape rooms. Escape rooms require a minimum of 2 players, with an 8-player maximum. 

Breakout Games614 North Main Street, Greenville | 864.326.0190 
Offers 8 private escape rooms with varying difficulty levels. Require a minimum of 2 players to play. Open to all ages (under 14 must be accompanied by an adult).

Trapped in the Upstate556 Memorial Drive Extension, Suite D, Greer | 864.416.1539
Offers 6 private escape rooms that require at least 2 players. Puzzles take about 60 minutes each. The minimum age to play alone is 13. Children under 10 are welcome, but some puzzles are not appropriate for younger players due to difficulty and theme. Read our Kidding Around review of Trapped in the Upstate for more details.

Servus VR 928 South Main Street, Greenville | 864.509.1077
Offers 11 virtual reality escape games. Games require at least 2 players, with options for 2 player, 3 player, and 4 player games. Games run for 60 minutes. 

Spartanburg County Escape Rooms

Escape Room Adventures and Virtual Reality–  1220 John B White Sr Boulevard, Spartanburg | 864.586.5086
Offers 6 escape rooms of varying levels of difficulty. Games require a minimum of 2 players. In addition, several VR escape games are available. Recommended age is 12 and older. Anyone under 18 must have a parent sign a waiver, and under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Escape Room Adventures requires an appointment.

Robert's Relic Room
Trapped in the Upstate, Greenville SC

Pickens County Escape Rooms

Seneca Escape Zones115- C Eagles Nest Drive, Seneca | 864.557.9663
Offers 3 escape rooms of varying levels of difficulty. A minimum of 2 players is required for each game, and each room holds up to 6 people. Puzzles are designed for ages 10 and up. Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult. Book an escape room before attending the location. 

The Escape Quest277 Market Street, Seneca | 864.626.5995
Offers 4 escape rooms of varying levels of difficulty. 2 players are required for 2 of the three rooms offered. Recommended party size is 4 – 8 players. Booking ahead is highly recommended, walk-in gameplay is not guaranteed. Each escape room is approximately 60 minutes. Children are allowed as long as accompanied by an adult. 

Anderson County Escape Rooms

Electric City Escapes– 4103 Liberty Highway, Anderson | 864.328.9908
Offers 4 escape rooms with varying levels of difficulty. Three rooms are appropriate for all ages. The Mystery Parlor is PG13. The games are 60 minutes long. Booking online is recommended. 

Do you have a favorite escape room in Greenville or the Upstate?

This is Where Kids Can Get Free Breakfast and Lunch This Summer Near Greenville, SC

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Summer is getting close and I know you are wondering “Where can we find my kid’s free lunch near me?”. The upstate has programs in place to provide FREE breakfasts and lunches for kids in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Pickens Counties. So many families rely on the school system to assist with meals for their children. Local school districts are helping kids by eliminating the cost of school lunches and breakfast from parents’ worries.

This article includes:
Free Summer Meal Locations for Kids from Greenville County Schools
Free Summer Meal Locations for Kids from Spartanburg County Districts
Free Summer Meal Locations for Kids in Pickens County Schools

Things to Know about 2023 Free School Summer Meals for Kids

  • ALL kids 18 and under in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Greenville Counties qualify for free summer school food service breakfast and lunches, no questions asked. Your child doesn’t need to attend a specific school or financially qualify. T
  • There are some districts in Spartanburg County that require the student to be enrolled at that school, and we have notated this restriction if the information was provided.
  • Children will be required to eat their meals on-site. There will not be takeaway meals for 2023 for Greenville County Schools or the School District of Pickens County.
  • Pickens County will also offer free meals for anyone enrolled in school-age 21 and older with mental or physical disabilities.

For more assistance with getting food for your family, check out our guide to Finding Help in the Upstate

Where to find free lunch during the summer: Greenville, Spartanburg, and Pickens County, SC
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Check Out Some Favorite Playgrounds and Parks in Easley & Pickens, SC

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Looking for parks in Easley? My favorite time of year has arrived, and I am so excited! Spring is working hard to break its way into the Southern summer. Recently my kids and I decided to leave the “big city” to check out the suburbs. We set out on a mission to explore some of the Easley parks and were pleasantly surprised with what we discovered!

We’ve also added some information for you about all parks in Easley and Pickens Counties, even if we haven’t had the opportunity to visit them yet.

Playgrounds and parks Easley, SC
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25+ Fabulous Things to Do During a Day Trip to Pickens, SC

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If you’ve never spent a day exploring Pickens, SC, you should add it to your bucket list. Pickens County is home to some of the most naturally beautiful locations in South Carolina, including Table Rock and Lake Jocassee. You can also find excellent shopping at the Market at the Mill and local antique shops. There is just so much to do in Pickens, SC! We went on a search for fun in this beautiful area of the Upstate and came back with a long list of things to do on a day trip to Pickens, SC any time of year.

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Eden Farms Offers Amazing Trail Rides Overlooking the Mountains near Greenville, SC

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Interested in horseback riding in SC? Trail rides at Eden Farms, just outside Greenville, SC, are available on their sprawling 160-acre farm overlooking the mountains. Kristina took her kids and has all the details.

Thanks to Eden Farms for letting us do a trail ride so we could write the review!

I’ll take any chance to get close to the beautiful mountains surrounding Greenville and if it involves horseback riding, even better. This is exactly what Eden Farms in Marietta, SC offers to anyone who wants to enjoy their gentle horses, the sprawling farm, and the shaded trails.

Eden Farms

About Eden Farms: SC Equestrian Center

Eden Farms, founded in 2001, is family-owned and operated. They have several pastures, three arenas (one of them is covered), and 160 acres of land with views of Table Rock, Caesars Head, and Paris Mountain. You can even catch a view of downtown Greenville on one of the trails. 

They are perhaps most well-known for their horse therapy program, Happy Hooves, a nonprofit Therapeutic Equestrian Center that serves people with special needs of all ages and abilities. Since the nonprofit began in 2003, Eden Farms has served thousands of individuals. Happy Hooves Therapeutic Equestrian Center is the only one of its kind in the Upstate and one of five in the state that is a PATH International (formerly NARHA) Premier Accredited Centers. This basically means they have high standards of training and safety. 

Eden Farms also offers birthday parties, camps, trail rides, riding lessons, horse boarding, and homeschool days. Our editor, Bethany, checked out one of their homeschool days in this great video, which includes a tour of the farm, horses, barn, and awesome playground.

Explore on Horseback in Upstate, SC: Trail Rides

I’ve ridden horses before but all in all, I’m still pretty clueless about horses. My kids have only ridden them at events around in a circle. We are all beginners to say the least, which didn’t matter at all when it came time for our trail ride at Eden Farms. 

As soon as we got there, Becky, the owner, and her team made us all feel welcome and encouraged. Once I signed all the release forms (which you can do online beforehand to save time), we were off to meet our horses in the spacious barn. By the way, the barn is gorgeous. It is just so pretty and clean! And all the horses we met were very calm and gentle. You could tell they were happy.

Petting a horse at Eden Farms

When we booked the trail ride, Becky asked our weight and height so she could prepare the correct horses for us. My seven-year-old had a beautiful small horse named Twiggy. My daughter fit on her perfectly. And my oldest daughter at 11-years-old rode Hannah Eve, a gorgeous quarter horse. My horse, Rebekah, was a Belgian. She was huge but very gentle. I immediately could relate to this horse as she loved to eat while we were riding. 

Once we got our helmets on and were introduced to our horses, we were taken out to one of the arenas to mount our horses from a wooden stand, which made it really easy. And then we rode around the arena for a few minutes while Becky and our guide instructed us on how to turn, stop, and go on our horses. It was really easy. And then we were off to the trail. 

Meandering Through the Forest

My two kids each had their own guide walking alongside them as is the standard at Eden Farms. Kids ages 7-12 can ride but do have a guide with them for safety. I had never seen this before on previous trail rides when I was much younger but it made me feel very safe and secure to have them with my kids even though they were right in front of me. I was pulling up the rear with Rebekah and got to see the joy my kids felt while riding the horses. It was awesome. 

The trail we were on was about a mile long and runs through the back of the farm on a dirt path and then up into the nicely shaded woods. But on our way up there, we were treated to beautiful views of Table Rock, Caesars Head, and Paris Mountain. It was just so peaceful. Like I mentioned in the beginning, mountains make me so happy. Seeing them is very calming for me and being able to ride such a sweet and gentle horse while watching my kids enjoy something so thoroughly was very special. 

Trail Ride at Eden Farms

To give the best experience to their guests, Eden Farms only takes out four people at a time on trail rides. Based on my previous trail riding experiences, I had expectations of what it would be like at Eden Farms but it was so much better than what I had imagined. Becky and her team were so attentive and patient and answered all our questions while encouraging us in our handling of the horses. The horses were so well-behaved and gentle. I never felt unsafe or unsteady and really loved the experience. My youngest wanted to know how to trot by the time we were done and now she’s begging me to send her to summer camp there while my other daughter is already planning her birthday party at Eden Farms. It’s definitely a fun and welcoming place. 

Booking Your Own Trail Ride 

Eden Farms runs trail rides Monday – Saturday by appointment. Over the summer, trail rides go out at 8 am because of the heat. Make it a day trip and head to Table Rock State Park to jump in some waterfalls or hit up a nearby sandy mountain beach. During other seasons, rides are in the morning and early afternoon.

Give Eden Farms a call to schedule a trail ride at 864.898.0043. Kids are welcome and those ages 7-12 will have a guide walking with them on the trail but they will be the ones to control the reins. Kids need to be at least seven years old and riders must be under 225 pounds. 

Eden Farms trail ride

This would make an awesome date activity with your significant other or your kid(s). It’s a fun special occasion activity or just something enjoyable to do with your friends or family visiting as well. 

Trail rides are about an hour long and include a safety lesson and helmet. They are $80/person. 

Eden Farms
4700 Dacusville Highway, Marietta
864.898.0043

Brushing a horse at Eden Farms

Learn More About
Eden Farms & Happy Hooves!