Every month, you can catch bluegrass jam sessions dubbed Music on the Mountain at the Table Rock Lodge at Table Rock State Park. The park sits near its namesake mountain, sprawling beautifully over 3,000 acres of heavily wooded terrain. These are casual, acoustic performances by locals, but rest assured, you can hear some exceptional music here. And if you're a musician yourself, pack your instrument. Maybe you can get in a few licks, too.
Table Rock State Park, 158 E. Ellison Lane, Pickens, 864-878-9813, southcarolinaparks.com/table-rock, @SC_State_Parks
SUMTER OPERA HOUSE
The Sumter Opera House is an intimate 550-seat theater built in 1895 that hosts its year-round Main Stage Series, which features in the coming six months the likes of the Celtic Tenors, the Lettermen and bluegrass star Del McCoury, among others. The acoustics in the elegant theater, which features an Art Deco proscenium arch covered in gold leaf, are excellent. You can also catch theatrical productions and comedic performances there. And it's located in the easy-to-navigate quaint historic town of Sumter in the Midlands region of South Carolina, just four hours away from Atlanta.
21 N. Main St., Sumter, 803-436-2616, www.sumtersc.gov/sumter-opera-house
THE SHAG
The official state dance of South Carolina is the Carolina shag, born on the beachfront pavilions of the Carolinas in the 1940s along the famed Grand Strand, 60 miles of white sand beaches centered in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach. The area remains a shag haven for folks who want to shuffle their feet, wiggle their hips, sway, swing and twirl themselves into a shagging frenzy to the sounds of beach music. Fat Harold's Beach Club, Duck's Beach Club, Spanish Galleon, and OD Pavilion Social and Shag Club are among the most popular shagging spots here.
Grand Strand, North Myrtle Beach, www.sciway.net/tourism/sc-shag.html, @exploreNorthMyr
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