Staycation! Seeing Greenville in a Different Light
My wife and I recently did our first staycation in downtown Greenville. To be honest, I was a little nervous about it. Would I be able to relax so close to home? Would I be mistaken for a tourist?
The whole idea makes so much sense though! Spend time getting to know your own city, doing things you normally wouldn’t do because you feel like you need to rush home.
We spent two nights at Home2 Suites by Hilton Downtown Greenville. What a great hotel! It’s located on what I refer to as the forgotten end of Main Street, between the Hyatt and Springwood Cemetery. You can actually cross the street without worrying (too much) about being hit by cars! So, using Home2 as our base, we walked to all our destinations.
On the first night we enjoyed one of our favorite restaurants, Pomegranate on Main. And we didn’t have to worry about having too much wine! We did try to use the trolley to return to our hotel but that was a source of much debate between us. We quickly learned there was a difference between a trolley stop and a BUS stop. Honestly, there were a few moments of silence. I think we did end up saving ourselves about 4 blocks of walking when all was said and done, but we were in air conditioning those four blocks! The next night, we agreed we were committing to walking everywhere.
I learned packing the right clothes is VERY important. Everyone knows that tourists are often “recognizable” by the clothes they wear. We used to have a saying when we traveled that “we’re on vacation and no one will ever see us again”. Well, we ran into a couple that we used to go to church with when we lived near Myrtle Beach so that theory wouldn’t have worked too well for us or them! And one evening, in my plaid shirt and khaki pants, I suggested going into a couple stores. My wife said they would laugh at me or assume there would be no sale so we just kept going. It helps to look nice if you’re going into nice stores! And the amount of clothes you pack is important—it’s summertime in the south and I could have used a couple more changes of clothes!
One of things we enjoyed most was lingering to watch, or listen to, street performers. When we drive downtown for a restaurant or show, we are usually in a hurry and just don’t take the time to enjoy those artistic talents. On this weekend we had that luxury. We really enjoyed some guys dancing pop-and-lock in One City Plaza. I wanted to join them but at my age once it pops, it’s permanently locked and no one has the key.
Was I able to relax so close to home? I almost forgot the directions back home! It seemed like we had been away for days. Yes, yes I did relax. My only regrets were not having time (i.e. stomach room) for gelato, only going to Crème Shack once, and not listening longer to the little girl playing the keyboard in front of M. Judson Booksellers. Maybe next time.