Congaree National Park was a great destination. E quickly gave it five stars for a wonderfully easy-and-interesting hike along its boardwalk, affording outstanding glimpses of old cypress trees, cypress "knees," golden orb spiders, and other natural delights. K finds "swamps" fascinating, and this was no exception. There's a small visitor's center, decked out for the eclipse on our visit, with interpretive exhibits that highlight the conservation of the area in particular. From the center, it's easy to catch a brief interpretive hike that will get you started with a rich experience on the boardwalk. This is another fine park site for Every Kid in a Park--the boardwalk loop trail is easy to take with kids, and the Junior Ranger badge tasks are accessible and interesting.
As the highlight of our trip, we enjoyed totality for the 2017 Great American Eclipse in the small South Carolina town of Newberry for Newberry Eclipse Fest. Newberry itself is a nifty treasure of a town--and truly extremely friendly. The residents did a fabulous job making sure everything was prepared and safe for a ton of visitors, and they set a great tone in being exceedingly welcoming to visitors. We met great people from Maryland, New Jersey, and South Carolina; supported a fundraiser lemonade stand; spent a ton of time in festival bounce houses (well, E did); got a book signed by an astronaut; and generally hung out in a great, safe atmosphere. We'd highly recommend your any day visit to Newberry--they have a beautiful opera house that hosts an impressive performance series spanning bluegrass to contemporary "circus-style" acrobatics. They are also delightfully close to various National Park Service sites and other natural and cultural treasures, including being about a half-hour from Ninety Six National Historic Site (a Revolutionary War site) and locally-recommended Musgrove Mill State Historic Site (also a Revolutionary War site). Really, Newberry is not that far from Greenville, SC, either. In short, Newberry fully impressed us, and we will be back. (For photos of the eclipse in Newberry, click here and check out their Facebook pages for both the town and the Eclipse Fest.)
If you go out Eclipse-ing in 2024 (or at any other point), E and I would highly recommend heading for totality. We'd been told our hometown Roanoke, VA, would be much darker than it really was, and we were so pleased with our decision to "move to totality." Definitely consider planning to be at a well-interpreted National Park Service site and/or in a small town, and keep a special eye to where the NASA folks are--they, unsurprisingly, know what they are doing when it comes to celestial events. Book early and take more than one set of eclipse glasses per person--you can share them or have a spare if you get a scratch. Expect lots of roller-coaster style screaming during totality--it really is spectacular and awe-inspiring, creating diamonds in the sky. Do bring a generous spirit for crowds, a full tank of gas, food and drinks you can keep with you in your car, and similar "think ahead" travel provisions. Trust us, it will all be worth it.
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