Visiting Greenville this weekend (Simpsonville, Woodruff: hotels, home, neighborhoods)

[tom62]

Cant believe the time has finally come.. We are off to do some scouting of areas from Hickory NC, Winston-Salem area, west of Charlotte and heading into SC to check out Greenville. Honestly from what I have read on this site, its hard to find anything negative about the greenville area and upstate SC at all and am probably most interested in this area.
I am armed and dangerous (with maps!!) and have a detailed map of the city and surrounding towns and am curious about which is the best way to access "downtown Greenville" from the interstate to see its beautiful Main St. we read so much about?? We would like to get a real flavour of what this town is like, park it, walk it, shop it etc...
I'm guessing we will probably be heading TO Greenville from the Gastonia NC area via the superslab East to West, any advice from the locals would be appreciated!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Tom

[Skyliner]

You will be traveling south on I-85, so you will want to take I-385 toward Downtown Greenville (I cannot recall the exit, but it is not hard to miss). Once you reach the end of the interstate, you will cross a couple intersections with traffic lights. Main Street will be one of the streets you come to. I recommend crossing over Main Street and going on up to Richardson Street. Make a left onto Richardson Street and travel 1 1/2 blocks to the Richardson Street Garage, which will be on your left, directly across from First Presbyterian Church. Once you park there, you can exit the garage onto the Piazza Bergamo, which is pretty well centered in downtown on Main Street. A complete renovation of that plaza and a large portion of the block is planned soon. Hope you enjoy your time in Greenville!

[RestedTraveler]

Skyliner's recommendataion is an excellent one. I-385 is the best direct route into Downtown Greenville from I-85. Be careful to adhere to the 35 MPH speed limit where the interstate ends. Hang into the left lanes, and just past Main Street, get into the far left lane to make a left turn onto Richardson Street and most definitely park in the Richardson Street Garage (free on weekends, btw). Here's a photo of the garage, so you'll know what you're looking for:



And Piazza Bergamo:



You could walk straight through the plaza and ahead through the archways toward North Main Street; however, I'd recommend stepping into the Mast General Store and exit out the front door onto Main Street If you step into the Mast General Store, you should be able to pick up a visitor's guide and downtown map at either the homewares cash register (near the Burts Bees section...say hi to Jack) or at a table right near the front door. I suggest going throgh Mast for this reason alone.

It should be a fairly quiet weekend downtown this weekend. There are no home baseball games. There's a Memorial Day Weekend festival in Simpsonville (Freedom Weekend Aloft) which will likely draw a lot of people down there instead of downtown. It should make for a nice weekend as long as the smoke from GA/FL fires doesn't get blown up against the mountains and get trapped again.

[Cattknap]

I can't wait to hear about your thoughts on Greenville - have a wonderful time.

[tom62]

You'z guy'z are the best! (ahem, I mean ya'll) I will be getting back with some first impressions and thoughts of Greenville area and most likely right here on this same ol' thread. Thanks for the PICS of the parking area on Richardson St..and the downtown plaza. I was comparing all your suggestions to my AAA map of town for perspective. . Seems to be plenty to keep us occupied in town. We're leaving New England Thursday afternoon and should be in the area by Friday.. Ughh, too bad my brothers best friend lives in Starr SC but he wont be available due to work schedule been over 6 years since I saw him.
Will be back home by mid week next week, get back on here as soon as I can!

[Sonrise]

On 85 South, you'll see the Woodruff Road exit, along with 385N (downtown g'ville) don't recall the exact # the exit is but you'll see an A,B,C just make sure the opt for the one that says 385N (downtown g'ville) and follow the directions the other guys gave you. You'll love it. Oh yeah, if you have time hop back on 385 S and go into Simpsonville. Freedom Week Aloft (a hot air balloon festival is going on this weekend). It's about a 12-15 drive from Greenville.

[Jerkville]

Hope you enjoy your time in Greenville! It is one of my favorite southern cities. Very stark contrast to other urban areas in SC (in a good way).

[Skyliner]

I meant to post this earlier, but haven't had an opportunity. I highly recommend staying overnight in downtown at one of the nice hotels here. (Hampton Inn & Suites at RiverPlace, The Historic Westin Poinsett Hotel, The Hyatt Regency, or Holiday Inn Express) There are a couple others that are planned or under construction, but these are the ones available to choose from downtown right now. Once you are here, I recommend attending one of the outdoor performances by the Upstate Shakespeare Festival at the Carolina First Amphitheatre in Falls Park at the Reedy. These performances are called, "Shakespeare at the Park," and you can find a poster in the information kiosks near both ends of the Liberty Bridge. Another free event on Fridays that you may also wish to take in the annual Main Street Jazz festival.

On Saturday mornings, you can enjoy the Saturday Market (broken link) on Main Street featuring great organic produce from area farmers and local stores.

[tom62]

The last 3 post arrived after we had already left so Im only seeing for the first time now. Sorry..However we followed all the advice given for the Greenville area and can tell ya-SPOT ON..
Basically our itinieary brought us to the following areas in this order: Rte 321 south thru Lincolnton, north Gastonia, Kings Mtn.and I-85 SW and stopped off in Duncan for the 1st night (no particular reason, time alotment and convenience)
We headed over to Greenville in the AM, I think we stopped 1st off exit 59?? Like an outdoor mall shopping center. Cool concept, all quality stores and obviously almost brand new.. They had by far the most impressive Barnes & Nobles I have ever been to, including Manhattan NYC. Continued on into Greenville on 385. No traffic due to being a saturday morning on a holiday weekend which gave us plenty of elbow room to move about. Honestly even the ride into the city was nice, you can tell Greenville has a "sence of place" and presents itself well. Center divider with planted trees, flowers planted about, the whole nine yards. We found our way to the PK garage on Richardson under the Bank Of America bldg, parked the auto and we were behind the Mast gen. store (K, you guys knew that already) .. First impression of the downtown area? Well, frankly after visiting so many southern cities the last 3 years I didnt expect anything like this...We just could not believe what we were seeing. It was basically everything we would like about a small city, and then some. Yes, the farmers market was happening as well, but admittedly attendence was probably down due to the holiday. But the whole downtown was just incredible. The architecture, brick sidewalks, sculptures, the Historic Reedy River park. Very, very impressive. Greenville has that "small town" feel with the best of big city amenities. We were downtown for several hours taking it all in,had lunch at one of the pizza places . We figured to walk over to what was the "historic district" off Pettigru but it was probably best just to drive it being Im not familiar with the area. So we opted for the vehicle and wound up driving north on 25/276 toward Travelers Rest.. The few blocks north of town just before you get to the 291 Jct were the ONLY places (we visited anyhow) we saw that were an eyesore. Some delapidated buildings, closed up busnesses that most likely relocated to newer buildings.. Q: what exactly IS up with that area???? Didnt even see a single person walking the area, was like it's abandoned..
After securing a room, we decided to just roam and check out the residential areas, both IN TOWN and more rural. We wound up in neighborhoods east of the Furhman school off Old Buncomb Rd, actually literally each road in site of Paris Mtn. I let every car pass us being i had no particular place to go.....cause I hate rubberneckers period and I aint gonna p!$$ anyone off or hold them up for me being selfish....Oh yea, anyone out walking or in their yard who looked over at us, WAVED and smiled.
In a nutshell our first visit to greenville left quite a mark and honestly cannot wait to revisit and look further into the area. Thanks to all who helped us out with pics, direction and pointers!!!! That was an immense help.
TOM

[Skyliner]

Great comments from another first-time visitor! This is nothing new to us longtime residents, but everytime I hear it a rush of pride surges through my veins. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, tom62.

To answer your question, that stretch of Poinsett Highway has been a major eyesore for too many years now, which is surprising considering it is on the straightest path from Travelers Rest and Furman University to downtown Greenville. The City is taking action to change the overall look and "feel" of the corridor and I hope to see some drastic master planning finished soon.