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Where can you bring the kids for an educational adventure close to home in Upstate, SC? From historic mill sites and battlefield hikes to nature observations and scientific discoveries, Greenville offers so many opportunities to learn while having fun. So, get out of the books and out for a family learning adventure! Even better, many of these adventures are free or very low cost.

This article includes:Educational Things to Do Near Greenville, SCEducational Venues Near Greenville, SCEducational Things to Do Outside of Greenville, SCBattlefield Sites to ExploreEducational Things to Do in North CarolinaEducational Events Near Greenville, SC

Educational Sites and Things to Do In Greenville That You Don’t Want to Miss

See Hundreds of Raptors in the Air at Caesars Head: In the fall Caesars Head State Park is the place to be to see hundreds of raptors as they migrate.

Exploring Flight: Downtown Greenville Airport Park: Watch airplanes take off and learn about the amazing science behind flight.

Butterflies at the Roper Mountain Science Center Butterfly Garden: Enjoy a morning at the butterfly garden at Roper Mountain Science Center. Learn about the butterfly life cycle. Take some photos, count the butterflies, sort them, and make a chart or some artwork!

Historical Textile Mill Sites You Can Visit: Visit these textile sites to learn about the Upstate’s unique local history of textiles mills.

Watch The Trains Inbound From Charleston: Head to the Inland Port and see how cargo is moved across the country.

Explore Space! Inspire your future astronaut or engineer. Find a dark spot of the sky to hunt for the International Space Station or the Space X Satellite Train.

You can also learn more about the universe at the planetarium during Friday Starry Nights at Roper Mountain Science Center!

Birdwatch at Lake Conestee Nature Preserve: See how many different kinds of birds you can spot along the trails of Lake Conestee Nature Preserve.

These facilities and venues in Greenville are wonderful places for families to learn together.

Educational Sites and Things to Do Outside of Greenville

Day Trips to See Dinosaurs! Check out dinosaurs at Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville or plan a trip to one of these fabulous places to see dinos in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Hagood Mill Is A Free Historial Site In Pickens County: Check out an old grist mill, cotton gin, moonshine distillery, petroglyph site, and more at Hagood Mill.

Visit Stumphouse Tunnel for a look at a pre-Civil War tunnel intended to link Charleston, SC with cities in the Midwest by train.

Learn about alpaca at Lucky Acres Farm.

SC Botanical Gardens: Check out a huge variety of plants, nature trails, and more at the 300 acres SC Botanical Garden. You’ll also find the Campbell Geology Museum on site. Admission is free to both the garden and the geology museum.

Visiting Columbia? Make your trip fun and educational! Check out EdVenture, the city’s wonder-filled children’s museum. You can also check out the Woodrow Wilson Family Home before making a stop at the Riverbank Zoo or the South Carolina State Museum.

Head to Atlanta to explore black history at these historic sites and museums.

Battlefield Sites Near Upstate, SC

There are several battlefield sites near Greenville for you to explore.

Musgrove Mill State Historic Site: Learn about the Revolutionary War battle at Musgrove Mill State Historic Site.

Kings Mountain State Park: Hike through a Revolutionary War battlefield and living history farm.

Cowpens National Battlefield: Another Revolutionary War battle occurred nearby in Gaffney.

Bonus: If you like battlefield hikes and tours, take a day trip to Greensboro, NC to see where the Battle of Guilford Courthouse occurred. You can drive through the large battlefield and learn via signage at each stop. It was one of my family’s favorite Revolutionary War sites.

Nearby North Carolina Educational Adventures

The Schiele Museum of Natural History offers guests a look at prehistoric creatures and living. There is a lot to see and do in Gastonia, NC where the museum is located.

Visit Anne Springs Close Greenway for nature and historical hikes, plus events, water sports, creek stomping and more.

Western North Carolina Nature Center– Check out animals native to Western North Carolina at the WNC Nature Center.

Carolina Raptor Center– See all kinds of hawks, Eagles, owls and more at the Carolina Raptor Center.

Carl Sandburg Home: The home of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and writer Carl Sandburg. Connemara is located in nearby Flat Rock, North Carolina.

Immerse yourself in the educational lessons found in nature at the Holmes Educational State Forest in Hendersonville, SC.

While in the Western North Carolina area, check out the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah National Forest in Brevard, NC to learn about forestry.

Educational Events Near Greenville, SC

Did we miss a fabulous educational experience near Greenville? Let us know in the comments!

GREENVILLE, S.C. —

Just because something is lost doesn’t mean it will never be found.

After three years of waiting, a long-lost locket was returned to her rightful owner.

It was a normal visit to the upstate children’s museum for Jessica Campiz and her son Max.

"We were getting ready to leave and saw the locket sitting on the ground over by the little house and it was just sitting on the floor," Campiz said.

Inside the locket was a picture of a mother and daughter.

"You find a lot of things around children's areas here that are missing, shoes, clothes, and stuff like that. You post it on the Facebook groups and you never really have any hope in somebody's finding it," Campiz said.

That post ended up on Erin Bell's feed.

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"I was just scrolling. I happened to see a post about a lost locket, looked at the pictures and I saw the one with it closed and the one with it opened. I saw the picture of my mom on the one side and I thought, oh my gosh, she could pass for my mom and then I saw my picture and I said, oh my gosh," Bell said.

That locket turned out to belong to Erin’s daughter, Hadley, which she lost three years ago, so they commented right away.

"I looked at it and was like, wow. I didn't think I would ever see it again," Hadley said.

"Out of all the things that could have happened, that was the most unlikely thing that could have happened. I went out and bought a lottery ticket that night," Campiz said.

Campiz says it was the pictures inside that pushed her to post about it

"Little things mean a lot to people. You gotta keep an eye out for the little things and never give up hope," Campiz said.

"I can see it years, years, and years from now when I have kids. It's in a special chest with all my special things, in a nice case," Hadley said.

Hayden's mom reminds people to never be afraid to do the right thing because there is someone out there that will appreciate it.

TRAVELERS REST — Meredith Bost is choosing to look at the experience of owning her restaurant in downtown Travelers Rest, if only for a short time, as the best of times.

Just 10 months after making the leap from popular hot dog cart to brick-and-mortar restaurant, Resident Diner will close its doors this weekend.

The decision is hard for Bost — not only because of the love poured into the restaurant but also because she worries intensely about letting anyone down.

In recent years, Bost had gained a following with her hot dog cart concept, then known as Resident Dogs, which she started wheeling to breweries, business events, birthday parties and the like.

Then, when The Community Tap opened its third taproom on Main Street just off the Swamp Rabbit Trail, she jumped at the chance to take on the challenge of a restaurant.

“I wanted to be here, I wanted to be beside The Tap, because who doesn’t wanna have them for neighbors, but it was never financially a good move for this business model,” Bost said.

Ultimately, the decision came down to dollars and cents.

Resident Diner’s menu was built around unique hot dogs, creative sandwiches and modern spins on retro classics. Rent was simply too high for the style of restaurant. The highest priced item — the Royale with cheese, a Revival Butchery chuck and brisket blend burger with LTO, cheese and bacon — was $15.

And while the restaurant had applied for its liquor license, it only received approval a couple weeks ago, the same week Bost made the decision to close.

“That felt very on brand for us,” Bost said, chuckling. “The Larry David version of our life story. But we sat down and did the numbers of what alcohol revenue is supposed to bring, and it would make it easier, but still.”

What might Resident Diner’s future hold?

For now, Bost will bring back her cart, slinging her one-of-a-kind creative hot dogs at events for the city of Travelers Rest. Look for Resident Dogs at the city’s evening concert series.

There are also hopes to do some pop-ups.

Beyond that, Bost isn’t sure where she and her team will land, but she’s sure they will find another location. Though stressful, the experience gleaned from owning and operating a restaurant has been invaluable and sets them up for success in the right spot, she said.

The genuine spirit that brought Resident Dogs and then Resident Diner to life remains firmly intact.

For those wondering, “The 12 Days of Cagemas” will live on, too. Bost has plans to be in a new space in time for the annual December holiday celebration that she started the first year she had her hot dog cart.

“That lives on in your heart,” Bost said with a laugh. “That goes where we go. Hopefully, we’ll be up and running for celebrating in a new location.”

To stay up to date on upcoming Resident cart services and pop-ups, follow @residentdinergvl.

Greenville has brought in an urban planning firm to create a new vision for the area surrounding its municipal airport.

The city hired consultants CallisonRTKL in October to study the area between Interstate 385 and Laurens Road and directly east of North Pleasantburg Drive to Haywood Road, which includes the Greenville Downtown Airport and the Greenville Convention Center. The team will present a small area plan intended to guide growth in the district this summer.

The study area is one that has seen increasing development, and more is anticipated with the coming extension of the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

At two community meetings this week, the CallisonRTKL team discussed its findings so far and shared early ideas for the district’s future.

The preliminary proposals centered on improving safety and walkability along the study area’s major thoroughfares, enhancing user experience at the convention center and airport, and bolstering connectivity and pedestrian use throughout the area. The ideas presented also included possible uses for parcels in the area, which has seen increased interest from retail and hospitality vendors adjacent to established light industrial operations.

CallisonRTKL landscape architect and project lead Amanda Morrell said this week’s public input meetings mark a key point in the process.

“This is the first week that we have put pen to paper,” she said. “We sit down, we take everything we’ve heard from the public and start to generate ideas.”

StanTec engineer Mike Rakowski, whose firm is assisting CallisonRTKL with the study, pointed to multiple methods that could be used to make the area’s busiest roads safer and more pedestrian friendly. Planted medians, the addition of highly visible crosswalks, pedestrian lighting, and the removal of single-lane, one-way turning lanes could all be used to make the area more walkable and make drivers slow down and pay more attention, he said. Improving conditions would also require investing in poorly maintained infrastructure along the district’s busiest corridors.

He said the final report will also include ways to address storm water issues that have been identified in certain areas in the district.

With the coming extension of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, Morrell told the group gathered at the convention center April 26 that a loop trail around the airport would help connect pedestrians to retail locations like Think Tank Brew Lab and the Junction development, as well as make the area more cohesive and attractive to new businesses. Renderings of the trail included a viewing platform that could be used to watch planes take off from and land at the airport.

“It’s connecting all the destinations within this study area,” Morrell said. “But that doesn’t mean that’s where it will stop. There’s potential for it to spur out and make connections to those surrounding neighborhoods.”

The team also pointed to possible future uses for properties in the area, including the potential for recreation destinations like a skate park, bike course or community garden on Airport Road.

As for the convention center, the team said the addition of clearly marked, beautified entrances and a concentrated wayfinding campaign to help with patrons better navigate the facility would be a major benefit.

Beth Hesler of CallisonRTKL also said relocating Exposition Road and creating a garage to reduce the property’s parking footprint would have three major benefits for the center. It would allow for an at-level entrance to the second story expo center, open up real estate for an on-site hotel, and create more room for greenspace and other development opportunities.

City staff said during the meeting that after the small area plan is finalized, the city’s planning commission and City Council could formally adopt it as soon as late summer or early fall.

Renegades’ Palensky batters Drive pitching for a three-run homer, grand slam

A six-run third, a four-run seventh, and a four-run eighth by the Hudson Valley Renegades (12-5) doomed the Greenville Drive (5-11) who could only muster two runs of their own as Renegades pitching stifled Drive batters. Renegades left fielder Aaron Palensky was the man orchestrating the run-parade for the Renegades as he chipped in seven RBIs including a three-run homer in the seventh, and a grand slam in the eighth.

The Drive’s night would be rocky from the start. Starter Wikelman Gonzalez got off to a shaky start in the first inning, walking the first three Renegades batters to load the bases. He’d recover getting a sacrifice fly, a fly ball out, and a strikeout to limit the potential damage to just one run.

Blaze Jordan led off the second frame, lining into right for a single, before he’d steal second during Max Ferguson’s at-bat. Ferguson wouldn’t waste a 3-1 pitch, sending a soft liner to center to plater Jordan and tie the game at 1-1.

While Gonzalez seemed to settle in in the second inning, the third inning would break the game open for the Renegades. Gonzalez struggled to find the zone, walking two batters, giving up a single, another walk to load the bases, walk in a run, give up a sacrifice fly to score another, and give up a single to load the bases again, to make it 4-1 before he was relieved by Jordan DiValerio. The Renegades added two more runs off a single by Spencer Jones, and scratched their final run of the inning across on a throwing error by Nathan Hickey to make it 7-1.

The Drive would get one back in the fourth as Eduardo Lopez singled and plated Max Ferguson from third to cut the lead to 7-2.

The Renegades added a pair of lead-off-solo home runs in the fifth and seventh, respectively; the first off the bat of Anthony Garcia and the second off Spencer Henson. Palensky would add his three-run homer later in the inning to make it 12-2.

Chase Meidroth and Marcelo Mayer would get on with a pair of two-out walks in the seventh inning but Hickey would strikeout, ending hopes of a rally that might have chipped away at the large deficit.

Drive reliever Robert Kwiatkowski came on in the sixth inning and worked until two-outs in the eighth as he loaded the bases with one out, ending his night. Drive reliever Christopher Troye came on in relief but he’d face red-hot Palensky who smashed his grand slam to the top of the Green Monster in left field making it 16-2.

The Drive would go down in succession in the ninth, giving the Renegades the victory.

The Drive (Boston Red Sox) and Hudson Valley Renegades (New York Yankees) take the field for game three of the six game series at Fluor Field tomorrow, April 27 with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m.