Downtown Greenville is a very nice area to visit (no offense intended to Spartanburg).Many specialty shops and restaurants...all taste and price points.Very neat park on the south end of Main Street.New one of a kind pedestrian suspension bridge over the river.Very neat area to explore by foot.Michelin has opened their only retail store in the World in D'town G'ville.Michelin's North American headquarters is in Greenville.The Michelin Retail Store is one of the coolest stores I've ever been inside of.You can buy branded logo stuff and learn a little about Michelin tires.Well worth the visit.You might ck w/ the Corporate Headquarters at Michelin...they might have a small Museum at their NA Headquarters.Bob Jones Univer ( if you can get pass the politics) has a world class...no kidding....art museum on their campus.I'm not into artwork...but the art they display is world class......priceless stuff.45 miles north of G'ville......in Asheville,NC is the Biltmore Estate.It's the estate that George Vanderbilt built w/ his inheritance from Commodore Vanderbilt (the Railroad Barron).Mind blowing estate considering it was built in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the 1890's.Worth a visit if your already in the G'ville area.That's all I can think of right now.I'll add some more info as it pops in my brain!!!! Thanks! PalBay

I agree on the Biltmore, http://www.biltmoreestate.com/
though it's a half day wander through and pricey, and it's
~70 miles from S'burg to the Biltmore.

BlueRidgeParkway for a drive, though some parts close
in winter due to snow, ice and rock slides:
http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/

There are many other things to do/see in western NC,
but most are more enjoyable in non-winter months.

You didn't say what car, family, kids, time table, etc...
GL,mD

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Wow, thanks for the reply PalBay! That's a lot of information I'll be sure to pass onto the parents!

Edit: For motordavid.

We will be driving our X5 with 2 parents and myself. We have from April 5-12 for this trip, but we are not sure how Good Friday (April 10) will play a role in this trip.

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The only thing good friday will mean is that all the college kids (not like there are that many) will be gone.

Downtown G'Ville: Mellow Mushroom, Coffee Underground, the place across Coffee Street from CU, Sticky Fingers, and Marble Slab

Cultural: Wear shorts at BJU (and good running shoes) Walk around campuses, IIRC you're in HS so you can think about that and witness a lot of hypocrisy. Go to Clemson.

Activity: Go hiking, Table Rock, places in NC, Paris Mountain. GO TO ASHEVILLE.

PM me if you want to know who doesn't ID

Alright, thanks for the replies. The Biltmore Estate should be on our list while we're down there. We might go and check out BJU, too.

I don't think hiking will be on the schedule. We aren't that excited about walking

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In April, you'll probably see azaleas and dogwoods blooming as well. Great time of year in that part of the country.

The Blueridge is worth a drive - very nice. Isn't there a "Foothills Parkway" that goes over the mountains north out of Spartanburg up to Asheville? I remember going that way in college one time to go skiing near Asheville. It was much more mountainous than I expected, but then again I was in a Chevy Malibu station wagon, and a kid from Florida, so anything more than a sand dune seemed like a mountain.

If you are into history-type things, there's plenty of it around there as well. If you're into outlet mall power shopping, there's some of those around there too.

the attire recommendation was sort of a joke. I HIGHLY recommend you wikipedia that place before you go anywhere near it. Its about as close to Afghanistan you'll get in this country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Jones_University

... I was reading your BJU "rec" and wondered, WTF?!

my friends who I swim with and I have been plotting to go, strip out of abercrombie clothes and then try not to get arrested by their Kia driving rentacops.

They would also LOOOVE my school's "battle cries" and acronyms.