Moving to South Carolina - 7 "Feel Good" Reasons Why (2024)

You’ll find life is sweeter here. Slow down, relax, and take it all in.

South Carolina is known for its warm temperatures, white sand beaches, parks, festivals, and golf – the things that usually draw people to our beautiful state – but it’s our famed southern hospitality, rich culture, flavorful cuisine, and slow living (long before it was a lifestyle movement) that inspires them to consider moving to South Carolina.

South Carolina sits in the southeastern U.S., nestled between the Atlantic Ocean, Georgia, and North Carolina. Just over 5 million people call this wonderful, unique place home.

While attractions such as Myrtle Beach, Fort Sumter, and historic Charleston may take center stage for tourists, that’s only the tip of the palmetto (you’ll see what we mean) when it comes to the delights offered by South Carolina.

We’re known for our palmettos, yellow jessamine, and ancient oak trees.

South Carolina is known as “The Palmetto State,” and you’ll see palmettos and our state flower, fragrant yellow jessamine, all over South Carolina. Our state tree is a small palm (sabal palmetto) that bursts with fragrant, creamy-white flowers in summer. It’s so popular that the state seal, flag, and quarter all feature the palmetto’s image! A great place to see forests of palmetto palms is Hunting Island, State Park.

We are also home to the stately live oaks, their branches woven with Spanish moss. One of the oldest is the Angel Oak, a Southern live oak located in Angel Oak Park on Johns Island near Charleston, SC. This beauty is estimated to be 400-500 years old.

There is a perfect place for everyone.

Whether you seek out the bustle of the city or the slower pace of the country, South Carolina has a place for everyone. There are three geographical areas, the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Blue Ridge Mountains, each offering its own special character.

For a quieter pace, we’re partial to the Lowcountry coastal plain. The historic town of Beaufort, founded in 1711, is located just 52 miles from Charleston. Its antebellum architecture was the backdrop for famous movies including Forrest Gump, Prince of Tides, and The Big Chill. (Which we think you’ll agree is some fancy Hollywood name-dropping for a small oceanside town.)

Art, history, and culture are literally everywhere.

Our towns and cities are a paradise for lovers of museums and art galleries. You can enjoy film and literary festivals (check out the Pat Conroy Literary Festival in Beaufort, early November). Performing arts, including live theater and dance, are found in many cities along with symphony orchestras, Bluegrass festivals, live music venues, and more.

You can enjoy every season in South Carolina.

South Carolina temperatures are perfect for the gentle sway of an afternoon nap in a hammock and warm evenings on the porch being serenaded by field crickets. The winters are short and mildest on the coast – no snowfall in a season is not uncommon – a welcome reprieve for people who are retiring here from the snowy northern states or looking for a winter getaway.

We have a storied past.

South Carolina was settled in 1670 and has a storied past. History lovers will enjoy strolling through leafy streets adorned with 18^thand 19th-century pastel-colored houses, plantation museums with grand oak trees trailing Spanish moss, or visiting Fort Sumter, which echoes the start of the Civil War. In addition, you’ll want to visit Charleston Museum, the oldest museum in the U.S., and the Charleston Library Society, founded in 1748 and still growing today.

From Doo-wop to the Twist, our musicians pioneered Rock and Roll.

South Carolina is a twisting, swirling mix of music and dance. From the acoustic harmonies of Bluegrass and a bespoke style of Doo-wop rock and roll music known here as “beach music.”

South Carolina is the birthplace of many rock music pioneers and nationally and internationally known acts. South Carolinians, particularly African American artists, were instrumental in developing early rock and roll. James Brown, Chubby Checker, and the African American gospel group, the Dixie Hummingbirds (remember Paul Simon’s Love Me Like a Rock?), were among the many early rhythm and blues influencers.

We love our college football.

We’ll forgive newcomers for thinking South Carolina is all about golf and football. With more than 360 golf courses and the ongoing Battle of the Palmetto State between college football teams the Clemson Tigers and the South Carolina Gameco*cks, we are known for cheering the small and big wins.

Health and wellness? Bring it on.

We are a state that takes its active and leisure time to heart, so if you love swimming, walking the dog, enjoying the outdoors, or taking a yoga class, South Carolina offers the warm breezes and wide-open spaces that inspire health and wellbeing. Whether it’s skiing in the mountains, cycling or hiking the trails of our gorgeous state parks, or paddling a board along the shore at sunset, you will find us outside enjoying nature.

We also love our Southern food. Nothing fancy, just delicious.

In South Carolina, we’re always adding a shake of hot sauce and a dollop of BBQ sauce (mustard-based only, please) to our sumptuous food. We relish traditional southern dishes like homemade biscuits, shrimp and grits, sweet and spicy barbeque, and funnel cake (is your mouth watering yet?). Our blue crab is world-famous, and we’re always game for an oyster roast or a yummy festival like the Oyster Festival in Columbia or the Beaufort Shrimp Festival. But we’re not too fancy about being southern foodies – you’ll see us get just as excited about the nutty aroma of briny boiled peanuts from a roadside stand.

We have some interesting laws regarding fishing with yo-yos and keeping horses in the bathtub, so be careful.

For example, it’s illegal to fish with a yo-yo or dynamite in the fine state of South Carolina. “Yo-yos? It sounds odd, but there is a reasonable explanation. Yo-yo-ing is a fishing maneuver that uses hooked reels in a bouncing up and down motion. Sort of a drop deep and rewind quickly move. It attracts cappie fish mainly, but like fishing with dynamite, it is considered poor sportsmanship in S.C. Other states may be more lenient about the yo-yo, however. The dynamite method we understand.

Don’t purchase that much-coveted ukulele on a Sunday while you’re here. It’s illegal to buy a musical instrument on a Sunday. And don’t even ask about our state law regarding keeping a horse in your bathtub. Trust us.

Has life in South Carolina piqued your interest? Come on down and see it for yourself.

Spend three days and two nights in beautiful Beaufort on a Celadon Discovery Visit. Come to the placeSouthern LivingandCoastal Livingsay all Southern towns aspire to be. We’ll be waiting for you, a pitcher of iced tea in hand.

Remember, you can explore the delights of Beaufort and Celadon by enjoying a three-day, two-nightDiscovery Visit.

Contact usto learn more. We can’t wait to show you around Beaufort, voted America’s Happiest Seaside Town, and take you on a tour of Celadon’s beautiful traditional neighborhood community.