Greenville Off-Topic

[goodbye]

Did anyone else spend time in Downtown yesterday evening? WOW! This city gets more impressive every year. This is coming from a native and long time resident, although my words of excitement and exaltation are much more subdued than the average "Joe" and "Jane" in town for the first time or recently transplanted here. No kidding, the weather was (still is) PERFECT and the people of all ages and many ethnicities literally everywhere enjoying life in downtown were PERFECT. It is jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring, even for a knowledgeable local resident. There is no way to ever capture this experience and share it with anyone unless they are here in person to see, here, taste, smell, and love it all at the same moment.

Let the naysayers spread whatever nasty rumors they desire, because when it comes to the actual firsthand experience, the vast majority of our visitors will immediately feel like writing home about this city. Having lived here when absolutely nothing was worth mentioning to anyone living elsewhere, I often find myself in disbelief that this place really is Greenville, South Carolina.

[B&R]

I happened to be driving by downtown a couple of weeks ago on an errand and decided to detour down Main Street. I go downtown regularly during business hours but was surprised and pleased by how many people were out and about on a Sunday evening just after 7:00 o'clock. Amazed is a better word. There was bumper to bumper traffic from the Hyatt to the ballpark and lots of people on both sides of the street and in the shops and restaurants that were open. It was good because of the different activities. There were cyclists and motorcyclists and people walking dogs and people going to shops and people just hanging out. A relaxed, happy crowd too.

There has been a slow but steady buildup for years, of course, but it seems there has been a quantum jump the past few months. It would be interesting to know if that is because of an increase from Greenville and bordering counties or if the efforts to bring in visitors from Atlanta is paying off on the weekends. Maybe somebody could glance at the license plates in the garages.

[Greenville]

I happened to be driving by downtown a couple of weeks ago on an errand and decided to detour down Main Street. I go downtown regularly during business hours but was surprised and pleased by how many people were out and about on a Sunday evening just after 7:00 o'clock. Amazed is a better word. There was bumper to bumper traffic from the Hyatt to the ballpark and lots of people on both sides of the street and in the shops and restaurants that were open. It was good because of the different activities. There were cyclists and motorcyclists and people walking dogs and people going to shops and people just hanging out. A relaxed, happy crowd too.

There has been a slow but steady buildup for years, of course, but it seems there has been a quantum jump the past few months. It would be interesting to know if that is because of an increase from Greenville and bordering counties or if the efforts to bring in visitors from Atlanta is paying off on the weekends. Maybe somebody could glance at the license plates in the garages.

I am not in town very often, but I think what you described is the normal amount of activity - especially on a Saturday night. When downtown, I frequently see license plates from other states. In fact, you would be surprised to know that they aren't always from NC, GA, or TN either!

[B&R]

On a Friday or Saturday I would have expected a good crowd. The fact that it was Sunday was part of the surprise. Things used to be very quiet then.

[whitehourseview]

Let the naysayers spread whatever nasty rumors they desire, because when it comes to the actual firsthand experience, the vast majority of our visitors will immediately feel like writing home about this city.

What naysayers are spreading nasty rumors? What are you talking about?

[Greenville]

On a Friday or Saturday I would have expected a good crowd. The fact that it was Sunday was part of the surprise. Things used to be very quiet then.

I misread your post. I thought you said Saturday instead of Sunday. The fact that you saw so many people out on a Sunday night perfectly illustrates the turnaround our downtown has seen!

[RestedTraveler]

I am unsure why this information and discussion should be completely censored from the Greenville sub-forum, but whatever...

For those who may not have heard or seen, Greenville was selected as a Top 100 Best Place to Live, according to Relocate-America. In fact, Greenville was the only SC city to make the Top 10 list, coming in at #4 overall. Charlotte, NC, was selected as the #1 overall best place to live in 2008, while Asheville came in at #7 this year after placing at the top last year. I was impressed to see three Southeastern cities within such close proximity make the Top 10 list. That says quite a bit for this part of the USA, in my opinion.

I posted this information in an old thread in the general SC forum for further discussion, but thought it should at least be mentioned in the Greenville sub-forum as well, considering the top honor in SC this year was given to our city. I am sure the same courtesy would be allowed for any other city in the state which has received similar honor.

What on earth are you talking about, Skyliner? The thread was moved off of the main page and here into the coffee house yesterday some time (I presume by krazeeboi). Look down the page and you'll see it (it's not pinned/stickied)...or just click HERE. That 2nd thread on the main page should be removed altogether, I think, rather than just left there as closed. A simple PM to the thread author to let them know it's being moved would have been more than sufficient.

[BigTone]

Does anyone know of a building in Greenville that has pink mortar? If im not mistaken its supposed to be off Haywood somewhere. Was talking to someone and they mentioned it. I would like to see the buiding if it exists.

[gregtrob]

Does anyone know of a building in Greenville that has pink mortar? If im not mistaken its supposed to be off Haywood somewhere. Was talking to someone and they mentioned it. I would like to see the buiding if it exists.

Is it the Embassy Suites off of Verdae? I think maybe at one time it was but not so sure about these days. I think pink was Embassy's "color of choice" for a while.

[whitehourseview]

Does anyone know of a building in Greenville that has pink mortar? If im not mistaken its supposed to be off Haywood somewhere. Was talking to someone and they mentioned it. I would like to see the buiding if it exists.

I believe there has been a Mexican restaurant off of Orchard Park Road that had some faux pink adobe exterior walls? Is that it?

[StrangeCock]

That funky house on North Main Street. But I think they just re-did it and it's not pink anymore.

[GvilleSC]

That funky house on North Main Street. But I think they just re-did it and it's not pink anymore.

THANK GOODNESS! It looks 100 times better in its original color than pink.

When BigTone says mortar, I thought we were talking about the filling between bricks, not stucco.

[greenvillehistorytours]

That funky house on North Main Street. But I think they just re-did it and it's not pink anymore.

I believe that funky flamingo house was originally the Simpson's house of the Belk-Simpson dept. store.

[BigTone]

Yes GvilleSC, the mortar between the bricks. Mostly its concrete color, but this building is pink with dark brick.

[Greenville]

I believe there has been a Mexican restaurant off of Orchard Park Road that had some faux pink adobe exterior walls? Is that it?

It used to be Garcia's Mexican Restaurant. Even though I was a little kid when they were there, I remember how good the food was. It's too bad they are no longer there. It is actually a fairly large chain (I ate at one in Utah last year and have also been to one in North Myrtle Beach).

I believe our old Garcia's on Orchard Park is now a Chinese restaurant/buffet.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Greenville

[goodbye]

I believe that funky flamingo house was originally the Simpson's house of the Belk-Simpson dept. store.

Mortar and stucco are completely different materials used by masons. That home has a solid stucco finish. Mortar is used to bond stacked bricks or stone creating a solid wall "veneer."

[btoy]

THANK GOODNESS! It looks 100 times better in its original color than pink.

When BigTone says mortar, I thought we were talking about the filling between bricks, not stucco.

I remember reading a story that said that the original plans called for the yellow they are painting it now, but that it has always historically been that pink color.

[GVLbikeNboard]

I remember reading a story that said that the original plans called for the yellow they are painting it now, but that it has always historically been that pink color.

I live near it, and while it does look much nicer it's so weird seeing it now! Everyone I know knew it as "the pink house"...not anymore. (although we still call it that!)

[gs3]

Walked through Hollingsworth Park yesterday and noticed that the Roper Mountain Star is very visible from the park. Didn't have the right zoom lens and the sun angle wasn't so great, but here is the best I could do. This will look great at the Holidays!

[Sandlapper]

Hey ya'll,

My office is looking for a good event for a team building. Does anyone know of anything that would be good to do in the area? Anyone know of any charity walks or something of that nature coming up?

We've golfed, white-water rafted in the fake river in Charlotte, ropes course, etc.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[benjamesriddle]

What Company? If yall are comfortable with clean-up, I was suggesting a Paris Mountain CleanUP on another thread, and I linked some pictures of the abandoned junk and trash on the summit. This would be a great project for not only team building, but also helping the environment. I bet there woud be support from then City of Greenville, or FU.

[Sandlapper]

What Company? If yall are comfortable with clean-up, I was suggesting a Paris Mountain CleanUP on another thread, and I linked some pictures of the abandoned junk and trash on the summit. This would be a great project for not only team building, but also helping the environment. I bet there woud be support from then City of Greenville, or FU.

We work for CarMax.

[whitehourseview]

Did anyone attend the opening of the 'Shoeless" Joe Jackson museum yesterday? How was the ceremony? How is the museum?

[greenvillehistorytours]

Did anyone attend the opening of the 'Shoeless" Joe Jackson museum yesterday? How was the ceremony? How is the museum?

I came over around 12:15 and waited in line for 1/2 hour. They took in about 6-8 people at a time. The house is only 950 sq. ft., so it's very intimate. The photos are really neat to look at and just being in his house is cool. There are some memorabilia there. The most important (on temp. loan) was his signed will--one of only 7 known signatures by Joe.

I didn't go all around, but people seemed to enjoy themselves and it was a good event. Some old time major leaguers were on hand for signatures, a booth to meet Joe Anders, a gift shop booth, stuff for kids, etc.

I'm very, very glad it's open. A great thing for Greenville and another museum to add to our great assortment.

[GvilleSC]

I have a confession to make:

I have never really questioned the name "Heritage Green". I always thought the 'Heritage' part was due to the nature of the offerings at HG, and never really gave it much thought. Well, traveling through downtown today via Park Avenue and going through the "Heritage Historic District" which brought me out next to the Upcountry History Museum, it hit me. Bingo! Heritage comes from the neighborhood!

Anyway, it got me thinking that the City should really try to make that connection a much greater one. I'm not entirely sure how, but it seems like some great opportunities exist for the awesome public space and offerings as well as the historic neighborhood to coexist a little more uniformly. Ideas?