Understand
[edit]From the world famous Swan Lake Iris Garden to the historic Sumter Opera House, Sumter boasts of unique sights and a colorful lifestyle. A rather perfect blend of antebellum era and 21st century, you'll find plantation-style homes juxtaposed with entities like Shaw Air Force Base. Sports and cultural events are also a draw, and the city's location within a couple of hours from the mountains and sea, makes its motto "In the Middle of Everything” fairly correct.
Get in
[edit]Get around
[edit]See
[edit]- 1 Swan Lake Iris Gardens, 822 W Liberty St, ☏ +1 803 436-2640. Daily 7:30AM-8:30PM. In this unlikely example of an aberration gone aright, this natural spectacle arose after a local entrepreneur dumped all of his Japanese irises from his failed garden into this pond in 1927, only to become the city's star attraction. Here you can amble along cypress-tree canopied boardwalks, or feed swans and admire the irises of course.
- 2 Sumter County Museum, 122 N Washington St, ☏ +1 803 775-0908. Th-Sa 10AM-5PM. Historical exhibits on the area displayed in an Edwardian-style building, with a little log cabin and some reenactments out back.
Do
[edit]- 1 Sumter Opera House, 21 N Main St, ☏ +1 803 436-2616. Performing arts available in this opulent building.
- 2 Palmetto Tennis Center, 400 Theatre Dr, ☏ +1 803 774-3969. A pretty serious tennis complex, next to the Univ of South Carolina Sumter Campus.
Buy
[edit]Eat
[edit]- 1 Sylvia Jo's, 541 E Liberty St, ☏ +1 803 775-9809. M-F 7AM-2PM. The neighborhood may not be exactly enchanting, but this restaurant features homestyle cooking, with appetizing items like strawberry shortcake and hot breakfasts and a lunch buffet.
- 2 The Restaurant at Second Mill Bar and Lounge, 2390 Broad St, ☏ +1 803 774 0270.
Drink
[edit]Sleep
[edit]- 1 Hampton Inn, 1370 Broad Street, ☏ +1 803-469-2222.
- 2 Super 8 by Wyndham Sumter, 1050 Broad St, ☏ +1 803 757-4513. Pool and typical Super 8 look.
Connect
[edit]Go next
[edit]| Routes through Sumter |
Southern Pines ← Laurinburg ← Jct W  S ←
|
N  S
|
→ St. George → Walterboro |
| Anderson ← Columbia ← | W  E
|
→ Florence → Wilmington |
| Athens ← Columbia ← | W  E
|
→ Jct N  S → Conway → END
|