With stay-at-home orders extended, many of us are starting to get cabin fever — we’re itching to stretch our legs and do something new and exciting with our family. Well, did you know that there are ways to explore our state from the comfort of your own home? There are many attractions in South Carolina that offer virtual tours, allowing you to take your family on a virtual road trip. Here’s a list of places around the Palmetto State, ready for you to explore with a few keystrokes.
Explore the South Carolina State House through photos, videos and an interactive 3D model. This four-part tour takes you through the State House’s Senate and House Chambers, as well as the grounds. Highlights of the tour include: the Sword of the State, the Dome and a cannon from the Battleship Maine.
You can tour three different locations in the Lexington County Museum from their website. Explore the site to learn about what life was like on a Lexington County farm in the 1800s, as well as, the food that would have been grown and served.
Built around 1832, the Fox House was the first building to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Lexington County. It features exhibits inside that show how the house would have been set up around the middle of the nineteenth century including furniture, textiles and other artifacts.
The houses original owner, John Fox, was a prominent politician who served as justice of the peace, sheriff, state representative, state senator and other various government offices bought the house in 1843. He used it as a town residence, as he already owned a plantation three miles from Lexington Court House. Census records indicated that several students from the Lutheran Theological Seminary, which was located in Lexington Court House from 1832 to 1855, boarded with the Fox family. The Fox House was home to the Fox family and their descendants for more than a century, until the Lexington County Museum acquired the building and restored it in 1969.
Go on a 3D tour of the Governor’s Mansion, and use the website to learn more about the history of the mansion, as well as, some of the treasures within.
While the South Carolina Aquarium is currently closed to visitors, the staff is hosting two Virtual Visits every weekday through their Facebook page. At 10 AM, there is a STEM-based lesson while at 1 PM is the Family Nature Challenge. All of the previous Virtual Visits are recorded available for viewing. Previous topics include exploring the aquarium’s habitats, meeting animals and learning more about what the staff does to help animals both in the aquarium and in the wild.
Explore Ninety Six National Park, which is known for its critical role in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution and scenic nature trails . With pictures of the trails and artistic renderings of events, you can feel as if you are taking a step back into history.
Soak up art digitally through the Columbia Museum of Art, and maybe make some of your own.
You can check out the South Carolina State Museum’s current Apollo 50 exhibit in a 3D, interactive way from home. This includes videos of museum staff highlighting special items in the exhibit, such as space suits, moon rovers and more.
Explore Greenville’s abundance of public art on this virtual tour around the city. View murals, sculptures and statues, as well as, learn more about some of the history of the state and its people while you’re at it. Baseball fans, be sure to check out the statue of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, whose career began in Greenville before going on to play for the Chicago White Sox.
Riverbanks Zoo’s YouTube channel has many recordings of their Z-Learning sessions, taking viewers around the zoo and meeting animals. Live sessions are held every weekday morning at 10 AM on the zoo’s Facebook page.
The Greenville Zoo has a live webcam for their giraffes, so you can visit with them safely from the comfort of your couch.
Longing to be on the beach right now? Look no further than Edisto Beach’s live webcam. With a magnificent view of the Atlantic, you can feel like you’re really there
Not into sand and surf — maybe mountains are more of your thing. In which case, enjoy this live webcam of Table Rock National Park.
On the South Carolina State Parks website, visitors to the park can and have uploaded photos and videos from their visits. Just click on any park and you’ll learn more about the history and features of the park along with the photos. (And perhaps start planning a not-so-virtual road trip.)
We hope that you have an amazing adventure, exploring and learning online. Remember to check out Lexington County Public Library’s Facebook page for video storytimes, programs and more.
