We’re going to a NASCAR race in Darlington, SC over Labor Day weekend. Flying in/out of Charlotte. We left a couple days to explore the area. Anyone have any suggestions? We’re staying in Sumter, SC for a couple nights. Thanks in advance.
Moved from General Questions to IMHO. Looking for opinions/suggestions.
samclem, moderator.
Depends on what you like you like to do, but you could do worse than hang around Charleston for a couple days. Hilton Head is nice, if a bit pricey. You could drive up to Kitty Hawk if you are an air plane enthusiast. It will be hot and humid, so be prepared if you’re from San Diego. Lots of bugs, too.
I would spend one day in Charleston. It’s well worth the visit. Lots to do and see there, especially if you like just walking around and drinking in the ambience. And, of course, you can always visit some of the historical sites in the area.
The beaches of the Gold Coast are not much further away, but Labor Day weekend they will be crowded.
You could go to Congaree National Park, which isn’t that far from Sumter. It’s probably not more than a half-day visit; I’d go early in the day to avoid the heat/humidity combo.
You could visit Columbia, but frankly, there’s not that much in Columbia worth visiting, beyond the state house.
If you are going straight to Sumter from CLT, I would strongly recommend taking an extra 30 or 40 min. and driving via US 521 through Lancaster and Camden, rather than taking the faster route via I-77. There are enjoyable things to see, especially if you don’t take the bypasses around the cities, but go through them on the old routes (easy to do by following the signs). Camden especially is pretty, and there are some battlefields in the area to visit if you like that sort of thing. But, then, I’m partial to the area, as I live not far from US 521 just south of Charlotte. 
My husband, who grew up in Sumter, suggested checking out if Swan Lake is still around and is still nice. The Riverbanks zoo in Columbia is nice. If you have kids there is a nice children’s museum.
Thanks to all.
I should mod note myself for overuse of the word “nice”. Sheesh.
Just don’t get any crazy ideas while you’re staying in Sumter. 
Riverbanks zoo is about the closest of the mentions to Sumter. If you are willing to drive a few hours, there are nice beaches all along the coast–Myrtle Beach is the most built up with tourist attractions. For Charleston, I really don’t see much appeal unless you really want to see a few short segments of brick roads and gas streetlights. It is mostly somewhere that I pass through while heading somewhere else. One of my favorite places on the SC coast is EdistoIsland, south of Charleston.
Here’s a virtual stroll on Edisto Island.
Lived in Florence, SC for a couple years in the early 1990s. (It’s basically next door to Darlington.) Yeah, Charleston and Columbia are the nearest interesting places, and neither one’s particularly close.
Fortunately, Sumter’s only a half hour or so outside of Columbia. Unfortunately, Columbia’s the hottest place in the state - in the dead center of the Midlands, too far inland to be cooled by the Atlantic, and nowhere near close enough to the Appalachian foothills to get any cooling from them either. September in Columbia is like August in D.C.
He is assuming that it is near Fort Sumter (it isn’t) and encouraging him not to succeed from the union.
Meanwhile, I thought of another place to think about if you head for the coast–Huntington Beach State Park. Among other things, it has a long boardwalk and road paralleling a river that is chock full of alligators. Last time I was there there were maybe a couple of dozen adults sunning along the riverbank. Bring a camera with optical zoom and you would get some good shots (unless they decided to be jerks and not show up that day to prove me wrong.)
Some photos on this Yelp review (by someone else.)