♪ opening music ♪ ♪ ♪ <Devyn Whitmire> With natural beauty, delicious food, and fun activities, our state has plenty to offer visitors and residents alike.

With so much to experience in South Carolina, there's never been a better time to take a road trip.

♪ Hey y'all, I'm Devyn Whitmire, and this episode of Go For It.

We'll take a trip across the state to experience some iconically South Carolinian day trip activities.

Are you ready?

Let's go for it.

♪ Take a look around friends.

Today, we are in an outdoor lovers paradise.

You can do everything here from boating to camping, hiking and biking, all of the outdoor things.

So, if you like to get away from the noise and just be in nature, this is the place to do it.

Where are we exactly?

We're at Blacks Camp in Cross, South Carolina about halfway in between Columbia and Charleston where South Carolina's Great Lakes lie.

Lakes Marion and Moultrie are actually surrounded by parks, trails, a wildlife refuge and make the perfect backdrop for all things, outdoor adventure but, their claim to fame is actually world class fishing, and since, I have never caught a fish, I'm hoping that today is going to be the day.

Let's go for it.

♪ All right, y'all here is Bobby with Black's Camp.

He's actually going to be helping us out today.

Where are you taking me today, Bobby?

>> We're on Lake Moultrie, lower lake of two lakes.

Lake Marion's the upper one.

We're going to be 20 minutes out fishing the sunken islands.

>> Oh!

That sounds fun.

Yeah.

So, what do you think we might catch today?

>> We're going to target catfish.

>> Catfish?

>> Yeah, what this lake is known for.

>> It's known for catfish.

Let's go for it.

♪ dramatic music ♪ >> So, catfish will eat this?

>> Yeah.

They eat the whole thing.

<Devyn> Oh my goodness!

How big are these catfish going to be?

>> You want to reel it back, like you're throwing, >> Okay.

>> and as you throw, gradually see how the - I'm just putting my thumb barely on the line just like that, letting it easily spool out.

Give it a try.

>> Whewww!

<Bobby> Don't hit me.

>> Okay.

All right.

So, unlock.

>> Put it behind that shoulder, and aim.

>> Aim?

All right I'm going to give it a shot.

if I mess up, we can try again, right?

I'm not very good at this.

<Bobby> You didn't go too far, but you didn't burn this one either.

So that's a plus.

>> If at first you don't succeed, which we did not, then we'll try, try again.

Oh no!

♪ ♪ <Bobby> Don't be afraid of him.

♪ Yeah.

<Devyn> We're getting a bite.

<Bobby> Get em!

Get em!

Ohhhh!

You got to go.

I think he's on there.

<Devyn> Oh yeah, he is.

Okay.

Okay.

>> Keep reeling.

Keep reeling <Devyn> Okay.

<Bobby> Turn that handle.

Ohhhh.

Oh my (yells) <Bobby> We had one.

We lost him.

>> What happened?

<Bobby> Come on man!

>> Oh no!

And I reeled so hard.

I reeled so hard.

♪ <Bobby>First attempt.

You get three tries on my boat, okay.

>> I get three tries?

>> We're getting a bite.

<Bobby> Get em.

Get em.

Reel, reel, reel.

>> This is a work out.

<Bobby> Where's he going?

(screams) Oh my goodness!

Ohhh!

<Bobby> That's a good one.

<Devyn> Look at that!

Oh my goodness.

<Bobby> You want to touch him?

>> Yeah.

Can I?

<Bobby> Yeah!

Yeah!

These bigger ones you can Yeah, yeah!

<Devyn> Is this catch and release?

<Bobby> Yeah, yeah!

We'll release him back today.

<Devyn> We did it!

We did it I did it!

<Bobby> Hold him up.

(Screams) >> You want to release him?

<Devyn> Okay!

Yeah!

♪ Y'all today was so much fun.

Oh my goodness!

What a great way to vacation.

The next time that you are wanting to be outside, please, please come out on the water and Black's Camp in Cross, South Carolina with Bobby.

What a wild experience.

I'm so glad that I gave fishing a try for the first time, and the next time that you're thinking about trying something new, just go for it.

♪ Spending a day on the water is always a good decision in South Carolina.

Even when it comes to golf.

Take a day trip down to the Grand Strand coast to experience any one of the many golf courses in Myrtle Beach.

I've never really tried my hand at the game, but let's take a swing at it.

♪ Welcome to South Carolina's Grand Strand.

This area gets its name for the 16 miles of uninterrupted beach that stretch along its shores, and there's so much to do here from spending your day by the water, to fun, entertainment, attractions and shopping, but the number one thing that you need to experience on the Grand Strand, golf.

With more courses than you can play in a year.

South Carolina is a golf powerhouse, but, golf on the Grand Strand is something special, and I'm a little bit ashamed to admit that I've never played before, but we're going to right that wrong today.

And there's no better place to take my first swing.

Let's go for it.

Y'all this is the Steve Dresser of the Steve Dresser Golf Academy here in Pawley's Island, and he has graciously offered to give me my first golf lesson today.

Steve thank you so much for your time today.

I really, really appreciate it.

>> This is going to be fun.

I always like brand new players.

Green peas we call you.

>> Green peas.

I love that.

I'm a green pea.

Y'all, this is a beautiful, beautiful course right here at True Blue and Caledonia in Pawley's Island, and Steve what would you say makes golf so special here on the Grand Strand?

As you know there is what about 90 golf courses in the area now.

So, you can be pretty much anywhere on the Grand Strand and you're going to have ten courses within just a few minutes of you.

Right here in Pawley's Island, of course we're at True Blue Caledonia's right across the street and there's I think probably eight other courses just right in the general area, and not only is there a lot of variety but they're all really nice golf courses too.

<Devyn> For someone like me who's never played golf but has always wanted to try, why do you think golf should be a part of a vacation?

>> You can play it at any age.

So, families can play together.

Some of my fondest memories are playing with my sister and my dad when I was a kid, a few years ago.

So, anyway it makes it fun for the family.

I mean look at this place.

It's beautiful here, outdoors getting some fresh air and some exercise.

It is beautiful wildlife around here.

It's challenging.

I'll be the first to admit.

It's a difficult game, but it's a lot of fun and it's satisfying because it's you against the golf course.

So, when you hit a good shot, you pat yourself on the back.

As we take the club back, we're going to get to about here and you're going to feel a little hinging taking place.

>> Okay.

>> What I like for people to understand is what I call aligning the stars.

So, we've got the sun, the moon and the earth or the club head, the hands and the ball are on the same plane or line here.

Does that make sense?

>> Mmm Hmm >> And you've created what we call the letter L with your left arm and your golf club.

Okay?

And now the club comes down and we swing through and it re-hinges over here and look at we're back to club head hands and ball on the same line again over here.

You even maybe even hit some pretty good footwork there.

Ideally that right foot's going to roll right up on its tip toes.

And then that helps your whole body turn through.

When you're first learning golf, you have to learn how to use your hands and wrists correctly, and as you get better and better at the game, believe it or not you start learning how not to use your hands and wrists so much, and let's with that foot roll right up.

Ready?

There we go.

There's that magazine cover finish.

You always want to pose even if you miss the ball completely.

Okay, a little more.

I want to hear some whoosh.

>> Ohhh!

You want to hear some whoosh?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay.

>> We want whoosh.

>> Ah, there we go, good.

That looks pretty good there rookie.

There we go, nice, and look at the next finish.

All right let's just put a tee down there.

>> Okay.

>> So, that's like a weed that grew up in the lawn here.

You're just going to take care of it with a weed whacker.

Get that thing out of here.

That's when you begin to find, ah, it's not quite as easy it looks.

>> not quite as easy as it looks.

(laughs) >> Okay.

Good speed though.

That was good.

>> Was my form still?

<Steve> ...then sometimes just your depth perception.

We tend to look at the top of what we're trying to hit.

So, just let your depth perception go down a little lower.

There you go.

You just clip the top of it.

Okay.

So now, we've got not only that little weed poking out of the ground, that's got this funny looking round thing on the top of it, okay.

>> So we're moving on?

>> Yeah, let's go ahead and set up to the ball and let's just double check your grip.

You're a little close to it there, so back up just a little bit.

There you go.

Okay.

Good speed on that one.

That was good.

(laughs) >> This really is a lot harder than it looks.

I am very impressed by golfers.

I see why they have to play all the time.

>> Okay good.

>> You think, I'm ready?

>> I know you're ready.

Let's go for it.

♪ This is the Clubhouse at Caledonia, one of the most beautiful courses here on the Grand Strand in Pawley's Island.

This is the balcony that overlooks the 18th hole.

It's like the most famous hole here.

I'm so excited to get out on the green.

♪ Alright, Steve tell me where you brought me.

>> We brought you to Caledonia Golf and Fish Club right across the street from our golf school over at True Blue and this is one of the prettiest spots on earth.

So, you're being indoctrinated into the game in a pretty cool way.

This is the 14th hole nice par four, water down the left side, all the holes over here are beautiful, but this is one of the prettiest ones.

>> It absolutely is, and I've had so much fun today y'all.

I'm so excited to hit my first shot here at Caledonia and True Blue's just over there.

Please, please come and visit these courses your next time on the Grand Strand, and of course come visit Mr. Steve Dresser of the Steve Dresser Golf Academy who has been so awesome today.

I've had the most fun and I definitely encourage you to try something new and go for it.

♪ (applause) ♪ >> There's nothing better than the fresh air of the great outdoors.

Our next day trip fits the bill for outdoor fun no matter your age.

Let's take a trip to Emerald Farm in Greenwood.

♪ folk music Hello from Greenwood, South Carolina.

There is a lot that's special about this city, from fun events like the Festival of Flowers to the claim of having the widest main street in the world.

There's so much to discover here, like where we are right now, Emerald Farm, and there are going to be a lot of firsts for me today, but it's going to be even more fun and special because I get to experience it with one of my favorite people in the world, my son Ezra.

So, let's go for it.

♪ Well, y'all we are here with Kathy at Emerald Farms, Kathy, can you tell us just a little bit about the history of the farm?

>> It's a very interesting place.

It's about a 400 acre farm.

We try to give people an opportunity to get familiar with some critters that you wouldn't know about with the peacocks and different birds.

And we've had horses and llamas and cows and dairy goats for a long time.

>> So why do you think it's important for people to come and experience these places like Emerald Farm?

>> I think over the periods of time, just recently, or the last so many years people have gotten away from agriculture and how important it is.

Okay, you raise honeybees without the honeybees.

You have no product.

You have no fruit, no vegetable, no nothing.

And young people don't really have a clue where their food comes from.

So I feel responsible if I can share with the kids, they know who makes that egg.

It's not, you know, it's not a goat egg.

It's a chicken egg, and it's something that you need to know about.

But the kids, they haven't had an opportunity to learn.

So we're trying to teach basic things.

>> Yeah, that's great.

Well, I might have a kid that can come visit later, if that's okay with you.

>> Yeah, that's great.

We love it.

>> All right.

>> We'll look forward to it.

>> Do you think we could go take a look around and see what you got here?

>> Why, certainly.

>> All right.

Well, let's go for it.

♪ Upbeat music ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh my goodness!

Are you ready to have some fun on the farm today?

<Ezra> Let's go for it.

Let's Go For It.

♪ Upbeat music ♪ ♪ Upbeat music continues ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ music ending Days like today are something that you'll never forget.

There's something so sweet and special about just being outside together, out on the farm.

We learned.

We played and watching Ezra have so much fun made me have that much more.

So the next time that you want to try something new in South Carolina?

Grab one of your favorite people and just go for it.

Charleston is known around the world for a few things, history, culture, and food.

With access to fresh ingredients and centuries old culinary traditions.

South Carolina's food scene is the highlight for residents and day trippers alike.

♪ I don't know about y'all but my favorite part of traveling is the food, and in South Carolina, we eat...well.

From southern classics like pimento cheese and barbecue to shrimp and grits, our menus and our bellies are very happy in the Palmetto State, and no city in South Carolina is more celebrated for it's fair and flair than Charleston.

And today we are going to dig into what makes Charleston and South Carolina's food so great with a chef who can serve up history in a dish.

Are y'all ready to get cooking?

Let's go for it ♪ Y'all, this is Chef Kevin Mitchell.

He is the instructor here at the Culinary Institute of Charleston and he is also a 2020 South Carolina Chef Ambassador.

Thank you so much for having us today.

<Chef Kevin> Thank you for having me.

Thank you for coming to our beautiful campus.

>> Absolutely.

So, we're in Charleston and obviously Charleston is so well known for its culinary scene, it's food.

Why do you think it is so influential and such a big player.

>> It's all about the ingredients and them being locally grown here in this area, and farmed through the many different areas in South Carolina and relating it back to the history of the ingredients, as well.

You know how we're having this renaissance of all the heirloom ingredients that were grown many, many years ago by the enslaved.

especially if we talk about peas and rice.

All those things are coming back to life.

And we have some really great farmers and producers who are you know kind of leading that charge to you know basically like a friend of mine, David Shields would say to kind of reboot a cuisine and focus more on the flavor of the ingredients and not just necessarily just focusing on actually cooking it, really understanding where the ingredients come from, how they're supposed to taste makes your food a whole lot better.

>> Yeah, our food is pretty good.

>> Yes.

I would say.

So, what ingredients are we working with today?

What are we making?

<Chef Kevin> So, today we're making one of the quintessential rice dishes that come, from this area influenced by the Gullah culture.

We're going to make Hoppin' John.

Hoppin' John is an example of what we call a perlo.

Perlos are basically those one pot rice dishes that either have vegetables and meat in them, but always going back to rice, and that influence comes from West Africa.

No matter where you go in the world, there's always a rice dish, a one pot rice dish or a rice and pea dish.

Also, the beauty of this dish is it has some tradition in the African American community where we mainly serve this on New Year's Eve and traditionally this dish is meant for prosperity and the peas kind of represent or resemble coins which is money, and then also normally you would eat this dish with a really nice pot of collard greens, and those greens would also be part of that tradition where you got money and the greens would equal prosperity.

>> So we're going to be blessed today?

>> Yes.

We are going to be blessed.

♪ So, what have we got here?

How do we get started?

>> Okay, so the ingredients we have here, the first the main two important ingredients here of course is rice.

This is Carolina Gold rice.

The other important ingredient is always peas.

We have some nice green pepper that we're going to add to it.

For me, I like to add some fresh herbs.

So, we're going to have some fresh thyme to the pot.

We have a little bit of cayenne.

We have some paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt.

We're going to do some fresh cracked black pepper.

We can always start with some ham hocks.

...what you're doing is you're extracting all that smoky flavor into the broth that's going to flavor the Hoppin' John.

Once the ham hocks have become really tender, that should usually take about 30 or 40 minutes depending on the size.

I want to add my peas and peas kind of go in first.

Once again, these have been soaked overnight to speed up the cooking process.

And I won't - I'm not going to use all of these.

Also, because I like a little fresh herb, I'm going to add some fresh thyme to this, and that's going to draw that nice thyme flavor.

From here we want to start adding our spices and our other seasonings.

So, we'll start off, we're going to do some really nice minced onion, beautiful peppers, chopped by Devyn.

(snickers) >> That was my contribution today.

<Chef Kevin> We want to add some salt.

I just add a little bit of onion powder to kind of bump that up.

These are looking beautiful.

Normally, chef's will chop garlic using their knives.

I like to use a micro plane.

It's a lot faster.

It's easier for you to use it and you get a really good punch of flavor.

I just set this on my pot and just rub it back and forth.

Basically in essence, you're basically grating the garlic.

Just be careful with those, you just, you don't want to go too far down and get the white.

Devyn's got the nice garlic in here.

>> That's going to make the dish.

>> So now, >> Peas and rice are important, but that garlic is really going to set it off.

>> Now we're going to add our rice.

Once again, we rinsed it really well.

We removed all the starches from it.

We'll stir some of this in, and we'll just use it all.

Who doesn't love Hoppin' John?

<Devyn> Well, I haven't tried it yet, but, I'm sure I'm going to love it.

Once we have the rice in, we're just going to let this cook.

Normally, maybe 20-25 minutes.

Just kind of fork it around a little bit.

Really, all the grains are separate.

It's still a little moist which is fine.

That's what I like.

Now we're going to take some of these nice benne seeds and we just sprinkle a little bit of it over, and then I'm going to take this really nice benne seed oil, and just pour a little bit over, <Devyn> I'm suddenly starving.

<Chef Kevin> - and we have our Hoppin' John, for you to taste.

>> Thank you so much, Chef Kevin, >> You're welcome.

>> - for helping us out today, for making this beautiful dish.

We have such a wealth of fresh, local ingredients in South Carolina and generations of traditions and talent that have made our food as good as it is today, so rich in history and flavor.

So, y'all if there is a South Carolina dish that you have been wanting to try or a restaurant, just go for it.

I'm going to.

Oh my gosh!

That is so good.

>> Thank you so much.

<Devyn> Thank you.

♪ >> There's something deliciously iconic about food and the Palmetto State that just might be the push you need to take your next day trip.

If you'd like to check out more Go For It.

Visit South Carolina ETV.org You can read more about each of my adventures at Discover South Carolina.com and if you're thinking about discovering something new in our state, well, just go for it.

♪