From Florence Regional Airport in Florence, the surrounding region opens up quickly, with the Pee Dee, the Grand Strand, and the Midlands within easy reach. Florence grew up as a railroad junction in the South Carolina Pee Dee, and today it is a mid-sized city with a revived downtown of restaurants, galleries, and a performing arts center. It is unpretentious, warm, and surrounded by farm country and blackwater rivers.

Standout experiences around Florence: - Tour the Florence County Museum and its collection of paintings by local-born artist William H. Johnson - Stroll downtown for coffee, murals, and a show at the FMU Performing Arts Center - Visit Darlington Raceway, the track Too Tough to Tame, and its stock car museum 15 minutes away - Paddle or fish the blackwater at Lynches River County Park - Walk among the pines and cypress at Woods Bay State Park, a classic Carolina bay - Catch ArtFields in Lake City each spring, when the whole town becomes a gallery - Visit Timrod Park and the Florence Rail Trail - Order chicken bog, the Pee Dee's rice-and-sausage one-pot dish

Florence sits at the crossroads of I-95 and I-20, so getting around is simple. Darlington and Hartsville are each about 25 minutes away, Lake City is 30 minutes south, and Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand are about an hour and 15 minutes east. Columbia is about an hour and 20 minutes west, and Cheraw, the hometown of Dizzy Gillespie, is an hour north. Pee Dee barbecue leans vinegar-and-pepper, and the Southern 500 fills Darlington every Labor Day weekend. Give Florence a stop on the way to the coast, or make it the destination.