Wedding & Event Venue Near Camden, SC.

INDIANAPOLIS — Sometimes it’s nice to unplug from the busy city life and enjoy the simple things that come with small town living.

There’s countless small towns scattered across the United States offering everything from the seaside charm of Camden, Maine to the Old West history of Silver City, New Mexico.

Digital travel magazine Trips To Discover is taking out the guess work for travelers with its list of the Most Charming Small Town in Every State.

Here are some highlights.

Essex, Connecticut

Fans of “Gilmore Girls” will likely recognize Essex, Connecticut. The historic town serves as Stars Hollow, the hometown of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. Visitors can take in the scenic waterfront of the Connecticut River or go for a ride on the old-fashioned Essex Steam Train.

Helen, Georgia

Guten Tag from Helen, Georgia! This small town brings the style and feel of a Bavarian alpine village to the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. While you’re there, you can sample authentic German cuisine and marvel at the Bavarian-style buildings throughout downtown.

Shipshewana, Indiana

The most charming small town in the Hoosier state is Shipshewana, according to the list. Shipshewana is known for its large population of Amish and Mennonites. Tourists are encouraged to get a feel for Amish life by taking a buggy ride, eating Amish-style cooking at one of several restaurants, as well as visit what’s known as the Midwest’s largest flea market.

Virginia City, Nevada

You might bump into someone on horseback when checking out the main drag of Virginia City, Nevada! At one point in the late 19th century, this small town was a booming metropolis with more than 25,000 residents. Today, you can sip in an Old West saloon or take a stagecoach ride around town.

Beaufort, South Carolina

According to Beaufort’s official website, this South Carolina town’s winding, historic streets are framed by natural foliage and centuries-old, moss-draped live oak trees. There are walking tours, dolphin-watching cruises, and well as a historic downtown with waterfront eateries.

The Full List

The towns were chosen by Trips to Discover travel expert K.C. Dermody based on personal experience, attractions, reviews, and overall friendly atmosphere

You can view more details here: https://www.tripstodiscover.com/charming-small-town-every-state/

It was another night of playoff action in the Midlands with softball district championships on the line as well as semifinals in SCISA baseball and girls soccer.

Here are some highlights from Wednesday:

? Hammond girls soccer earned a spot in the SCISA 3A championship with a 3-0 win over Porter-Gaud. The Skyhawks play Pinewood Prep for the second straight year on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cardinal Newman.

? Ben Lippen baseball headed to the SCISA 3A championship with a 3-2 win over Wilson Hall. Jake Treiber had a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth. The Falcons will play Hammond or Laurence Manning in the best-of-three series beginning Monday. Hammond forced a deciding game with a 9-1 over LMA. The two teams will meet Thursday at Sumter’s Riley Park.

? Richard Winn will play for SCISA Class A championship after a 4-3 win over Dorchester. The Eagles will play Clarendon Hall or Andrew Jackson in the championship series.

? In SCHSL softball, Lexington and Chapin won district championships in Class 5A. Sarah Gordon hit a pair of homers and drove in seven in Lexington’s 13-3 win over Cane Bay. The Wildcats host Wando on Friday in the lower state round.

? Chapin defeated Berkeley, 4-1, to win the district championship. The Eagles will travel to Summerville on Friday.

? In Class 3A, Gilbert defeated Camden, 17-5, to win the district and will host Aynor on Friday. The win was coach Sarah Minchew’s 100th of her career.

? Gray Collegiate got four home runs to defeat Abbeville, 5-1, to win the Class 2A District 2 championship. The War Eagles host Crescent on Friday.

SCISA Class 3A

Hammond 3, Porter-Gaud 0

Goals: Briana Pinasco, Katie Frye, Emme Crosland

Class 5A

Lexington 13 Cane Bay 3 (6)

WP: Mackenzie Mathis. Hitters: L: Sarah Gordon 3-5 2 HR, 6 RBI

Chapin 4, Berkeley 1

WP: Leah Cabe. Hitters: Ella Majchrzak 2-3 2 RBI; Carlee Norris 1-2 RBI.

Summerville 8, White Knoll 0

WP: Bennet Hitters: S: Bennet 3-4 2 HR, 3 RBI; Mazell 3-3 HR, 3 RBI; Edwards 1-3 2 RBI. WK: Gallardo 2-3

Summerville 4, White Knoll 3

WP: Bennet Hitters: S: Bennet 2-3 HR, 2 RBI; Guilliam 3-4, Edwards 1-2 2 RBI. WK: Lexi Winters 2-3 HR, 3 RBI

Wando 10, River Bluff 2

Class 4A

Lugoff-Elgin 11, Greenwood 1

WP: Pickett Hitters: Branham 3-5; Dooley 3-4; Sheorn 3-4; Pickett 3-4 3 RBI; Moore 3-4 3 RBI; Jordan 1-4 RBI

Greenwood 4, Lugoff-Elgin 0

WP: Holland Hitters: G: Holland 2-3 2 RBI. LE: Pickett 2-3

Class 3A

Gilbert 17, Camden 6 (5)

WP: Swinford Hitters: Melinauskas 1-3 RBI; Tara Dorgan 3-3; Taylor Dreher 2-4 HR, 3 RBI; Carley Melton 3-4 3 RBI; Miley Baty 2-3 2 RBI; Izabella Adams 2-3 2 RBI; Abbie Marlowe 3-3 3 RBI

Union County 4, Mid-Carolina 3

Class 2A

Gray Collegiate 5, Abbeville 1

WP: Taylor Corley Hitters: Brooklin Thomas 1-3 HR, RBI; Corley 1-3 HR, 2 RBI; Brooke Tranum 1-3 HR, RBI; Maddox Long 2-3 HR, RBI

Crescent 3, Batesburg-Leesville 1

Saluda 5, Chesterfield 2

Chesterfield 8, Saluda 6

SCISA Class 3A

Ben Lippen 3, Wilson Hall 2

WP: Davis McElveen Hitters: BL: Drake Rabon 2-4 RBI; Jake Treiber 1-4 RBI

Hammond 9, Laurence Manning 1

WP: Tyler Albrecht Hitters: H: Tucker Toman 2-3 2 RBI; Rucker Brannon 3-4 RBI

SCISA Class A

Richard Winn 4, Dorchester Academy 3

WP: Berry Bonds Hitters: RW: Jacob Chaisson 2-4 2 RBI; Brian King 3-3 2 RBI

This story was originally published May 11, 2022 10:03 PM.

Bishops and Iron Horses track and field, baseball capture region rings

Track

The Bishop England girls and both of the Philip Simmons track and field teams shone at their respective region championships.

The Bishop girls ran away with the Region 8-AAA title on May 2 with a 218.5-85 victory over Academic Magnet at Cane Bay High School on May 2. Hanahan topped BE 211-128 to win the boys’ crown.

The Iron Horse girls and boys both claimed the biggest trophy at the Region 6-AA championships, which were contested at Woodland High School on May 4.

The Bishop girls won 11 of the 17 events contested including wins in the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800-meter relays.

Gold medal performances included: Maggie Long (shot put, long jump and triple jump), Audra Schaafsma (400 dash, high jump), Hope-Elaine Stowell (discus and javelin), Caroline Edgerton (800 run) and Nora Brahim (3,200 run).

Justin Hafner led the Bishop boys with gold medals in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs, while the Bishops’ 4x800 claimed first.

Bishop England will compete in Saturday’s Lower State qualifier at Camden.

In the Region 6-AA meet, Iron Horse sprinter NaJhyria Watson led the way by sweeping the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.

De’Andra Brown claimed two gold medals, winning the 100-meter hurdles and long jump while the Iron Horse girls won the 400- and 3,200-meter relays.

Other gold medal winners included: Phoebe Coggan (800), Samantha Watson (1,600), Elizabeth Habakus (3,200), Kelsey Kieffer (high jump), Madison Jent (pole vault) and Brooke Wall (javelin).

The Iron Horse boys were dominant as well. They swept the 400-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays.

Bryce Kinloch (400 and high jump) and Pierce Walker (1,600 and 3,200) were double winners.

Other gold medalists included: JaQue Green (100), Corey Steed (200), Kanye Doyle (800), Troy Stevenson (long jump), Trey Hensley (pole vault) and Abram Wright (discus).

Baseball

Philip Simmons claimed the Class AA Region championship Monday night with a 13-3 victory over Camden in a game called after five innings due to the 10-run rule. The victory gave the Iron Horses an 18-9 record and a spot in the Class AA Lower State Championship Series.

The Iron Horses were 3-0 in district play. They also beat Silver Bluff 13-6 and Marion 12-8 to reach the district title game.

Bishop England, meanwhile, went 1-2 in the Class AAA District 6 play. The Bishops beat Lake City 1-0 in the opening round and lost to Battery Creek 11-5 to fall into the elimination bracket. Lake City eliminated BE, 11-4.

Soccer

Both the Bishop England and Philip Simmons girls’ soccer teams were scheduled to play Tuesday night for berths in this weekend’s state soccer championships.

The Bishops were scheduled to Oceanside Collegiate with the winner advancing to Saturday’s Class AAA state championship game, while Philip Simmons was scheduled to play at Christ Church with the winner moving onto Saturday’s Class AA championship.

The Bishops recorded victories over Lake City, Gilbert and Camden. Philip Simmons received a first-round bye and beat Brashier and Buford.

The BE boys won their opening round game with a 2-0 decision over Camden, but dropped a 3-2 decision at Waccamaw. The Iron Horse boys received a first-round bye and lost to Greenville, 2-1, in the second round.

After a strong fall season, South Carolina’s nationally ranked women’s golf team tied for seventh in their first tournament of the spring and shared last place Feb. 28 after the opening round of their second start.

Coach Kalen Anderson called a team meeting that evening at the USC-hosted Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at Hilton Head Island’s Long Cove Club. The discussion worked wonders.

“The pivotal moment of the season,” Anderson said. “Our own tournament and we’re last (16 strokes from the lead). The final two rounds, we played to our standards, finished second against a national championship-quality field and got in position to challenge to win the tournament. That showed what we can do when we play with confidence.”

The resulting jolt of excitement provided a springboard to three consecutive tournament victories before the Gamecocks placed third, three shots out of first, in the stroke-play portion of the SEC Championship.

South Carolina is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Regional tournament that starts Monday in Tallahassee, Florida. The Gamecocks are ranked third nationally in the Golfstat poll.

It’s no surprise that Anderson feels good about her team headed into the competition that leads to the national title. Although replacing four players from the 2020-21 squad that spent much of the year ranked No. 1, the current Gamecocks set a school record with five tournament victories.

“Very balanced, (players) one through five, and we’re ready to get back on the golf course after final exams,” Anderson said. “We have depth, not just one or two players at the top. I’m really proud of how they have developed.”

Freshman Hannah Darling, ranked No. 12 in the women’s world amateur golf rankings, owns the team’s best scoring average, 72.7 shots per round.

But right behind are the other four regulars: freshman Louise Rydqvist (73.7), junior Mathilde Claisse (73.73), graduate Tai Anudit (74.0) and junior Justine Fournard (74.5). All five have posted multiple top-10 finishes individually, and sophomore Paula Kirner provides another quality piece to the puzzle.

“We obviously want to be playing our best golf this time of the year, and I think we will,” said Anderson, who took over the program in 2008 and has guided USC into the nationals in nine of the past 11 seasons. That stretch includes five regional championships.

The four top teams in each of six regionals will advance to the nationals May 20-24 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The format calls for four rounds of stroke play with the top eight advancing to the match-play portion that will crown the champion.

To that end, Anderson has prepared her squad with three match-play events on the schedule. In one, the Gamecocks swept to the title without Darling, who competed in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, in the lineup.

“A lot can happen this time of year,” Anderson said, no doubt remembering her No. 1 team a year ago needed a last-gasp rally in the regionals to advance, then finished the first round of the nationals in last place. The Gamecocks’ rally to make match play fell just short.

“We just need to keep playing like we have, with confidence, since that first round in Hilton Head. If we do that — be focused and do our job — we will be fine.”

Chip shots. Other state teams in the NCAA women’s Regionals include Clemson, No. 6 in Stillwater, Oklahoma; Furman, No. 8 in Stillwater’ and College of Charleston, No. 10 in Tallahassee. ... The South Carolina men’s golf team will be the No. 4 seed in the Norman Regional May 16-18 for the NCAA tournament. Oklahoma is nationally ranked No. 1 and is the top seed on its home course, the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club. ... The Clemson men’s golf team is a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers are in the Regional that will be played May 16-18 at the Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio. ... Former USC All-American Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and Furman star Anna Morgan (Spartanburg) earned berth in the U.S. Women’s Open in qualifying in Southern Pines, North Carolina. ... Area tournament dates to remember: State Seniors, May 9-11, Orangeburg CC; Women’s State Amateur, June 14-16, Fort Jackson GC; Sonic Columbia Women’s Championship, June 20-21; Forest Lake; and Midlands Chevy Dealers Columbia Men’s Championship, July 14-16, The Spur at Northwoods. ... Former USC All-American George Bryan IV, brother of PGA Tour pro Wesley Bryan and half of the Bryan Brothers’ trick-shot show, earned a spot in sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open in local qualifying at Columbia CC. Others advancing included Kyle Mueller (Jacksonville Beach, Florida), University of Georgia star Trent Phillips (Inman), Michael Cromie Athens, Georgia) and former USC player Scott Stevens (Chattanooga, Tennessee). ... Dillard Pruitt (Simpsonville) and Rob Butler (Camden) joined forces to win the CGA’s Four-Ball tourney at Camden CC.

Deanna Jeffcoat let go of a 3-point attempt in a pivotal moment in the game’s second half and started to bounce back on defense, as if she knew it was going in.

And she was right.

That bucket delivered Camden a 35-18 lead with just over three minutes left in the third quarter, and it pretty much told the story of the team’s 47-33 win over Bishop England on Monday night at the Florence Center: The Bulldogs hit seven 3-pointers en route to securing the 3A Lower State championship.

They’ll next play Keenan in the 3A state title game at USC Aiken on Friday at 6 p.m.

Camden is making its first state championship appearance since 1982.

“This is so exciting,” Camden head coach Natalie Norris told reporters. “This is what the kids have worked for, and we just gotta take advantage of our opportunity. I don’t know if I have the words for how proud I am. We’ve overcome a good bit of adversity this year, played a really ambitious pre-conference schedule, and all of those things have seemed to pay off to get to this point.”

Camden started hot on Monday evening — scoring its first nine points from 3-point territory — and the Bulldogs stayed hot.

Bishop England appeared to begin the game with a box-and-one defense on Camden sophomore Joyce Edwards, who was recently declared South Carolina’s 3A Co-Player of the Year and the No. 1 prospect in the country, per ESPN HoopGurlz’s rankings for the class of 2024.

And that opened up opportunities for everyone.

“We knew that they were really going to try to squeeze Joyce on the inside, and we felt like we were going to have opportunities to make those 3s,” Norris said. “We’ve had kids who’ve hit big shots like that all year, and fortunately today we were able to knock enough down to bring it home.”

After jumping out to a 15-4 lead in the first, BE cut the game to as close as 19-12 in the first half. Camden wouldn’t let the game get any closer after that.

The Bulldogs went on a big run in the second half — one that included Jeffcoat’s aforementioned 3 that fueled a 17-point third quarter — and Bishop England couldn’t compel a reciprocal response.

Camden saw six players score on Monday night. Edwards led all scorers with 14 points. Morgan Champion and Deanna Jeffcoat each notched 13. And Zyasia Carter (3), Braylin Mungo (2) and Tateyoina Harris (2) got in the scoring mix, too.

Bishop England saw two go for double-figures: Ella Schar finished with 12 points, and Ally Dominiak had 11.

Coach Norris is a Camden alumna who went on to play at South Carolina. Before joining her players after the game’s final buzzer sounded — they were celebrating and taking pictures near their locker room — she reflected on what it means to represent her “home” on a state championship stage.

“It’s really special,” Jeffcoat said. “It was a lot of fun for me to be a part of that Camden basketball tradition, so it feels really good. We’ve had some hard years, so it feels really good to have made it to this point.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2022 7:03 PM.