Did you know Crazy Mason is now open in Greenville, SC? Milkshakes that take on a life of their own are the trend now in frozen desserts, and a new player is now in the Upstate. The Myrtle Beach-based shake shop, The Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar, has an excellent location right near Fluor Field in Downtown Greenville!
The Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar
Visitors to the West End of Greenville have a new spot to grab a treat. The Crazy Mason is located in the retail space attached to the Homewood Suites. It’s hard to believe, but the original owners Bo and Sherri Steele, who opened up Crazy Mason Milkshakes in Myrtle Beach, have only been at this since June of 2020. This is even more amazing when you take into consideration what else was going on in the world at the time. The success of The Crazy Mason is a testament to their magical milkshakes that now the Upstate can enjoy!
The Greenville location is run by Lisa Dozier and her husband. Lisa left a career in the corporate world to open the shop and it has been nonstop since they opened their doors in August of 2022. This Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar location is Lisa’s baby and it is immaculately clean, well-organized, and well-run. Plus, they literally have pretty much any combination of milkshakes you can think of. I was impressed.
There are over 50 menu options and combinations of milkshakes at the Crazy Mason, plus a few other treats like sundaes and even pie. If, for some reason, you don’t want a crazy milkshake, you can order some delicious Blue Bell ice cream.
The Milkshakes
The signature item is a milkshake in a branded mason jar, filled and topped with delicious things like cookies, cake, cheesecake, and more. The menu boasts over 35 regular and seasonal flavor combinations with everything from the Dashing Through the Dough, which has cookie dough inside the milkshake plus a ball of edible cookie dough on top next to the giant mound of whipped cream, which also has cookie dough balls sprinkled on it. The milkshake is amazing. Or you can go for the Have Your Cake & Eat It Too which consists of birthday cake ice cream in a swirled blue marshmallow mason jar with a vanilla frosted rim, a cupcake, whipped cream, and lollipop. I want to know who comes up with these ideas. They seem to have a pretty cool job.
Are you more of a traditionalist? How about a banana split as a milkshake? The Bananas Over You shake has all of the elements of a traditional banana split, perched on top of a vanilla, banana, and peanut butter flavored milkshake.
Guests can also order mini versions of the Crazy Masons as Crazy Cups. These smaller versions are perfect when your kids want something like cotton candy-flavored ice cream, and you are eyeballing the berry cheesecake and chocolate masterpiece. The kids get the Crazy Cups, and mom gets what she wants.
Crazy Mason’s Signature Greenville Dessert Shake
Yeah THAT Milkshake is made with salted caramel cookie ice cream and topped with some local ingredients, like a Liberty Bridge sugar cookie from the Frosting Fairy and caramel chocolate caramel corn from Poppington’s. It also comes in a custom Greenville mason jar with a green frosted rim and rabbit graham crackers. It’s Greenville in milkshake form.
We always love when local businesses work together – it makes me want to support them even more. And don’t feel like you need to eat/drink the whole milkshake. These are excellent desserts for sharing. And whatever you don’t eat, you can take home with you.
Crazy Desserts
The Crazy Mason also offers an ice cream sandwich called a Crazy Bomb, sundaes using waffles aka Crazy Waffles, and a slew of other dessert treats, including cheesecake and donuts cinnamon rolls, slices of pie, and more. These are called what else, but Crazy Desserts.
One other cool thing is that you can keep your mason jar as a souvenir. There are rinsing stations at the shop where you can easily rinse out your mason jar and take it home and reminisce about the milkshake and ridiculously tall dessert you once ate.
Dairy Free & Vegan Options at Crazy Mason
There are two flavors of oat-based vegan/dairy-free ice cream at Crazy Mason. The flavors can be substituted in any Crazy Mason shake, plus there are a few totally dairy-free desserts already on the menu. So you don’t need to worry about getting some delicious options for dessert at Crazy Mason if you follow a vegan or dairy free lifestyle.
“We are happy to cater to any dairy, tree nut, peanut, gluten, etc allergies, we have a strict protocol for each allergy scenario,” said Lisa.
Imagine having your kid’s birthday party at Crazy Mason? It’d be a sure hit! How about having your own girls night or work get together here? Or a field trip? This would be amazing. And you can make it happen. Just email Lisa (Lisa.Dozier@thecrazymason.com) and she will help you out and get you all set up for an awesome event.
The Crazy Mason also has several arcade games to keep kids entertained when they down their crazy mason milkshakes. This would be such a great option to combine with a Greenville Drive baseball game since the stadium is right across the street.
The Crazy Mason in Greenville, SC: Hours
Milkshake lovers of the Upstate can now enjoy Crazy Mason without heading to the beach.
Hours for the Greenville location are as follows:
Monday through Thursday: 2-9 pm Friday: 2-10 pm Saturday: 1 -10 pm Sunday: 1 – 9 pm 942 South Main Street, Greenville
Do you know a young person who loves to sing? Greenville Youth Chorale is a children’s choir offering a four-choir program that serves Upstate singers in K5 through 12th grade.This is the real deal with professional-level choral instruction and inspirational performance opportunities for the Upstate’s young people. GYC is celebrating 5 seasons this year!
Greenville Youth Chorale is the creation of Dr. Steven Brundage, a pianist and teacher. Founded in 2019, GYC rehearses in downtown Greenville and serves nearly 100 singers throughout its 4 choirs each season.
“We are creating a community of young people who love to sing and are committed to vocal and personal growth,” says Artistic Director, Laura Brundage.
Husband and wife team, Steven and Laura Brundage, lead GYC with a priority towards excellence and inspiration. Their staff of conductors include a talented and award-winning group elementary, high school, and collegiate choral conductors from all throughout Greenville county.
Inspirational Experiences
GYC singers experienced a milestone this past year as they performed at the Peace Center with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in their “Holiday at Peace” shows throughout December. “Providing inspirational and transformative experiences is foundational to our programs and belief system,” says Steven Brundage.
Chamber Singers, GYC’s high school choir, performs each Christmas with the International Ballet and Greenville Symphony Orchestra in their production of “The Nutcracker,” singing the angelic “Snowflake Waltz” scene.
Beginning this past April, GYC’s annual spring concert is now held at the Gunter Theatre in downtown Greenville, providing its singers, family, and audience with a world-class performance experience.
There are so many more transformative experiences awaiting young people who sing with Greenville Youth Chorale. This summer, an ensemble of GYC singers are performing in New York City at Carnegie Hall as part of the National Youth Festival Chorus, and in summer 2025, GYC will perform in London and Canterbury, England!
The 2024-2025 Season
Reaching year-five was no easy feat. GYC’s first season was cut short by the COVID pandemic, halting all regular season activities for Greenville Youth Chorale until the fall of 2021.
“Starting GYC in 2019 with more than 100 singers and such a positive response from the community and then immediately stopping all regular activities before our first season had even ended was hard,” says Steven.
Greenville Youth Chorale bounced right back from COVID shutdowns, beginning the 2021-2022 season with 100 singers back in their rosters.
The upcoming 5th season will be a celebration of the past while looking to the future. “We have such a wonderful community of singers and families who love the music making, the camaraderie, and who really enjoy the experience of singing together.” says Steven.
Greenville Youth Chorale will cap their 5th season with a performance in London next summer, 2025!
Join GYC
Looking for a music-making community perfect for your child? New singers can apply at greenvilleyouthchorale.com and schedule an audition for August!
Interested in staying up-to-date during 5th GYC season? Follow along on Facebook and Instagram.
Ready to visit Unity Park in Greenville, SC? This gorgeous park has everything families will love, with wide-open spaces, playgrounds, shelters, paved trails, and of course, the splash pad. There is even a wetland preserve you can explore. Find out why we love this park, and make a plan for your day park day to visit Unity Park.
The Playgrounds at Unity Park
There are three playgrounds at Unity Park: a natural play area with lots of climbing apparatuses, a turf playground with large hills for more climbing, slides, and swings, and a tot play area with a music garden and equipment perfect for the smaller ages.
The Betty and Judd Farr Music Garden which consists of instruments kids can use to create their own music is located inside the Donovan Playground, the toddler area that has all-in-one play structures with swings, slides, and teeter-totters. The Ann Watson Trotter Memorial Garden is a large area that includes swings, natural play elements, a climbing wall, and a storytelling circle. And the playground next to that one is the TD SYNNEX Playground, which has all the huge climbing elements and lookout towers.
Fencing is around all playgrounds but there are no gates so parents need to be aware of where their kids are wandering off to. There is plenty of seating throughout all the playgrounds and really, parents may want to get in there and play with their kids because everything is so fun!
The playgrounds are set on two acres, making the space enormous. There is a lot of room to run around, get out energy, and just enjoy being a kid. The playgrounds and splash pad together are one of, if not the, largest playgrounds in Greenville. Hours for the playground are dawn to dusk.
The Greenville Water Splash Pad at Unity Park
Let’s get to the good stuff! The Greenville Water Splash Pad is set up with several shaded benches and is stationed right next to the toddler playground. The splash pad has two sections – one for smaller kids with shorter water spouts and then another area for bigger kids, where the water can shoot up to nine feet high.
The splash pad is located in between the toddler play area and the bigger kid playground and next to the public restrooms. It’s really in a great place for parents to be able to watch the kids no matter where they want to play. There are large umbrellas along the sitting areas of the splash pad, so if you’re lucky enough to grab a spot, you’ll be able to sit and enjoy for a while.
The splash pad will be open seasonally May 1st, 2024 – October.
The Michelin Green
Unity Park has a ton of open green space on the Michelin Green, which is perfect for running around, having a picnic, or just relaxing in a beautiful spot. I can easily imagine lots of people out there reading a book while laying on a blanket and enjoying the beauty of the park.
There are beautifully-constructed shelters along the Green as well that are available for rent. It is in this open space where families can gather for special events, such as the Fireworks on the Fourth at Unity Park (more on that below). Contact Unity Park to rent out the picnic shelters.
The Prisma Health Welcome Center
Close to The Commons is the Prisma Health Welcome Center, which has a lactation room, a self-service first aid station, restrooms, a rotating art display, and a history wall. There is a big wraparound deck where people can sit at tables and enjoy the view, conduct business meetings, and just watch their kids play in the open space below.
The Welcome Center is available to rent out as well and is an excellent space for corporate meetings and events.
Behind-The-Scenes Magic: Creating the Park
The dust has settled over the last two years, and Unity Park has become a staple for many family’s park outings and daily lives. While the park is beautiful on the outside, so much work went into it behind the scenes that truly make the space something special.
Creating the playgrounds
At the large playground there are several big dirt mounds that are meant for climbing and rolling down. They were covered in spraycrete and then wrapped in cushioning. The turf is super bouncy as well, making for a pretty soft surface.
The other surfaces, including poured-in-place rubber and synthetic turf, were all thoughtfully selected to provide protection for kids as they naturally fall or take a tumble. The surfaces are also ADA-accessible, are is the route that leads kids up to the lookout tower, where you get an awesome view of the park.
Ecology in Mind
The management of the Reedy River was also a key construction aspect of Unity Park. Engineers and landscape architects worked together to reduce the risk of flooding and improve water quality by creating flat tables with specially selected trees, plants, and flowers. This enables the area to be able to absorb more of the river in a possible flood situation – plus it looks pretty! There is also a state-of-the-art drainage system in place to aid in this project.
You’ll get a great view of the new Auro Bridge if you head down to the river to check out the pretty flowers and other fauna on the river table.
The Wetlands at Unity Park
The wetlands opened to the public in May 2023 and is beautiful. There are low-impact boardwalks, a beautiful outdoor classroom sponsored by Duke Energy, and even a canopy with windchimes that is just so cool.
The eight acres of wetlands mark the original path of Reedy Reedy before it was diverted in 1933 as a Depression-era project by city engineers. The boardwalk is ADA-accessible and both kids and adults can go on a scavenger hunt throughout the wetlands to find different animals and plants that are listed on various kiosks on the boardwalk.
The wetlands entrance is at the gravel parking lot, which is across from the big parking lot at the Commons. You can walk there from the playground as well and enjoy the beautiful park in Greenville!
Parking
The main entrance to Unity Park is off Hudson Street and onto Welborn Street and into the Commons. You can park there or in another lot off Meadow Street, which will get you pretty close to the Commons as well. You just have to walk across a small bridge and then the playgrounds will be to the left.
Courtesy of Unity Park: Map of Unity Park
Unity Park will also be accessible via the Greenville Trolley system. Additionally, you can ride bikes from the Children’s Garden at Linky Park or park in several of the paid parking lots near there and walk the quarter-mile on the Swamp Rabbit Trail over to the park.
There are also 41 parking spots along the edge of the playgrounds on Welborn Street.
Fireworks on the Fourth at Unity Park
Greenville’s big fireworks display, Fireworks on the Fourth at Unity Park, moved to Unity Park in July 2022. The 2024 fireworks display at Unity Park will be on July 4, 2024 around 9:30 pm. Live music and food trucks will be at the park from 6-9 pm. It is not a festival so no alcohol will be served and pets are not allowed at any public event at the park, including this one. The space is perfect for bringing a picnic and letting the kids get out their energy before the big show.
You can bring coolers, chairs, blankets, and food but alcohol is not allowed.
Tips on Visiting
Your best bet is to get to Unity Park early in the day, especially in the summer when it’s hot. It’s a very popular park and while there is a lot of parking, it fills up.
If you have more than one kid, it may be helpful to have them wear bright clothing, a bright hat, or some other easily identifiable clothing because the hills on the main playground can obscure the vision of parents trying to keep track of their kids.
Know that none of the play areas are fully enclosed. There are fences around but none go all the way around each play area so kids can escape if not being watched carefully.
Have kids wear water shoes at the splash area. It does get slick and it is concrete so to minimize instances of falling or scratches on feet, water shoes are good idea.
Unity Park is open 5 am – 11 pm daily. The playground is open dawn to dusk and the splash pad is open on Monday from 1 – sunset and Tuesday – Sunday from 9 am – sunset. There is no charge to enter the park, playgrounds, or splash pad. Dogs are allowed on leash.
Unity Park 320 S. Hudson Street, Greenville
Find more to love about Downtown Greenville, SC
Huge Playground and Splash Pad at Unity Park in Greenville, SC
SC Children’s Theatre: 10 Marvelous Things to Do (Win Tickets too!)
Giveaway: One Kidding Around reader will win 4 TICKETS to D is For Dance at SCCT!Show runs Jan 26th – Feb 4th. Thank you SCCT for sponsoring this giveaway!Scroll down to enter.
Have you heard about all the marvelous things that the South Carolina Children’s Theatre in Greenville, SC has to offer? Maybe you are excited about an upcoming theatre performance. Or, perhaps you are curious if there are theater classes and camps for your children to immerse themselves in. Spark a little magic and wonder in your child’s life with a kid-friendly play, musical, class, or camp at SCCT! You will find all the information you need about the South Carolina Children’s Theatre below in our handy guide.
Theatrical Productions at the South Carolina Children’s Theatre
The South Carolina Children’s Theatre is pretty special, and its professional theatrical productions are a great way to entertain your children. Productions are all family-oriented and designed to elicit wonder and excitement in your child (and you!)
The 2023-2024 South Carolina Children’s Theatre Season
Theatre productions are detail-oriented, bursting with color and costume, and bring to life and reimagine a popular story or play. Theatre productions run by season, with each season having around 8 performances spread out over several months. Each production has multiple showings, so you can plan a date night out with your kids! Both stages are also accessible, so productions can be enjoyed by everyone.
Bell Stage performances use large set designs, costumes, puppets, and anything else needed to help bring the story from the pages of the book or script onto the stage. You can find big musicals and plays on this stage. Bell Stage productions have longer run times with intermissions. You can find run time information on the SCCT website. There are also assigned seats for Bell Stage productions, so make sure you purchase tickets early if you have large groups that want to sit together.
Younts 2nd Stage
Younts 2nd Stage performances also offer the pop, color, and costumes that the Bell Stage productions do, but performances are more intimate and held on a smaller stage. This allows performers to really engage with the audience. These productions are shorter, approximately 45 minutes to an hour long, so they are an excellent choice for younger (with shorter attention spans) audience members. Tickets for Younts Stage are also cheaper than Bell Stage productions, so that’s great on the budget!
Performances Right For Your Family
All theatre productions at SCCT have an age range recommendation, so be sure to check to see which performance best suits your child. SCCT does recommend that most productions are for children 3 and older.
The majority of these theatre productions are held on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, with daytime and evening showings available, so they make an excellent parent/child date day!
Want to see a stage performance for a field trip? If you’re a teacher or homeschooling group, you can check out performances at SCCT through their weekday school performances on the Bell Stage and the Youths Stage. All students, teachers, chaperones, and bus drivers will need a ticket to view the performance.
SCCT Flex Pass for Performances
Looking to save some money while also seeing all of the amazing upcoming shows at the South Carolina Children’s Theatre? The SCCT Flex Pass program offers first-priority seating, unlimited free ticket exchanges, discounts on classes, and discounts to downtown stores. There are three price points to choose from, Blue, Green, or Orange, that allow for a specific number of tickets per package.
Pay What You Can Tickets
The South Carolina Children’s Theatre offers a “Pay What You Can” ticket program for select performances of select shows throughout the year. You’ll find these performances labeled as a “Pay What You Can Performance” within each show’s schedule on the South Carolina Children’s Theatre Website.
The first Pay What You Can Performance of the 2023-2024 season was the September 24, 2023 performance of Charlotte’s Web. When you see a Pay What You Can Performance on the website, follow the directions on that link to purchase your tickets.
Free Performances at the South Carolina Children’s Theatre
One of the best things about SCCT is that they offer free performance events through their Tell-Me-a- Story Theatre and Once Upon an Orchestra programs.
Tell Me a Story Theatre is a high-energy telling of a popular children’s story or book that is engaging for younger children, think PreK to early elementary students. The event is completely free, and is located in the Prisma Health Lobby. The performance and story reading lasts around 30 minutes, great for squirmy kids. You can check out Tell-Me-a-Story once per month.
Once Upon an Orchestra is a partnership between SCCT and the Greenville Symphony Orchestra that brings children’s literature and music together through storytelling. Your child (and you) can enjoy Once Upon an Orchestra three times per year, for free! Performances last around 30 minutes and are perfect for children age K3 through 5th grade. You can find upcoming performances of Once Upon an Orchestra on the SCCT website.
Theatre Classes at the SCCT
Support your child’s interest in the performing arts with classes at The South Carolina Children’s Theatre! SCCT’s Theatre Arts Conservatory offers a variety of classes for kids interested in learning about acting, drama, stage management, directing, musical theater, and so much more!
Classes use a lot of fun activities to strengthen your child’s imagination, self-expression, confidence, and self-discipline. These classes also build a foundation for theatre arts concepts. Classes build onto one another, so SCCT encourages parents to not rush their child through the classes, but to allow them to make natural progress. Classes are grouped by age, so even your budding three-year-old Broadway star can enjoy these immersive classes!
Ages 3-6: Children in this age range will play games, sing songs, explore characters, and engage their imagination in a low-pressure environment. Classes are typically once per week for one hour. Multiple classes are offered, with classes in theatre exploration, singing, and stage production available.
Grades 1-6: Children in this age range will explore theatre training through improv activities and high-energy games. There are several classes available for this age range where they can learn about process acting, singing, musical theatre, or improvisation.
Grades 6-12: Classes for this age range become more technical and build on their knowledge of the performing arts. Kids can learn about process acting, singing, musical theatre, solo singing, and improvisation.
All The Colors of the Spectrum: For children in 2nd through 12th grade with developmental or processing challenges, SCCT offers All The Colors of the Spectrum! Through modified activities, children with special needs can engage in theatre arts through immersive storytelling, sketch creation, collaboration, and more.
Acting for Adults: SCCT offers FREE classes for adult students college age and up! Classes are for both beginner and seasoned actors to engage in the theatre arts.
Workshops at the South Carolina Children’s Theatre
Sometimes you need a date night, or a morning out. Sometimes you even need some extra help when your kids are out for holidays. SCCT can help you out with their workshops!
Workday Workshops occur during school break days when children are out of school on a random Monday or Friday for a teacher workday. These workshops engage children in group-based activities but are not usually themed.
Kids Night Out happens once per month, where parents can drop off their kids for a few hours. Kids Night Out is a fun night of themed activities, with theatre games followed by a movie and snack. Kids Night Out is from 6 pm to 10 pm, with pre-registration required.
Saturday Morning Mania is when parents can drop off their kids for a few hours of shopping or a fancy brunch in Downtown Greenville. Saturday Morning Mania happens once per month. There are themed drama games and activities with a picnic lunch. Parents should preregister ahead of time.
Summer Camp at SCCT
SCCT Summer Camp
SCCT’s Summer Camps are an excellent way to keep your kids busy over the summer! Summer camps are offered for ages K3 through high school. Each camp is designed to boost confidence while having fun learning about theatre.
Parents can pre-register their kids for a variety of theme camps. Camps explore musical theatre, creative drama, improv, and more in a fun and engaging way! Camps are typically half day, with full day options available for older children by combining camps. Learn more about summer camps at The South Carolina Children’s Theatre on the SCCT website.
Have you visited the South Carolina Children’s Theatre?
2023 KABOOM Winner and Finalist: South Carolina Children’s Theatre
Did you know the South Carolina Children’s Theatre was a 2023 KABOOM Family Favorites 1st place winner for both the Family Theatre and Performing Arts and Theatre Program? SCCT was also a KABOOM finalist for Indoor Family Fun and Youth Organization! Check out all of the finalists and winners in Kidding Around’s 2023 KABOOM Awards Guide.
SCCT Ticket Giveaways
D is For Dance!
Maryetta Maryanna Maryella, the XIX, Queen of Monsterburg, has commissioned a Brand! New! Play! to be performed.
Disaster strikes when the monster playwright, Thaddeus, arrives with his traveling troupe the day of the show, keeping the Queen from getting what she wants…and now she’s royally unhappy.
It becomes clear that the cast will have to put their furry heads together to create a new play and FAST. Will their new version be enough to satisfy the Queen’s call for a monsterpiece—I mean MASTERpiece? And what does a Dance Party have to do with it all?
Get ready for an actual Brand! New! Play! commissioned not by a Monster Queen, but by SCCT.
Sunday, January 28 at 4:30 pm – Pay What You Can (date not valid for giveawayprize)
Saturday, February 3 at 10:30 am
Saturday, February 3 at 2:00 pm
Sunday, February 4 at 2:00 pm
Win 4 Tickets To The Show!
One lucky Kidding Around reader will win 4 FREE TICKETS to see D is for Dance at SCCT. This giveaway runs from Jan 16th – Jan 22nd, 2024, 11:59PM. Scroll down to enter. Good luck!
Winning tickets may not be redeemed for the Jan 28, 2024, 4:30 pm show.
Tickets are redeemable for dates based upon seat availability. Space is limited.
You must be 18 or older and live in the USA to enter this giveaway.
You must use a valid email address to enter this giveaway.
One entry per person per day.
We will contact the winner via the email address provided within two [2] days of the giveaway ending. The winner will have two [2] days (48 hours) to respond via email. If the winner does not respond within the two [2] days (48 hours), the prize will be forfeited and another winner chosen. Directions for claiming the prize will be given via email. A valid photo ID and/or mailing address may be required.
For a complete list of Kidding Around Greenville SC’s giveaway policies and terms and conditions, see the Kidding Around Greenville SC policy page. By entering this giveaway, you agree to comply with Kidding Around Greenville SC’s terms and conditions.
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