I love college campuses.  There is always a sense of youthfulness and excitement that fills the air around a university campus even if there are no students present.

At one point Chris and I thought we would live in a small college community and he would teach.  But our life took a different direction and even  though that did not happen we still love to check out different colleges when we travel.

We are surrounded by many towns with college and universities and one day last summer we found ourselves in Greenville, SC at the Furman University campus.  It is a small private liberal arts that boasts beautiful gardens and grounds as well as a robust learning environment for both undergraduate and graduate studies.

The university was founded in 1826 and offers beautiful academic buildings, student housing and a wide variety of architectural features including the James B. Duke Library with houses over 500,000 volumes.

The sprawling campus occupies 750 acres and features an Asian Garden, a replica of Henry David Throeau’s cabin , a Florentine bell town as well as a lake and 13 miles of paved trails for hiking and biking. There is also an 18 hole golf course. It might be difficult to be a student with all of the other things to do on campus.

On our visit last summer we enjoyed our time strolling around the campus, taking in a few of the short trails and communing with the ducks and geese that were everywhere.

The flowers and trees were bursting forth in their brightest glory and the air was heavy with the perfume that the different flowers were sharing with all who walked nearby.

While we did not see a lot of students on the day we visited I could just imagine how many of them would be sitting by the lake soaking up the sunshine while reading and studying for their classes.  What a beautiful place to enjoy while pursuing a degree, don’ t you think?

Colleges and universities are often places that go undiscovered as tourist destinations but we find ourselves being drawn to them time and time again.  How lucky are we that we live in a community with our own small town college?  It is definitely time to explore it more so stay tuned for a post later on Brevard College.