The Heartland--The attraction of these backwater stops is the interaction with the people who live there. A Southern drawl as long as Rhett Butler's coattails prevails here, as do "Yes, ma'am," "No, ma'am," and afternoon naps. You're likely to come upon an old gas station complete with working Pure pumps and ice-cold Coca-Cola in bottles, and you're even more likely to pass a flock of camouflage-clad deer hunters lining a country road with trucks and guns.

A rail and highway hub, Florence is simply a convenience off the interstate, with fast-food joints, clean, inexpensive motels, and a midsize mall with a cafeteria and restrooms.

A more charming town for a half-day visit is Darlington, home of the famed raceway. The small, old-time downtown area features attractive Victorian-style homes and several good restaurants serving home-cooked meals. The Mountain Dew Southern 500, held each Labor Day, and the Stock Car Hall of Fame are ideal for a taste of NASCAR-style racing.

With that small-town feel, South Carolina is a film producer's dream location and a delight for Northerners seeking a taste of the traditional South. There are courthouses that rival the national Capitol building (on a smaller scale) sitting smack in the middle of Main Street. There are white-picket-fenced homes sporting Victorian woodwork lining two-lane, moss-hung streets. There's a General Hardware store that doubles as a Greyhound bus station. A local A&P has been owned by the same family for more than 50 years. There are a couple of churches where the membership has stayed pretty much the same (with the annual number of births equaling the number of deaths) for who knows how long. There are places such as Camden (the home of William F. Buckley, Jr.), which hosts two nationally known horse races: the Camden Classic and the Carolina Classic. Kingstree is the home of Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Joseph Goldstein.