We are currently preparing for Hurricane “FLO”, Florence to hit the Coast of South Carolina and are expecting it to take up to 4 days to travel across our State, pounding the Capital City where we live with rain. Flooding is iminent. When you live somewhere your entire life you become accustomed to the hows and whats of preparing for natural disasters and can get ready quickly.  So now I sit waiting on the rain thinking back to a few weeks ago when the skies were clear and the weather was warm yet perfect.

Grits and Groceries is a small restaurant located in our upstate that I have heard so many mention over the years.  This day road trip initiated by concert tickets for my husbands birthday was also planned around eating lunch at this adorable spot.        Y”ALL!!!! the food was scrumptious. But before we even get to that it is simply the cutest little place sitting in the middle of what felt like nowhere, Belton, South Carolina.  (Seriously, these snapshots do not do it justice) You MUST go, it’s worth the drive.  Promise!  We drove along a country road, came to a four way stop or crossroads as us country folk like to call them and sitting there in front of us was this precious little white house with a red tin roof.  How SOUTHERN!! A LARGE chicken sits out front beckoning all who pass to stop.  Before we even got out of our car a gentleman was on front the porch saying howdy and asking if we wanted to sit outside or in.

We chose to sit outdoors under their separate covered patio and ended up at a  pic-nic table with other guests. That might seem a little weird but interestingly enough it was kind of fun. We all discussed the menu, talked about where we were from and what brought us to the area and then had fun looking at everyone’s orders as they arrived and listened to each wonderful review.  It was really hard not to stick my fork into the peach stuffed french toast that the lady sitting to my left had ordered. Sugar and I started with their famous Ham Balls as an appetizer. OHMERGOSH!  I have never eaten anything like that in my life and it was UNBELIEVABLE. The order came with three crumb hushpuppie-like balls filled with pimento cheese, cream cheese and ham. They were piping hot and topped with the tastiest southern chutney.  Do not skip these if you go. I opted for another appetizer as my meal, an individual sized tomato pie, DELISH and Sugar had the Fried Chicken Brunch special that included a fried chicken breast and an egg served over creamy grits.  Yes, I tried his as well and YUMMO.  From the looks of our table mates plates and their reactions I seriously don’t think you could go wrong with any item from their menu which you can find here:  http://www.gritsandgroceries.com/

 

Before we arrived at Grits and Groceries we stopped at the Anderson Jockey Lot. Oh MY!  If you want to look for a bargain this might be the spot for you.  I am talking acres of vendors.  We were there for an hour and hardly scratched the surface. We saw everything from T-shirts being printed to your specifications, baby chicks and puppies, fresh fruits and veggies to a lot of pure junk. Sugar dug through boxes of old CD’s (he just loves his music and is always on the hunt for a bargain) while I browsed books, antiques and household goods. I found a beautiful LARGE picture frame and talked the vendor down to $6 bucks, brought it home, touched up some imperfections, removed the artwork and replaced it with a couple of our wedding pictures. Having pictures framed and matted can be quite expensive. I am in LOVE with this flea market find!!

 

I just love a nice drive on a country road and enjoyed all of the scenery along the way.  We also stopped in the town of Belton and took a look at their Historic Train Depot. There we found a small museum that seems to house mostly grade school students research projects, a tennis museum that was closed (so we have no idea) and a rental space for parties.  It was a lovely building of historic architecture. The houses in this area were to die for.  As we drove by I let my mind slip away to a time when I might be able to own a beautiful antebellum home and open a bed and breakfast in a charming small town such as this one. http://beltonmuseum.com/

 

Our after lunch adventure took us to the Happy Cow Creamery in Pelzer.  This is a locally owned working farm and creamery with a SMALL store for locals to pick up products. You can see the cows out in the fields as you pull in and apparently at certain times a day are able to watch as they herd them in for milking. There are no public tours and the folks working in the store were unfortunately not equipped to answer any of our questions about the process. Perhaps there are more knowledgeable folks on site during the week.  Their products (milk, cheese, ice cream, meats, dips, canned goods) are quite tasty, we have them in stores around home but did pick up a few items that wouldn’t spoil in the car. Also note that they have porta-johns and no public restrooms. Overall we were disappointed with this stop and talked about ways they could make it more of a destination such as offering scooped ice cream instead of only having gallons of it. Maybe someone could be onsite during certain hours of the day to answer questions even if it isn’t appropriate to offer tours. They could have pictures or a video of the process and have little areas set up for family photographs.  They could even have a “fake” milking station for children like they have at the zoo.

If you are in the area it is worth a stop but in our opinion it is not a destination.  Definitely pick up their products if you see them in the store because I am all for supporting the local farmer.  http://www.happycowcreamery.com/

And just a short drive later we landed at the busiest little winery I think I have ever seen.

Out front was the coolest pizza food truck, inside they were offering wine tastings and on the back patio we found an acoustic guitar player and people milling around with their wine socializing.

The Grapevines were in plain view right out the back door and if you take a short walk around the property you will find a few animals here and there that apparently LOVE to be petted. Have you ever seen a pig on a leash?  Note: if you plan to visit and would like to partake in a tasting definitely make a reservation ahead of time.  We added our names to the list, ordered a glass of wine each and just tooled around while we waited. Oddly enough we ran into some friends from Columbia and enjoyed sitting on the back patio catching up with them. The owner was walking around chatting with people and said that every single Saturday is just this busy. Sugar and I are not big drinkers and know practically nothing about what makes one Wine better than another so I can’t tell you if their product is the best or not but I did like the two we tried and we brought a couple of bottles home to try later because we do believe in paying patronage when we visit these small locally owned businesses.  We needed to leave before we were able to participate in the tasting which was fine. It was an enjoyable afternoon. They did offer small plates on the menu but will also allow pic-nics on their property if that is something that interests you.   https://cityscapewinery.com/

 

Our final destination of the day was to a concert we had purchased tickets for months in advance.  The concert was scheduled to take place at Heritage Park Amphitheater in Simpsonville.  I have seen quite a few shows there and highly recommend the venue.  It’s a small spot with clean facilities. The Parking lot is grassy but is a short walk to the front gate and is attended by plenty of people ready to assist you with anything you might need. The concessions are much less expensive than other venues but we highly recommend packing a pic-nic and tailgating, the lot always opens 1 hour before the gates open which is plenty of time to throw a few chairs in the grass and have dinner.  I have only purchased lawn seats so cannot speak to the actual seats closer to the stage but the lawn is a really great spot for the price and they are not super strict about the type of blankets/lawn chairs that you bring in like some other places we have been. Don’t forget your bug spray and I highly recommend dressing in layers as the weather changes quickly in SC and there isn’t much to stop the cool wind from whipping through this big open field once the sunsets.    https://heritageparkamphitheatre.com/

This was one of our longer day trips. We left home around 8am and didn’t get in until well after midnight. It was also a little more costly than some of our others but exploring a few places in our upstate that we had never visited was a great use of time before the planned concert.  Life is short and there are not nearly enough Saturdays in my opinion so making the most of one even if it means being exhausted on Sunday is worth it.