Greenville, SC

As many of you know, B and I are on a mission to adventure more, go off the beaten path, and visit the well-known paths we’ve never seen! You all have inspired us with your list of recommendations and that’s what we’re going by as much as possible. Last week, we had a trip already planned to Anderson, South Carolina, and decided to find a way to tack on a little to that trip and find something we’ve never seen. It was an amazing trip and adventure! We originally planned on Friday as our adventure day and Greenville, SC, was going to be our stopover. Little did we know Greenville would turn out to be one of the many highlights of our trip! It – was – wonderful and based on a ‘would I do it again’ scale the answer is yes and we are! We stayed in an Aloft Hotel https://www.marriott.com/…/gspal-aloft-greenville…/ in the heart of downtown Greenville, contemporary and a little quirky, which we loved. They had the awesome WXYZ bar with food and you could sit outside on the balcony and overlook downtown and the city.

Dinner was at Tupelo Honey https://tupelohoneycafe.com/location/greenville/ which I’d never tried and I’d give it 4.5 stars, great food and atmosphere, and we’ll definitely go back. Downtown is large and full of restaurants and shops we simply have to come back and try. It’s all been restored beautifully and you could spend an entire couple of days just exploring all within walking distance if you stay downtown. p.s. I want to live on Coffee Street, just sayin’.

The highlight of this part of the trip was breakfast at Maple Street Biscuit Company https://maplestreetbiscuits.com/. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would! I love their motto of “Help People, Serve Others, Be a Part of the Community.’ When you walk in, you get it. The staff was very friendly, telling us about the restaurant, asking where we were from, telling us places we needed to see in the area, and just being kind and helpful. A gift these days. The atmosphere felt neighborhood-ish, if that makes sense, and they have lots of large and really cool community tables for groups of people to sit together, or close enough to converse, strangers and locals, and they have private small tables as well.

The food was to die for, probably the best breakfast I’ve ever had without exaggeration. I had the Bluegrass Grits Bowl with stone-ground white hominy grits, cut with cream cheese and butter, topped with pecan wood smoked bacon, one egg fried, cheddar cheese, chives, and a splash of hot sauce. I can’t even tell you how amazing the grits were! I also had one of their specialities, the Maple Vanilla Bean Latte, delicious! B had the Extreme B & G, two biscuits smothered in their sausage gravy, an egg, and their maple sausage balls. He did share a bite (reluctantly) and it was just as delicious as mine. This is simply a must stop if you ever find one of their many restaurants! We practically begged them to come to our area and set up shop! Last little note I have to share, every month they have a different question and whatever your answer, that is what they use to call our your food order. This month was “What is your favorite cartoon character?” and B said Bugs Bunny. Our food is ready, they call out Bugs Bunny, and off he goes. They were calling out Superman, Daffy Duck, it was adorable. Just a really unique and simple concept that made people smile (along with all that amazing food!). Greenville, we’ll be back for a longer stay, and hope others will give you a try! www.visitgreenvillesc.com

DAY TWO OF OUR TRIP:

CAMPBELL’S COVERED BRIDGE: I have always had a fascination with bridges and love covered bridges although I’ve not seen hardly any in my lifetime. Friday, we found this one built in 1909 in Landrum, SC. It’s the only remaining covered bridge in the state. It was beautiful, tucked away off the road like going back in time. The structure was fascinating and so much larger than it appears and the water underneath was peaceful and flowing through the woods. We walked in the water and hung out here a while! Even the picnic area is beautiful, a great place to take lunch and relax. Definitely worth seeing! Learn more here: https://greenvillerec.com/parks/campbells-covered-bridge/

POINSETT BRIDGE: There are not words adequate to describe this place built over 200 years ago. It’s about 9 miles from the first bridge on a mountain road even more into nowhereland (in a town called Traveler’s Rest). We almost missed it and at first, didn’t see much at all. As we walked towards it, you could see the beautiful stone on both sides but not the arch, which we didn’t know was there. We took a trail down and around to underneath the bridge and we both stopped. It was breathtaking, the arch, the water, it was all mesmerizing. I couldn’t even take it all in and there is no way the pictures can do it justice. As you walk towards the arch and start to see through it, the other side is like entering a mystical place, the trees, the water, more stone, and the other side is just as beautiful as the first. There were even butterflies dancing around in this area although I was only able to capture two of them. This is probably the prettiest place I’ve ever seen without exaggeration or at least in the top two. The other one might be the place we went next. Read more here and on the sign in the photos as far as this history and put this on your list of things to see! https://greenvillerec.com/parks/poinsett-bridge/

BALD ROCK: Located in Cleveland, SC, a sweet employee at Maple Street Biscuit Company told us we just had to check it out. It was tucked away so we almost missed it but was definitely worth the stop! This rock was incredible and larger than a football field if you can imagine that. It is covered with graffiti now, which at first you think is sad, but as you walk over the rock, you feel as if you’re walking through stories of people who have been there. The notes, hearts, names and initials, the RIPs, and the remnants of small campfires, just the stories, all written on stone overlooking gorgeous mountains as far as you could see! Here is more info and several photos below: https://discoversouthcarolina.com/arti…/discover-bald-rock

PRETTY PLACE CHAPEL: Our friends, Johnny and Sharon, told us about this place last week so we just had to find it. I so wish I had more photos of it but there were people all around the alter while we were there and I’m not sure I could ever do it justice. To get here involves a long ride up a curvy mountain road (see the shots of me surviving B’s driving – he guns it as you approach each curve, I was skeered, and he was laughing, lol) but the drive is worthwhile because as you enter the chapel, it is quiet, reverent, serene, and you can feel the presence of God. We sat on a pew in the chapel for the longest time just silently taking it all in. It has beautiful markers around the site in loving memory of various people with the sweetest thoughts like epitaths. The chapel was built with a spectacular view of the mountains and sits in the just the right spot that the sunrise comes up behind the cross – my mission is to see that one day. It was donated to the local YMCA for the campers but is also a venue for all types of events including weddings (OMG!). Can you imagine a sunrise wedding here?! You need to visit this site and also google Pretty Place Chapel to see the amazing photography that I wish I could call my own! https://www.campgreenville.org/pretty-place