Taste of South Carolina

We're just back from a one-day trip around a slice of South Carolina northwest of Columbia.  We traveled with our friends from Carolina Tours, which means we traveled in style -- mimosas and Krispy Kreme doughnuts before we left the parking lot!

Our first stop was in Newberry, at the beautifully restored Newberry Opera House (http://www.newberryoperahouse.com/).  The Opera House opened its doors in 1881 as a building designed to be a place of entertainment for the local citizens and as a seat of government for the city.  The original design called for the first floor to house the fire station, council chambers, clerk's office, police office, and three jail cells.  The second floor was a large hall with a stage, as well as a ticket office, 'green room,' cloakroom and three dressing rooms. 

Here you can see that the door wasn’t quite wide enough for the fire wagon – part of the entrance had to be carved out to allow the big truck to enter.

The Newberry Opera House quickly became known as 'the entertainment center of the Midlands.'  It continued in operation until 1952; by 1959 there was talk about tearing it down.  Public outcry and hard work by the Newberry Historical Society saved the day, and in 1970 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In 1998, the Opera House was once again hosting singers, dancers, magicians, touring companies of New York plays, and variety shows. 

Our backstage tour included a close look at the floating stage, the rehearsal hall, dressing rooms, and the green room.  Most interesting of all was the hallway connecting the dressing rooms with the green room - they're covered with handwriting!  Performers over the years have signed their names, creating a giant-sized autograph collection.  Look hard and you'll spot Kris Kristopherson and Tony Randall. 

Heading west, we drove through Ninety-Six (http://www.townofninetysixsc.com/).  This quaint little town’s name was derived from the mistaken belief that it was 96 miles from the nearest Cherokee settlement of Keowee.  Ninety-Six figured prominently in the Cherokee Indian War and later in the American Revolution, leading to its recognition as a National Historic Site. 

Next was Greenwood, where the SC Flower Festival was in full swing (http://www.scfestivalofflowers.org/).   Greenwood is the home of the Park Seed Company and flowers are their passion.  Blooms are evident all over town, but we really liked Main Street where there are some nifty topiaries.

                    

Lunchtime found us in Abbeville - at Yoder's Dutch Kitchen.  It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the Yoder family has been serving up Pennsylvania Dutch food for over 25 years in this nondescript building.

Yoder’s doesn’t look any better on the inside, but that shelf full of pies will get your attention in a hurry.  At our table, we tried four different types – shoo-fly pie, peach cream pie, pecan pie, and egg custard pie.  The other food was good, too – chicken fried to perfection and loads of vegetables.

Heading north, we stopped to visit the Happy Cow Creamery, near the town of Pelzer in Greenville County.  Farmer Tom Trantham and his family showed us how milk is made - from the grass to the bottle.  His grass-fed cows are rotated among 29 pastures, all with natural shade and water. 

No chemicals are used on the farm and Tom's happy cows produce high volumes of high quality milk.    (Read all about it at http://www.happycowcreamery.com/)

The tour was fun and the product-tasting was delightful.  Our tour leader had brought along plenty of ice chests, so we came home with bottles of chocolate, strawberry, and whole milk.  And ... we know where to find more locally!

Farming is hard work --- time to eat again.  We headed over to Spartanburg to the world-famous Beacon Drive-In (http://www.beacondrivein.com/).   The Beacon is a landmark in these parts, serving tons of burger, French fries and onion rings, but best known for its ice tea.  Folks drive for miles just for ice tea – in fact, the Beacon sells more tea than any other single restaurant in the U.S.A.!

The food’s good, but getting it is an experience to be remembered.  The moment you enter and approach the serving line, you’re greeted loudly by J.C., the blind order-taker.  He hollers “Call it out!” and he expects you to say what you want and say it quickly.  If you stumble, J.C. will tell you to stand back.  Once you manage to convey your order, J.C. shouts it back to the huge open kitchen and tells you to move it on down the line.  By the time you grab a tray and move twenty paces, your order is ready – total time from entering to digging in – maybe two minutes.

Everybody ought to try Yoder's and the Beacon at least once, but nobody in his/her right mind should eat at Yoder's and the Beacon on the same day.  Stuffed, we staggered back home to rest ... and to figure out how many days of fasting it will take to compensate for all those calories ....