Local Area - Winter Announcements

It's been a little while since I've added to the blog, but we've been busy here at Derbyshire through the winter. We had three closings during a time when families are normally just regrouping from the holidays and planning for the new year. Over the past few months we've welcomed the new property owners, worked on planning our 5K race in May (www.DerbyDash5K.com), and given enough tours of the community to keep things hopping at the office.

Over the next few posts, I want to share a little more about where Derbyshire is located. One really great thing about this community is that you have the ability to enjoy a more rural, less-rushed life and still be near enough to all of those things that you would expect from a larger city. The proximity to gas, groceries, hospitals, shopping, and airports is closer than you would probably expect when you first drive through the rolling hills, horse farms, and beautiful wooded spaces that this area is so well known for.

However, in this first post, I wanted to share two really wonderful announcements that came out this winter. Both are of interest to the equestrian and the non-equestrian, although the first announcement will be a bit more exciting for the horsey folks.

We had heard some rumors regarding the purchase of White Oak Plantation. It turns out the rumors were true, and we will be welcoming a new "world class equestrian venue" just a few miles from the Derbyshire entrance. You can read more about the announcement here in the Tryon Daily Bulletin article that came out in January. Not only will this be a tremendous boost for the local equestrian competitors, businesses, and organizations in an already incredibly equine-focused community, but it will also provide an increase in the local economy in general in the form of additional revenue, sales taxes, hotel taxes, etc. as it brings more people into the area.

The second announcement, which is on a much smaller scale that the first, is the one that is probably having the most immediate impact on me and all of the other big-chain coffee shop fans. We officially welcome our first Starbucks last month. Derbyshire is less than ten minutes from the Ingles Market where the new Starbucks in located. I've already visited more times than I care to admit. I think this is a really great example of how this area offers the best of both worlds. You can enjoy a rural drive where the only thing that might slow traffic down is a carefully driven horse trailer and still be just a few minutes from picking up your grande mocha frappuccino (not to mention a bunch of great organic, unprocessed, healthy grocery finds at Ingles).

Next week I'll go into more detail about the local area and how close all of those important shopping/health/travel places are so that you can get your bearings, but right now I'm going to head out and pick up a latte. Have a great weekend!

Landrum, SC - Ken's Meats & Seafood and Dutch Country Foods

This week, the blog started with a link to the Southern Living article that included Landrum, SC. This quaint town is located just down the road from the entrance to Derbyshire. 

Over the past few days I've shown some of my favorite places in the small main street area (which is technically Rutherford St. in Landrum). Today, I'm going to show two grocery shops that provide access to great locally-sourced items and some unique items that shoppers wouldn't have easy access to without these locations.

Ken's Meats & Seafood was my first stop. Situated in the same block as the hardware shop, an art gallery, and Lucy's Boutique, it's easy to get to while out shopping around Landrum. In addition to carrying fresh meats, they stock basic groceries (cheeses, potatoes, onions, etc.) that make putting a meal together simple, without having to venture into a traditional grocery store. 

They also function as a bakery featuring cakes, pies, precious little petit fours, and some peach cannolis. Many of their breads are baked in house, with others coming from a nearby bakery in Greenville, SC. 

Next to the breads and also in one of their cold cases, you'll find items that would be great in a gift basket. Many of these prepackage foods items are ones that I've had to travel to a larger store to find, and now I know where I can find them locally. It's a great thing to keep in mind when you need a fast hostess gift!

Once you've had a chance to stock up on all of the fresh meats and baked goods at Ken's, you can head down one block to Dutch Country Foods. All of the items found inside of this shop have been sourced from the Amish Country (Ohio and Pennsylvania). I specify inside of the shop only because the first thing you see outside are wonderful peaches from Strawberry Hill (which was also mentioned in the article from Southern Living). Not that the farm is very far away, but it's wonderful to be able to run down to Landrum for peaches instead of having to travel a bit farther to Strawberry Hill. 

They carry great little candies, which you can see in the picture above, and a huge aisle lined with every type of spice, candy, and baking ingredient imaginable. I'm sure they don't carry everything, but it certainly looks like they do!

I ended up picking up some unique root beer that I hadn't seen before and some crispy green beans that were really very good, and yes, that is an incredibly random assortment of purchases.

After I had checked out, a lady was raving about the ladyfinger popcorn that they carry. Apparently it's smaller, hulless and more tender when popped. Guess I know what I'll be grabbing on my next trip! For those who desire to shop in locally owned stores, Ken's Meats and Seafood and Dutch Country Foods are wonderful resources.

Landrum, SC - Lucy's Boutique

While continuing the virtual tour through Landrum, SC, which is just down the road from Derbyshire, I wanted to show you one of the newer shops downtown. Lucy's Boutique is a great clothing and accessories store for women. The store first caught my attention because they always have really cute dresses in the front windows.

Once I had a chance to go inside, I realized that not only do they have great clothes, they also have really reasonable prices. 

Lucy's Boutique is definitely a great option for the women living in this area who need to go and grab a quick outfit. They have everything from jeans and tops, to dresses and sandals. You can certainly find a complete outfit there, right down to a belt and jewelry.

They also offer on-site monogramming, so it's a perfect place to stop in for gifts too! That orange tote on the left there is an item I will definitely be stopping back by to grab. It'll make a quick and easy gift for my friend who is a Clemson fan (which is something they also cater to)!

So, for a great local store for women, Lucy's Boutique is a definite go-to!

Landrum, SC - Architectural Warehouse

One of my favorite stores to visit in Landrum, SC (which is located just ten minutes or so down the road from Derbyshire) is Architectural Warehouse. It is one of two locations (the other one being in Tryon), and they have so many unique items for the home.

When you walk in, you can't be quite sure what your plan of attack should be. I would recommend working your way to the right, around the back, up on the left, and then crisscrossing until you are absolutely certain that you have seen every wonderful item that the Warehouse has to offer. 

 

Each of the locations features antique and reclaimed items. The doors and windows are my favorite. We actually have two windows from Architectural Warehouse hanging in our Derbyshire sales office. They are such a great accent in a room.

I also loved the assorted hinges, door knobs and other small items. They have them all grouped together in this incredibly large white hutch. Can something that large still be referred to as a hutch? You won't have time to worry about that. You could spend quite a while, just in that section of the store, looking through every little detail in the cabinets and bins.

One area of the store that I also found myself particularly drawn to was the little English equestrian nook in the back. It can be seen in the middle of the pictures below. Every bit of that would fit so perfectly in a cottage at Derbyshire. I was also fond of the hunt and hound prints.

If you have a chance to visit Landrum, Architectural Warehouse is certainly one of the places that you will want to have on your "do not miss" list. You'll also want to make sure that you allow enough room in the car for all of your newly found, reclaimed treasures.

Local Town - Landrum, SC in Southern Living

This week we'll be visiting Landrum, South Carolina. It's a great little town that is located only ten minutes from the main entrance of Derbyshire. Landrum is the nearest downtown area for grocery shopping, drug stores, good restaurants, boutique shopping, and less expensive South Carolina gasoline!

The town was recently featured in Southern Living magazine. I think it's a great little starting point for the week. You can read more about it here.

Local Eats - 10 North Trade Cafe Bakery in Tryon, NC

One of our favorite places to eat in Tryon is the 10 North Trade Cafe Bakery. It is always one of our top four restaurants that we recommend. They serve breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Saturday and are conveniently located right downtown, mixed in with all of the little shops and fun places to visit on Trade Street.

 

Yesterday, I met up with mother and grandmother for lunch, and 10 North Trade was just as good as ever. Their lunch menu features salads (with amazing housemade dressings), soups, sandwiches, and a quiche of the day (which is actually always a choice between two). 

All of their sandwiches are served on bread from the bakery. They even have a make your own sandwich option which includes a ridiculous amount of choices, all the way from housemade pimento cheese to artichoke hearts. By the way, we finally decided on a Reuben, a chicken club, and a salmon wrap. The creamy pasta salad won out as the favorite side that day, but if you go and the apple walnut salad is in season, you should definitely get that. Guess we'll just have to go back again, darn.

One very neat thing about their menu is that you can always order a half of a salad or a half of a sandwich, which is great for smaller appetites (or those who are trying to save room for dessert)!

Speaking of dessert, we ordered the Chocolate German Cake. It was just as good as it looks! They always have at least ten cakes to choose from, not to mention the entire other bakery case with cupcakes, brownies, scones, and all other kinds of incredible.

If you're in the area, make sure you stop by 10 North Trade. It's just about twenty minutes from our office, and it's certainly a trip that we like to make often. Oh, and pick up a loaf of the sweet potato pecan bread while you are there!

Local Eats - Giardini in Columbus, NC

We are so lucky to have quite a few great restaurants near the Derbyshire community. One of those is Giardini, a wonderful farm to table Italian restaurant location about twelve minutes from the Derbyshire main entrance. The owners, Joe and Mary, focus on using locally produced foods in their dishes, and many of those foods come straight from the Giardini garden located behind this quaint yellow cottage.

I chose this past Tuesday to stop by the restaurant because I knew it was officially Pizza Tuesday. Of course that is one of the first things you see as you walk in, along with the tempting list of desserts (look closely at the bottom of the chalkboard) and the hard-to-resist cookies on the counter. Never has it been so difficult not to embrace the "eat dessert first" philosophy.

I resisted, however, and continued my photo tour through the restaurant. Giardini offers both indoor and outdoor seating. (They also have a pavilion that can be used for groups of twenty-five or more, but you'll see that in a bit.) Normally they have quite a busy dining room, but I chose to go right during the golden time between lunch and dinner so that I could be guaranteed to see the next part of the tour.

This is the built-in brick oven that stays very busy on Pizza Tuesday. The temperature stays at over 800 degrees, which allows these eleven inch pizzas to cook in just three minutes. For your information, this was a Drunken Fig pizza that belonged to someone else. I became overwhelmingly hungry after seeing this and headed upstairs to order my own.

While I was waiting a few minutes for my pizza to cook, Joe, who you will remember is one of the owners, sat down to have a little chat. They are such friendly, fun to be around people. We've had them cater several events and dinners at Derbyshire, and we always enjoy having them there!

One thing I would like to point out is the list of local suppliers that they use. If you'll notice at the very top of that list is the Giardini Garden. One really neat thing about that is that if you look at the top of the pizza menu it lists the Drunken Fig pizza, which you had just seen in the brick oven. Well, it's about time to be harvesting figs from the Giardini garden, and those will go into the pizza, and, well, I just thought that was pretty awesome. There aren't too many restaurants that I've been to that are able to say they grow their own figs that go in to a fabulous woodfired pizza.

This picture makes me hungry just looking at it. That was my portobello and porcini mushroom pizza with goat cheese. It has to have been the best pizza that I have ever eaten, and, yes, I ate it all.

After I finished trying to strike a nice balance between inhaling my pizza and savoring the delicious flavors of that pizza, Joe took me on a tour of the rest of the property. There are two more really unique things to point out about Giardini. One, they also have a portable woodfired pizza oven that can be taken to events for catering. You can enjoy any of their pizzas, or create your very own combination, anywhere!

 

The other very cool offering at Giardini is their tennis court! Joe plays tennis several times a week, and decided that a private tennis court would be a perfect addition to the back of the property (behind the garden). They even offer a tennis club where local residents can become members and play as much as they like.

Sidenote, the covered pavilion on the right of the tennis courts is the area I had mentioned before which is used for larger catering events. Right in front of that, which you cannot see in this picture, is a lighted bocce ball court. I told you Joe and Mary were fun.

Giardini creates wonderful, authentic Italian dishes, not just the pizza that I have fallen in love with. If you are in the area, stop by, check out their menu, and order something that you will be telling your friends about later.

Local Goods - Polk County Agricultural Development Center

One of the best parts about living in a more rural area in Western North Carolina is the fact that locally grown produce is easy to find. The people of Polk County have made it even easier to access homegrown foods by opening up the Mill Spring Farm Store at the Polk County Agricultural Center.

The Agricultural Center operates in a building that was once the old high school. Several years ago it was donated to the Polk County Soil & Water Conservation District, and now it serves as home for that office as well as many other organizations, local craftsmen and artists, and other individuals who enjoy operating their business at this unique location.

As you enter the building, walking past the community garden and outdoor kitchen, the large hallway serves as a resource center for those in the area looking to enjoy more of what this county has to offer. The chalkboard building directory points visitors to a multitude of different offices, and the brochure stand offers information on local farms, wildlife, and area attractions.

If you turn to the right and go all the way to the end of the hallway you'll find the Mill Spring Farm Store. Local craftsmen and farmers display their goods all week long (and on Saturday) so that you don't have to wait for a specific day to visit the local farmers market (although each town does have one).

On the handmade goods side, you'll find everything from woven baskets, to fiber art, to ornamental iron work (which is done by a local blacksmith who keeps a studio in the building). On the farm goods side there are vegetables, eggs, various canned goods and sauces, and even alpaca fleece!

The Farm Store is open Monday - Friday from 9:00AM-4:30PM and Saturday from 9:00AM-1:00PM. While I was there, two ladies who sell their goods at the store were also helping to run the register. They were very friendly and helpful, and I happily left with the items pictured below. For more information on the Mill Spring Farm Store you can visit the Polk Fresh website.