Pre-Thanksgiving Feasting

37 degrees and about the same number of minutes provided a short running tour of a Spartanburg, SC neighborhood. Though I brought two pairs of gloves for the weekend getaway, I managed to take off into the predawn gloveless. The chill of the morning air didn’t prove to be a deal breaker. It did, however, encourage me to keep up the pace to generate body heat. After a fast and enjoyable run through subdivisions and over county roads it was time to see more of “Sparkleburg,” as a South Carolina native and friend of mine calls it. Shannan and I geared up and took to the streets of Hub City, yet another nickname.

Our day began with breakfast at The Beacon In, better known for onion rings and iced tea (they claim to be the world’s largest seller of iced tea) than biscuits and coffee. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our meal immensely, especially as our bacon and eggs were served with fresh peaches. Indulge me a short aside, South Carolina is truly the Peach State and not my hometown of GA. Even with wide use of the word peachtree, we are actually the nation's top producers of peanuts. Back to the trip: Our next stop was Cowpens Revolutionary War Battlefield and Visitors’ Center. It's free and highly informative. From there we browsed in a small Rail Road Museum. A train rolled through town to provide bit of excitement. We moved on to Spartanburg County Historical Museum. It is well laid out and provides a wealth of information into the past of this train hub city, but on this day the real focus was on food.

Shannan and I munched on cupcakes at Cakehead Bakery and perused a bookstore which shares space with the bakery and a coffee shop in a repurposed Masonic Temple. After filling up on an old south style lunch at Wade’s, we split a hot fudge cake at Sugar-N-Spice Drive Inn. For dinner we stepped out for Redneck Burgers at Nu Way Lounge and Bar (which claims to oldest bar in the city). As you can tell, throughout the day we consumed high calorie, high fat, and high cholesterol foods with great joy. Our meager attempt to balance it out came in a one mile walk at Cowpens around the decisive positions of the historic battle of 1781 and another short trek through the wonderfully beautiful Hatcher Gardens and Nature Preserve. To add to our food fest we tried to purchase homemade pimento cheese, but the store closed early, for shame. Speaking of shame, we capped off the enigmatic food filled day with a trip the American Coliseum to watch American Pro Wrestling. This place and the fans have to be seen to be believed. It’s rich fodder for a separate blog.

See Spartanburg. Run. Eat. Enjoy.

Tom