Three Fantastic Bed and
Breakfasts in the Olde English District of South Carolina
And What to See While
There
Story and photos
by Kathleen Walls
When you're visiting the Olde
English District of South Carolina, it's like stepping back
in time. I kept that good old time feeling when I visited by
staying at a trio of bed and breakfasts instead of a chain
hotel. While I loved each of these family-owned inns, each
had one unique feature that made them the best of the best
in my book.
East Main Guest House
My first
night of this trip to the
Olde English District,
I spent in the Charleston Suite of a delightful
bed-and-breakfast just a few blocks from the heart of Old
Town in Rock Hill.
East Main Guest House, in the East Town Historic
District, is a 1916 Craftsman Bungalow with a blend of art,
antiques, and color. The house was originally built by a
local doctor, James Massey. Melba and Jerry Peterson bought
it and ran it as a bed-and-breakfast until 2020. Heidi and
Scott Renolds had been living in the country in a large
place. After their three boys grew up and left home, they
bought this home and spent several months renovating it,
then opened it to guests. The renovation won Historic Rock
Hill's prestigious Renovation Award and has been featured on
two national Reality TV shows.
My suite was on the second floor
and there is a cozy parlor with a fridge, tables and chair,
sofas and books. It was a perfect spot to relax. Outside,
there is a lush garden in the back with seating if you wish
to get outdoors. On the first floor, the parlor next to the
dining room is furnished with lots of comfortable sofas and
chairs. I particularly loved the crystal chandelier in the
parlor. All the rooms have lots of large windows for natural
light.
Heidi told me she loved entertaining
and had secretly wanted to run a bed-and-breakfast for
years. When she served me my breakfast on heirloom Blue
Willow China, I knew she was perfectly fitted as a hostess.
I feasted on baked pear, French toast, English muffin bread,
uncured bacon, and, since I don't drink coffee, organic
English breakfast black tea. I can't remember when I had
ever had such a delicious breakfast.
Things to see and do in York County
Historic Brattonsville
Historic
Brattonsville was having the By the Sweat of Our Brows
Event when I visited. It told so much about not only the
Revolutionary War history but about Black history. Historic
Brattonsville is a little-known historic village with a big
story. Its history began in the 1760s when the three Bratton
brothers, William, Robert and Hugh, settled here. Today, the
village has over 30 colonial and antebellum structures,
including two house museums. There's an 800-acre plantation
with heritage breed animals, a Revolutionary War battlefield
site, and a nature preserve. Brattonsville was one of the
prime filming locations of the movie The Patriot,
starring Mel Gibson.
Glencairn Garden
Award-winning
Glencairn Garden is more than plants. It's a newly
expanded 11-acre lot with a Veterans Garden, showcase
gardens, tiered fountains, ponds, boardwalks, a performance
stage, and beautiful, flower-filled walkways. Azaleas and
camellias are the main flowers, but there are dozens of
other flowers, trees and shrubs. One feature you will see is
a brick stage for outdoor performances. It's dedicated in
memory of Vernon Grant, creator of Kellogg's Snap, Crackle,
and Pop, and many other characters. He moved to Rock Hill
after WWII and was the inspiration behind the annual Rock
Hill Come See Me Festival. His Glen the Frog is the mascot
for the festival. His family dedicated the stage in his
honor.
I particularly loved the fountain and
pond as you round the circular walk in the garden.
Museum of York County
The
Museum of York County
is filled with fantastic treasures that
explore the earth's secrets. Know Your Nature exhibits where
you experience the forest and rock outcroppings of the
Carolina Piedmont. Step back to the Ice Age and see how the
area looked millions of years ago. Step forward and learn
about the animals that inhabited the land hundreds of years
ago. See realistic dinosaurs and wildlife of past and
present from skeletons and fossils to realistically
preserved taxidermal exhibits. There's a section for the
youngsters and a planetarium to explore space.
Kings Mountain Battlefield National Park
For more revolutionary history drive a
few miles to the
Kings Mountain
Battlefield National Park. This battle here was between
American militia and loyalist militia. The only British
soldier was Major Patrick Ferguson, who recruited the
Loyalist troops. The battle of Kings Mountain was the first
major patriot victory after the British invaded Charleston.
The Visitors' Center has a well-planned
museum. Behind the Visitors' Center, there's a
one-and-a-half-mile paved trail with markers and monuments.
One is the marker for Fergerson's grave. He was killed in
this battle.
Old Town
Old Town Rock Hill is the spot for
shopping, entertainment, art, and some historical places.
Fountain Park
Fountain Park on Main Street is a large
fountain surrounded by green space and a small performance
stage.
First Presbyterian Church
First
Presbyterian Church adjacent to Fountain Park on Main Street
began as a mission of Ebenezer Presbyterian in 1855 and was
originally known as Antioch Chapel. The first church was
south of town. The church here was completed in 1895. It is
a gorgeous example of a late Victorian brick structure with
touches of Romanesque Revival and Late Gothic Revival. The
roof is capped by a cupola and a five-story bell tower.
There are eight gables projecting from the main building.
The arched doorways and stained glass are a treasure. Few
builders could create something so beautiful today with all
the modern tools.
Public Art
Darrion Fleming's The Dreamer is
a mural on Overhead Station Gift Shop on Main St. showing a
child creating art with a crayon.
Farther down Main
Street,
Center for the
Arts is
a small art museum with revolving
exhibits.
Jail No Bail
Jail no Bail Exhibit
just a few
feet farther is more than art. It tells the story of the
Friendship 9, a group of young African American students
from nearby Friendship Junior College who staged a sit-in at
the segregated lunch counter of McCrory's Five and Dime. The
young men were arrested when they tried to order food and
refused to leave the counter. They were sentenced to pay a
$100 fine each or spend 30 days in jail. They chose jail to
call attention to the injustice supported by the law. They
were, of course, treated far worse than white prisoners in
jail for actual crimes. Their actions called attention to
the need for a Civil Rights Law.
Dining
Just next to the exhibit is
Kounter,
originally the McCrory's store. The restaurant there now,
Kounter, preserves the original counter and has markers on
the seats that bear the names of those nine men who accepted
jail as a means of achieving equality in 1961. Aside from
the history in this restaurant, the food is amazing. I had
dessert there and when my server brought my canola; I was
surprised when he added a touch of liquor to the already
lovely treat and flamed it for me. Wow!
Lunch
at
Sweet Caroline's is another way to enjoy some
traditional York County food. It's housed in a rustic
barn style building and serves filling southern meals. My
server told me the restaurant is named for the owner's
mother, not the state. I pigged out here and had the three
meat BBQ plate with pulled pork, brisket, and chicken with
sides of baked beans, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. I was
quite happy they gave me options of both the traditional and
the South Carolina BBQ sauce. I doused the meats with the
traditional but did sample a bit of the more vinegary sauce.
The meat was all cooked to tender perfection and the mac and
cheese was so creamy. The beans were well seasoned and
cooked just right.
Whispering Willows
Whispering
Willows in Ridgeway is almost like a religious retreat.
The Tutor style inn is set on 23 acres of land in Fairfield
County. It is way off the road amid a forest and so
peaceful. Although it's relatively new, hosts, Grace and
Bob, completed the spacious mansion in January 2010, the
rooms have the feel of an old English mansion. I stayed in
The Remnant Room on the second floor with a view from my
spacious dining room table of the back garden and forest
beyond. This was the most spacious of my stays. I had a
complete kitchen and dining area on one side and my bedroom
on the other side divided by the staircase. The showpiece
and one of my favorite things was the large, curtained
jacuzzi style tub. It was the most relaxing experience of my
trip.
Grace outdid herself for breakfast. I
enjoyed granola and yogurt with a piece of fresh baked nut
bread followed by very filling scrambled egg and biscuits
and port sausage gravy. I washed it all down with some Earl
Gray tea.
Things to see and do in Lancaster and Fairfield
County
Downtown Lancaster
Historic Courthouse
Built between 1825 and 188 by Robert
Mills, first professional native-born United States trained
architect who also designed the Washington Monument, the
historic courthouse is worth a look.
Native American Studies Center
At the
Native American Studies Center, I saw interesting art by
and about Native South Carolinians. If you visit on the
right days, you can help wash and/or catalog artifacts.
Public Art
As I walked down Main Street, I
discovered so many public art displays. The Red Rose Park
hosts Paws on Parade statue, Caroline Rose, by artist
Tish Bialecki. She is such a cute doggie.
In what is called the
Cultural Arts District, I found so many murals. There is
a Mural Court, located on Dunlap Street across from the
Historic Lancaster County Courthouse with public art on full
display here, with Ralph Waldrop's mural, Forward
Together; The Spirit of Lancaster, and Spirit, artist
Sheila Blackmon-Neal's Paws On Parade statue
representing Lancaster's unity: "The different shades of
hands represent the hard-working hands of all Lancastrians.
We are one." There are so many murals, it's impossible to
remember how many I saw.
Buford's Massacre
Just a short distance from downtown
Lancaster is the site of
Buford's Massacre. The battle between a British Legion
led by Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton who attacked the
Patriot militia, led by Colonel Abraham Buford on May 29,
1780 is also known as the Battle of Waxhaws. It was a
military disaster for the patriots, with 113 American
soldiers killed, 150 wounded, and 53 captured. The dead
American soldiers are buried on the site in a long trench.
There are also two monuments there, a 10-foot white monument
erected in 1860 to mark the gravesite of American soldiers,
and a second monument erected in 1955. "Remember Waxhaws!"
became a rallying cry for the Patriots.
Andrew Jackson State Park
Andrew Jackson State Park has a museum and interactive
exhibits that chronicle Jackson's boyhood on his uncle James
Crawford's plantation near Washaw Creek. He lived here until
he was 17 years old. His mother's grave is here. Nearby
there is a sculpture of young Andrew Jackson on horseback by
Anna Hyatt Huntington called "Boy of the Waxhaws."
The museum has interactive exhibits of
Jackson's life during the Revolution. He fought as a
teenager and was taken prisoner. The park has an
18th-century replica schoolhouse similar to the one where
Jackson would have attended until he was 14, campground and
picnic facilities, fishing lake and nature trails. There's
even a Paws on Parade dog proudly done in red, white, and
blue here. There's a lot to see, so plan on spending a few
hours at least.
South Carolina Railroad Museum
The
South Carolina Railroad Museum
tells the
story of South Carolina's railroads. This one was built
between 1880 and 1900 and it went to two granite quarries,
one at Ryan and the other at Anderson. Rodger Stroup, the
museum superintendent, took me on a tour of the museum and
the rail cars and engines. What a fascinating place.
An interesting thing about this rail
line, they were still running steam engines in the 1960s.
The cars and engines show how the railroad conductors,
engineers and other workers lived while on the job.
They have about six and a half miles of
track they maintain. Roger said, "I don't know how many
pieces of rolling stock we have. We have six locomotives
that operate. There are so many passenger cars and engines."
My favorite is a steam engine that came
from the Hampton and Bransfield down in the lower part of
the state.
In the museum, AKA the depot, there is
a replica of the ticket booth and an old-time typewriter
that the clerks' used to use.
The model train in here is so detailed.
And there are so
many artifacts for a small museum. The way they communicated
with lights is fascinating. One of my favorite exhibits in
the museum is a hand powered velocipede that was used to
check the tracks before motorized carts. There is so much
here you feel you had a course in running a train when you
leave.
They do excursions to the Ryan Quary
site five miles away. They also do charters and barbeques.
The entire railroad is on the National Register of Historic
Places. This is a must-see.
Dining
I had a tasty brunch at
Country Omelet.
It's open all week for breakfast and early lunch. I had one
of their board specials, a large helping of chicken pot pie
with sides of pickled beets and an omelet style corn dish.
They also have a buffet.
Mully's
is open seven days a week. The food is buffet and all
you can eat. It offers delicious home cooked type soul food.
The servers are friendly and attentive even though it is
serve yourself. I pigged out and tried a little of many
things. My favorites were the meatballs and the corn, but
there was nothing I disliked that I sampled.
I enjoyed dinner at
Windmill.
They are open Thursday through Saturday for breakfast and
lunch as well. They are a rustic style restaurant with a
large menu ranging from sandwiches and pizza to steak and
seafood. I had their shrimp basket with fries and coleslaw.
I like that they have a kids or seniors choice.
Inn on Moon River Plantation Blues Bed & Breakfast
Elizabeth and David Claytor, hosts of
Inn on
Moon River Plantation Blues Bed & Breakfast in the city
of Chester, South Carolina, are big blues fans. The
plantation-style home built in 1904 is filled with music,
art, and collectables related to the blues. It is a
combination inn and museum. When I arrived, I discovered
they were the original founders of legendary blues juke
joint in Tallahassee, Dave's CC Club, later the
Bradfordville Blues Club, the only Florida location awarded
a Mississippi Blues Trail marker by the State of Mississippi
Blues Commission for its historical significance. I visited
several years ago and wrote about it. Sadly, the blues club
is now closed, but many of the original tables, each with a
blues artist image on them, and art are here being carefully
protected by Elizabeth and Dave.
Elizabeth showed me through to see the
amazing amount of music art in the home. There are more than
just blues. There's a framed and glass enclosed tee shirt
from Daves CC Club signed by countless artists that
performed there. The original Crossroads sign for highways
61 and 49 where legend says Robert Johnson sold his soul to
the devil from the blues club, a Chubby Checker Twist LP
album, a 50s era model jukebox, lots of instruments
including an upright piano. The picture range from paintings
to photographs and posters, many of them signed by the
musician. There are some of my all-time favorites, Johnny
Cash, Ray Charles, and Elvis, plus lots of the Motown
artists like the Supremes and Aretha Franklin.
My room was so comfortable and filled
with mixed musical and other art. I loved having a real tub
instead of just a shower. Add in Elizabeth's home-style
breakfast of blueberry pancakes and large pieces of ham
steak served on fine China in a dining room that fit in a
19th-century mansion, and I felt like I had died and gone to
music-lover's-Heaven. Elizabeth and Dave treat you like
visiting family not a stranger.
Things to see and do in Chester County
Chester State Park
Ranger Andrew McCune showed me around
Chester
State Park and told me about it. The park opened in the
1930s, with a160-acre lake and a unique CCC spillway that
looks like a waterfall. Caney Fork Falls Trail, a 1.3-mile
out and back trail behind the boathouse, leads past the
falls and along the lake. The trails are fun and there is a
disk golf course. You can rent a a kayak and paddle on
the lake. For anyone want to host an event, there is a
well-equipped event center. The park has a campground with
25 water and electric sites. If you want more civilization,
you can rent a cabin.
.JPG)
Cotton Hills Farm
We are all happy to see a family farm
instead of factory-owned ones.
Cotton Hills Farm
has operated as a family farm in the same family
continuously since 1882 when the original 100-acre Homeplace
was gifted to Theodosia Abell and Joseph Wilson as a wedding
present by her father. Cotton, small grains, and corn were
some of the farm's original staple crops.
I met with Jeb Wilson, fifth generation
co-owner with his brother of the farm. He took me on a tour
and showed me some crops in the field. I loved the unusual
pumpkins. He told me they grow watermelons, cantaloupe,
squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, peaches, and lots
of pumpkins. He said there is a market for unusual
ornamental pumpkins now too.
Cotton is still an important crop
today. The farm has grown a lot since 1882. Each year, they
still plant several hundred acres of cotton. We met at his
farm retail stand, The Market, which they opened in 2002 and
in recent years they sell at The Chester Market and The
Richburg Market. It's a great feeling to know that the kind
of agriculture our country was founded upon still lives
today on farms like this.
Cake Lady Cafe
Cake Lady
Cafe is a cafe that specializes in baked goods,
especially custom-made cakes. They also serving lunch. One
look at the trays of gorgeous large cupcakes and I knew I
needed to save room for dessert here. I ordered their
pizzadilla, It's a cross between a pizza and a taco, a
grilled flour tortilla loaded with mozzarella, pepperoni,
and marinara. It's an unusual treat. I saved room and got
one of the delicious chocolate cupcakes. It was as good as
it looked.
Public Disclosure
Please Read
FTC has a law FTC has a law
requiring web sites to let their readers know if any of the
stories are 'sponsored' or compensated. We also are to
let readers know if any of our links are ads. Most are not.
They are just a way to direct you to more information
about the article where the link is placed. We have several ads
on our pages. They are clearly marked as ads. I think
readers are smart enough to know an ad when they see one but to
obey the letter of the law, I am putting this statement here to
make sure everyone understands. American Roads and Global
Highways may contain affiliate links or ads. Further, as their
bios show, most of the feature writers are professional travel
writers. As such we are frequently invited on press trips, also
called fam trips. On these trips most of our lodging, dining,
admissions fees and often plane fare are covered by the city or
firm hosting the trip. It is an opportunity to visit places we
might not otherwise be able to visit. However, no one tells us
what to write about those places. All opinions are 100% those
of the author of that feature column.
