In collaboration with Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority. Thank you for supporting the companies/brands that support Wynee’s World!Â
Fun fact: I grew up in Rutherford County! Forest City, NC to be exact. I’m here to say visiting as a tourist was more fun and different then I had expected it to be. The Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority (RCTDA) planned out a fun-filled/foodie adventure for me last weekend. From Charlotte, it’s not a long drive at all. You’re looking at about an hour and half to get to Rutherford County. From Asheville, you’re looking at about an hour drive. From Spartanburg/Greenville, SC you’re looking at about a 50 minute drive. As you can see, it’s super close to major airport hubs in the area.
I drove up on Friday night and checked into my BnB The Carrier Houses in Rutherfordton, NC. Checking in it felt like you were taking a step back into the past (in a good way though that included TVs, AC, and Wifi!). Walking into the main house with the sign in the front, I was greeted by Russell. My first impression of him was that he was kind and extremely knowledgable about the history of the property. My room was “The Asbury” upstairs in the second house. I was really surprised at how comfortable the bed was – it was also roomy enough for me and Trae. When I was done checking in, I changed my clothes and headed into Downtown Forest City for dinner.
Dinner was at Copper Penny which is locally owned by Paul & Michelle Gref. The Gref’s have seen so much success in their Forest City location that they opened up their second location in Rutherfordton at the beginning of 2019. The food at Copper Penny is made up of mainly American fare and the menu is diverse when it comes to ordering.
We decided to go with the Cajun Chicken Pasta and the Ribeye as our main entrees. For dessert, we went with our waitresses suggestion which was the Lemon Berry mascarpone. The Cajun Chicken was delicious, I would come back to Copper Penny and order this every time. My mom ordered the ribeye since she’s a steak person and she really enjoyed it. When it came down to dessert, I’m not a lemon person at all but since our waitress suggested it I thought it can’t be that bad. I was not wrong, the dessert exceeded my expectations!
After dinner I walked about 2 blocks up to the Twisted Pear for after-dinner drinks. A taproom + bottle shop, the pear offers a wide selection of beers. From draft to bottle, they have something for everyone. Along with the taproom, the Pear has live music on the weekends, paint & sip classes, and trivia nights.
Pictured is the Troegs Raspberry Tart and the Sycamore Citropica. I’d get both again. We ended the night at the Pear and headed back to our BnB to get some rest for our next day.
Saturday morning came and we woke up for breakfast at The Carrier Houses. Breakfast here is made every morning by Jim and Russell. You head down to their dining table in the main house and make yourself at home. You do have the chance of giving them any dietary restrictions you may have ahead of time so that they may plan ahead for you. This morning, we were served a parfait of fruits that included figs from their fig tree just outside of their homes. For our main dish we had a spinach and vegetable quiche, bacon, and oranges. This was my first time having quiche and i really enjoyed it.
Once we were full off of our breakfast, we went back up to our room to get ready for our day. We headed towards Lake Lure around 10AM. We made a couple of stops along the way which included Flowering Bridge and Morse Park Trail. These were perfect spots for morning walks. The flowering bridge is perfect for photo ops.
While we were in Lake Lure we made sure to check out a couple of local spots for food.
Probably my favorite of the day. The Carolina burger I had was absolute perfection and I highly recommend everyone to get it!
Point of View has an awesome view and is perfect for happy hour drinks. Their shrimp skewers are amazing and I probably could have ate 10 of them in one sitting.
After dinner, we decided to cool down at Scoop. Small mom & pop ice cream shop with a wide list of selections. We got the Peanut Butter Cookie Monster (yummy) and the Sea Salt Caramel flavor. Perfect spot to stop at when leaving Lake Lure.
In between our lunch and dinner we were a little adventurous and decided to zipline at Canopy Ridge Farm. It was my first time ziplining and I can’t lie, my nerves were shot. I really don’t know how I completed all 6 rides because my anxiety was on another level. I will say, each ride got easier and easier and by the end of it I was having a blast. I would 100% do it again and am excited to go back. Our tour guides, Zach and Gabe were awesome and when you book your ride you should definitely ask for them!
After we ate and ziplined, it was time to go back to Rutherfordton. We settled into our cozy room and caught some Z’s. The next morning, we ate a second breakfast provided by Jim and Russell before checking out. During breakfast, Jim and Russell let us know that they are open to doing events and special dining experiences like weddings, birthdays, tea parties, etc for their guests. All you have to do is let them know in advance to see if they will have availability and the resources.
Our weekend in Rutherford county was perfect and it was the best getaway from Charlotte. If you have the time on a weekend I suggest you come out to Small Town Friendly and see how great of a place it is!
Xoxo,
Wynee
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