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Going Up!

Spartanburg, South Carolina Gets Its Game On

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I didn’t expect to fall in love again at my age. After all, I thought I had everything: a house in the country, a passel of grandkids, and a darn good husband.

But, mmm, Spartanburg. We began hanging out together—that is, I started visiting—about five years ago, when my youngest child and his family moved there to take advantage of housing prices far more affordable than in trendier cities of the region.

Now my husband and I go there once or twice a year, not just for the family time but because Spartanburg, South Carolina, has so much else to offer: a dynamic economy roaring back after the tough years of the late 20th century, a lively cultural scene, clean streets and some fine architecture, lots of new restaurants and splendid parks. The sense of civic pride is palpable, as a bit of the Old South gets updated with 21st century verve.

It’s fun, but beyond that, Spartanburg has the exciting vibe of a small city where lots of young families with entrepreneurial chops are writing the newest chapter of an old history.

This love affair really took off when my extended family—numbering 16 for the occasion—gathered in Spartanburg for Thanksgiving last year. There wasn’t room for us all at my son’s house, so my husband and I eagerly volunteered to get a room for four days at the beautiful, nearly new AC Hotel in downtown Spartanburg. Our usual travel mode is budget motel, so this upgrade made a big impression: a huge, high-ceilinged, sunny lobby, and the walls hung with serious works of avant-garde art from the famed Black Mountain College; a Ruth Asawa wire sculpture hanging above the elevator bank and a colorful Rauschenberg behind the check-in desk. The staff is warm and the bar lounge is cool.

I loved the feel of an old-fashioned hotel lobby—with all its ease and sociability—placed into a modern but classically influenced building.

Winter makes a good time to visit Spartanburg, as we found during a repeat visit a few months later, in late February. Not too hot, not too cold: just right for sightseeing and dining. Christmastime has an inviting sparkle, too, as many establishments bling out on window displays and offer free refreshments and special events.

Diet? What Diet?

As we reached town during that mid-winter visit I was craving something light and Asian for lunch … but then I happened to glance over my shoulder and see a diner across the railroad tracks, the parking lot full even at 2:30 in the afternoon. I executed a U-turn and we discovered a self-described redneck diner called Ike’s Korner Grill, which dates back to 1960. Vegetarians beware, Ike’s does burgers, hot dogs wrapped in bacon and deep fried, bologna sandwiches, plus french fries and homemade potato chips that go right from a bin of spuds to the fryer with a quick pull on the hand-operated slicer. Ike’s doesn’t do light. I opted for a BLT, but it shouldn’t even be legal to pack that much bacon between two slabs of bread.

I hardly needed dinner that evening, but our grandson had his heart set on his favorite downtown eatery: Monsoon Noodle House. And indeed, my bowl of Tom Kha soup was a treat, delicate yet flavorful. Monsoon Noodle is a hit with families because the atmosphere is laid back; you order at the front counter, take a seat, and get served within minutes. The menu includes Thai standards, plus specials like mussels and crispy chicken.

Afterwards we strolled along Main Street together. Wine bars were packed, stores were open and inviting but mostly we enjoyed the people-watching.

So, breakfast. On an earlier visit I had enjoyed a local eatery, Eggs Up Grill, but this time my daughter-in-law wanted me to see her preferred spot, Blue Moon Market, Deli & Bakery before we got down to some serious Main Street window shopping. This downtown destination posts a hearty menu on big sheets of brown paper, hand-lettered to describe breakfast and lunch. For the record, I find it almost impossible to pass up a homemade chicken pot pie. Blue Moon operates a large, open commercial kitchen on site to keep their self-serve freezers stocked with take-home meals. Great concept.

Then we stepped inside Spartanburg’s spacious public library across the street, a big-city amenity that will soon be adding a nearly $10 million planetarium to the site. Not bad for a town of 40,000.

By the time we started up Main Street—enlivened with the magic of splashing fountains—I had notebook in hand. I wanted to interview some of the newest retail pioneers along the way, and with one question in mind: What do you love about Spartanburg?

“This is my hometown,” explained 33-year-old Coleman Troup, whose outdoor outfitter’s shop, The Local Hiker, hosts monthly guided hikes to the wilderness areas nearby and lays on free hot cider and cocoa at Christmas. “It moves at its own speed, purposely. It’s a small big city. It’s the perfect, perfect location if you like to be outside—mountains, swamp, Georgia is nearby, North Carolina.

“It’s mostly local businesses, not chains. Spartanburg is a great place to raise children, a good, tight-knit community. People help each other.”

At Market on Main, I perused the yummy gifts and settled on a bottle of herb-infused olive oil to take home. We passed by Starbucks—always empty, it seems—to stop in for coffee and conversation at the local hangout, Little River Coffee Bar. It was jammed, and the bulletin board held a fascinating collection of notices about art competitions and exhibits. Next door is Hub City Books, an indie bookstore where the “author’s wall” gets autographed by visiting writers, famous or not (my name is up there, along with Pat Conroy’s).

Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery was pretty but too rich. We checked out a new concept—a glitzy downstairs bowling alley with bar called Underpin Lanes ‘N Lounge—and then walked by my all-time favorite Spartanburg institution, Fr8yard, which was closed just then for a couple of winter months; Fr8yard shows how a vacant city lot can be transformed into a teeming open-air sports bar using an enormous television screen plus some reconfigured shipping containers. Over last Thanksgiving, while my adult children were quaffing beer and watching World Cup soccer on the Jumbotron, I had accompanied the grandkids to a sweet little playground a block away.

This day, before spending half an hour in the spectacular gallery at The Johnson Collection of Southern art—free admission—I interviewed Alex Brevik, general manager at the popular Bond Street Wines, where a multi-tiered wine club keeps customers coming back. He echoed Coleman Troup. “There is this sense of community here,” Brevik said. “It stays very tight, very close. It’s what allowed us to thrive. It’s a great place to raise a family.” The only downside, he added, is a lack of babysitters for all the young parents.

We splashed out for dinner, returning to the AC Hotel for a meal at upscale Rick Erwin’s Level Ten steakhouse on the top floor, where I enjoyed the elegant setting. For dessert we crossed Main Street for a beer at Rockers Brewing Co., also known as RJ Rockers, where locals go for a fresh brew. What a crazy scene. The hangar-size structure houses brewing operations, of course, but there’s room to party, and the live band helps. Over here a baby shower was going on—with plenty of toddlers underfoot—while over there a group of dads took turns at a golf simulator, swinging away at the 15th hole of St. Andrews. Rockers doubles as a babysitting venue, it seems, like a big, noisy rec room.

I couldn’t eat anything else but I have my to-visit list ready for next time: Konnichiwa, a jolly sushi bar on Main Street, and Initial Q, a new smokehouse also on Main Street, plus De Flavors of India and a German café called Deli Korner, both in nearby suburbs.

The past is present

South Carolina figured prominently in the Civil War, but it was also the scene of action during the American Revolution. The city’s name comes from the Spartan Regiment of that struggle. History is everywhere: the many rail lines gave rise to the nickname Hub City, and at one time some 40 textile mills thundered away.

On the last day of our February visit the family donned light jackets and headed just a few minutes from downtown to a place that ties together much of the city’s history and which remains today a haunting, lovely nature spot: Glendale Shoals, a longtime industrial area—of iron works and textiles—sitting where Lawson’s Fork Creek pours over a low dam and rolls on through the woods to join the Pacolet River.

Looking like a history book left out in the rain, Glendale Shoals today belongs to Wofford College as an environmental study site. Remnants of a mill town and of the mill itself dot the landscape. The shoals are loud, long, and wide; tall brick chimneys punctuate the expanse where the mill burned down in 2004; a sturdy footbridge carries visitors across the dam and past a well-tended community garden. In warmer weather I could picture the place full of picnickers, but even in February the daffodils bloomed.

We wandered for an hour, then headed home. Spartanburg is so compact that within a mile or so we could see the newest high-end suburbs sprouting from the gentle terrain.

All around the town

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