Greenville, SC: Top Ten {Tuesday}

While the kids were at Camp Primo, my husband and I took a little mini-vacation to the thriving metropolis of Greenville SC! I know, it doesn’t sound like a tourist attraction, but it is the most adorable little town! In fact, Main Street in downtown Greenville was awarded one of the Top Ten Streets in the Country!

Downtown Greenville is full of quaint southern shops, beautiful old buildings and yummy restaurants. So, here are my TOP TEN PLACES TO EAT, SLEEP AND PLAY IN DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE, SC!

1. The Poinsett Hotel

I love buildings with history and this one has it. It was build in 1925 and when we drove into town we saw it immediately because of it’s lovely old neon sign. {The hallways down to the parking garage were lined with wedding photos of sweet new couples posing on the roof in front of that sign. Gorgeous!} When we walked in I turned to Les and said, “I feel like we’re in the Tower of Terror!”

A view of the hotel from the ground.

Les and me in the elevator. We’re so cool.

2. Mary Beth’s at McBee

This was our first actual meal in Greenville. We slept so late that first day we skipped breakfast. Which is a travesty, in my opinion. But the time does not stop my need for breakfast. Mary Beth’s serves breakfast all day long. And I walked away with my tummy full of LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES. Oh my good heavens.

4. The Mice on Main

This is the cutest thing ever. There are a bunch of little mice statues hidden all over downtown. Some are a part of other statues, some are doing their own thing but they are all waiting to be found. It’s a big scavenger hunt that a High School Senior designed as a gift to Greenville (or maybe it was his Senior Project, regardless, it was a super cool idea!). This would be so fun for kids to do—ok,  I had fun looking for them, too!

5. Falls Park

Just two blocks from our hotel is this amazing park complete with waterfall, swimming hole, crazy amazing bridge and breathtaking flowers. If it hadn’t been for the 9million degree weather, I would have stayed there all day. It was like a movie! There was even a couple getting married in the middle of the park!

6. Smoke On The Water

Their byline is “a saucy Southern tavern”. I like that, don’t you? Our waitress wasn’t all that great and when I asked her what was good she said, “Uhm. The special is good. Wait, what’s the special again? Oh yeah. It’s good.” So, I listened to one of the actual good waiters and he said they were featured in Southern Living for their pimento cheese. Yeah. So, I had to get it.

And it was good. For an entree, I got some kind of fish. It was ok. But the sugar snap peas with red peppers? Oh my. They were divine.

7. Mill Town Emporium
Right next door to the saucy southern tavern was the Milltown Emporium. And it was full of such adorable treasures and southern-belle-ish employees, that I could have stayed all day.

Plus, I bought these super cute bunny bookends and a big red bird. Yeah, it sounds really lame. But I promise, you’ll want some of your own. {And if I get up early enough, I’ll take a pic of them for you!}

8. Go Fish

I’ll admit, we stopped in here because of the fish. I was hoping it was a C28 kinda store. It wasn’t but I was impressed with the kind of store it was—everything was fair trade. The owners travel to different countries and find local artisans. They pay whatever the artisans ask, then bring their wares back to sell in the United States. The employees we talked to were passionate about the store. It was full of beautiful accessories and home decor.

9. Cazbah
Our final meal in Greenville may have been our best. We had eaten a big lunch but I still wanted a good dinner (oh, we had popcorn at the movie theatre, too!) so we found a tapas restaurant called Cazbah. Our first mini-meal was called the Southern Sushi Roll. It was a “crab stick, sashimi tuna, avocado, cream cheese, asparagus, and spicy asian mayo, fried like only a Southerner could!”

And can I just say yee-haw?! It was stinkin’ good.

10. Luna Rosa Gelato Cafe

Now, let’s fisnish it off with some dessert. As we enjoyed an evening of jazz on Main Street (actually we missed it because we stood in line so long to get this dessert) we ate some GELATO. If you have not had gelato, then why are you still sitting down?! Holy cow, run, jump or drive to the nearest gelato shoppe and indulge. I was so overwhelmed by the flavor choices I asked the man in front of me (a funny old man) who said, “Every single flavor is amazing. If they had popcorn flavor you couldn’t go wrong.” I chose Cinnamon Stick. Which was kind of a cross between Panera’s Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and a Cinnabon. Only ice cream.

So next time you need a cute little downtown to stay in consider Greenville, SC. And for bloggers everywhere the entire downtown has FREE WI-FI!!

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