Adventures in Sparkle City

For as small a town as Spartanburg is, they have a fairly decent amount of amenities. There is a brewery, medical district, 5 colleges, art galleries, nightlife, parks, and shopping. There is a large emphasis on family-friendly activities, biking, and the arts.

Six or so of the VISTAs plus my roommate and me have tried to get involved in Spartanburg activities. We went to the Farmer’s Market (one of two they host every week) and attended various evening activities downtown during our first week here. Let me just say that we are all about some free food and festivities. J We went to the monthly Art Stroll through art galleries one night and made a meal of the vast amounts of finger foods at each location. The next night was the one year anniversary of the bookstore/coffee shop/ cupcake bakery downtown and again made a meal off the food offerings, while being introduced to various community people (affectionately known as “Spartanburgers”).

Labor Day weekend we traveled about an hour to Hendersonville, NC for the Apple Festival. We saw the Blue Ridge Mountains during our trek.  Downtown, about a mile stretch of road was blocked off for the vast number of vendors, most of which were selling food. The first several blocks contained your typical fair staples-- turkey legs, funnel cakes, etc, but no apples. But further down the road, there were nothing but apple vendors selling their special types by the bushel—honeycrisp, gala, etc. If there was a type of apple that is able to be harvested in early Sept, it was there. We taste-tested some at one table and bought apple pie ice cream and others bought spicy apple smoothies. A good time was had by all at the Apple Festival.

On Labor Day, my roommate and I were determined to finally find a couch. At our second Goodwill of the day, we bought 3 dining room chairs and at the third, we finally found our couch. We called one of the other VISTAs to transport it in her truck. Of course, it was pouring rain. It took all three of us girls to move the couch into our apartment inch by inch through the rain. That was when we discovered that the couch wouldn’t fit through the door. After maneuvering the couch through the mud, we managed to finally get it inside.

After we started pulling the couch off the truck and realized it was super heavy

3 hours + 3 Goodwill stores + $76 + 3 female super VISTAs=

Sore muscles, 2 cute skirts for work, and a complete living room of 3 chairs and a comfy green couch with cup holders

Success J