The Hare and Hound in Landrum

Landrum is unique. That's a start.... Sitting at the foot of the hill, Landrum is the first in the String of Pearls and looks and feels more like a mountain town in North Carolina than it's closest South Carolinian neighbors. The town is quaint and inviting. It's main street has a number of merchant shops that have the look, feel and quality of a destination village. The anchor store of this experience is the Hare and Hound. A restaurant pub with a rich textured atmosphere substantiated with a diverse, home style menu with absolutely delicious food. I began today's lunch with White Bean and Ham Soup. Yummmeee and a perfect antidote to this mornings chill in the air. A thick, creamy, beanie soup with deliciously blended bits of ham. Followed by Fish and Chips that rival Hannah's and Black Rose. The home run today was an Irish Coffee made with Baileys Irish Cream, Jameson Irish Whiskey and a head of whipped cream delicately perched on a toothpick scaffold skillfully constructed by our hostess who has been with The Hare and Hound for 10 years. I understand... it was hard to us to leave as well.
Hold the phone Honey Child! Later this evening it dipped into to our "Hound Bag" and tasted Tess's take home "Honey Child Sandwich". This sandwich deserves its own honorable mention. The Honey Child, described on the menu simply as homemade chicken salad with almonds and honey sauce on a toasted croissant, is magnanimous in its understatement. The Honey Child is a talent show of taste and  worthy of adoption.

It's raining today and the stream behind our home is rushing. The sky is misty, cool and the mountains hide beneath a shroud of fog. It's a Beautiful Day! I put the plants out on the deck and I'll take a few pictures to post in a minute. We are closing on our house in Inman, SC tomorrow and I guess that will really make it official. We're not just thinking about it or visiting, we're no longer commuting for long weekends while we "get the house ready". We are here. We live in Hendersonville, NC and we have our licence plates to prove it. We lived 30 wonderful years in Spartanburg and drove through Hendersonville on our way to other places much of the time but we slowed down just long enough to take a second look.

While in Spartanburg we worked every day, had our baby and our son to raise. Basball, Boyscouts, Clogging and Homework. Our whole lives were focused on those two things; Work and Home. I was thinking, with Halloween approaching, how one year in particular, Eric and I worked on our Halloween decorations and contraptions literally for weeks in advance. We rigged up a ghost suspended in the tree nearest the carport and could make it move with hidden wires and remote sound effects. The whole thing was very elaborate and involved. This event really marked a rite of passage from a fear of the Haunted House, in younger days to being master or our scary domain.We probably had at least 100 Trick or Treater's and bags of Hersey's and Reese's to give away. Never had to worry about having too much because our hands were often in the til.

This year I put a piramid of three pumpkins in front. We will get a bag of Reece's but I have Type 2, probably won't dip into the stash too much. Things change.....