Williams Hardware Owners - The McCarrell Sisters - Joyce and Nancy McCarrell - Getting the Party Started on the Swamp Rabbit Trail

This week I chat with the owners of The Cafe at Williams Hardware in Travelers Rest SC - sisters Joyce and Nancy McCarrell.  These two ladies were visionaries and got the party started by opening the first restaurant on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, a 20+ mile bike trail in Greenville SC running past Furman University to Travelers Rest SC.

Williams Hardware

They knew the trail would bring cyclists to this small town and they would want water, restrooms and nourishment.  Their hunch was more than right on!!  The 10 miles of trail between downtown Greenville and Travelers Rest became a destination ride because they opened a restaurant for people to ride to Travelers Rest, have lunch, and ride back to Greenville. This is what makes our bike trail unique.  There is a destination that most levels of bicyclists can do.  A place to grab a bite to eat, a drink, refuel and head back.

They serve Southern cuisine with hints of the delightfully unexpected.  They are open 7 days a week for lunch and serve breakfast too on Saturdays and Sundays.  My favorite items on the menu are the tomato okra soup, the Rueben (best in the area IMHO) and the blueberry goat cheese pie.  They publish daily specials on their website.

These ladies are no strangers to video.  Check out their amusing, informative videos here.  Come visit Travelers Rest and make a weekend of it or a staycation.  It is the perfect getaway with hiking, biking, dining, craft brewery, Farmers Market, wine tasting, concerts right out our front door!

Travelers Rest Hotels

Come check out the restaurants in Travelers Rest SC and have a delicious meal at Williams Hardware!  Book your stay at hotels in Travelers Rest SC at the Swamp Rabbit Inn TR , Swamp Rabbit Lodge or Furman Cottage #bikeinnbikeout #travelersrestsc #travelersresthere

Mentioned In Video

The Cafe at Williams Hardware

Swamp Rabbit 5K

GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail

Swamp Rabbit Trail Bike Rentals

Furman University

Travelers Rest SC

Sunrift Adventures

Leopard Forest Coffee

Greenville Scottish Games

SC Living Magazine

Carson Newman University

Dicey Langston

Tandem Creperie

Whistle Stop Cafe

Sidewall Pizza

Farmhouse Tacos

Travelers Rest Farmers Market

LIV Greenville Real Estate

Join us for our 4th Anniversary Celebration and Truck Inn Tuesday on June 12, 2018 from 6-9p, at 1 Logan Street, Greenville, SC 29601.  Darby Wilcox and Automatic Taco, what could be better??!!

If you enjoyed this video please share it!  Thanks for watching and subscribe to our weekly Facebook Live videos by pressing the Subscribe button in any of our live videos or videos that were live on our Swamp Rabbit Inn & Properties Facebook page.  We go live at noon every Wednesday.  Next week my guest is Jeff Bannister @roamingrhino who cooks whole beasts over open fire.  Check out his upcoming event Bovinoche in Columbia, SC, June 9th, 2018.  Thanks for watching our Williams Hardware video with Joyce and Nancy McCarrell.  Come visit!

[Tweet "The McCarrell Sisters got the party started in #TravelersRest when they opened The Cafe at Williams Hardware on the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail "]

Swamp Rabbit Inn Weekly Video - Cycling Greenville and Travelers Rest, SC

It's no secret that the Upstate of South Carolina has great cycling!  If you are a rails to trails fan the Swamp Rabbit Trail is 22 miles of paved bike trail from Greenville, SC to Travelers Rest, SC, both wonderful destination rides just 10 miles apart.  This is a very doable ride for all levels of cyclists. ​​ Looking for something more challenging?  Mountain bikers and road cyclists alike can pick from varying degrees of difficulty as you move into the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains..

Check out 20 great rides in the area in Cycling Greenville guidebook written by Innkeeper, Wendy Lynam.

We've got both ends of the trail covered with the original Swamp Rabbit Inn in cosmopolitan, downtown Greenville, SC and now the Swamp Rabbit Inn TR in the hipster, mountain town of Travelers Rest, just 10 miles up the Swamp Rabbit Trail near Furman University.

Check out this week's video and please share : )

Swamp Rabbit Inn and Properties Buys the Magnolia Inn in Travelers Rest, SC

For Immediate Release

January 16, 2017, Travelers Rest, SC - The Swamp Rabbit Inn and Properties buys the Magnolia Inn in downtown Travelers Rest, SC to add to it's collection of bike-friendly hotel alternatives along the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

The Magnolia Inn has been operating in Travelers Rest since 2008 and includes a main house with three guest rooms, a full kitchen, dining room and living room. In addition to the main house is a coach house, a studio and a two bedroom cottage. There is also an RV/tiny house pad equipped with water, electricity and hi-speed internet. All guests can enjoy the pool area, gazebo, and beautiful grounds. The entire complex accommodates up to 16 people.

The property will operate as The Swamp Rabbit Inn TR and is located at 426 S. Main Street in the vibrant, trendy town of Travelers Rest. Just a few steps from the Swamp Rabbit Trail and many new restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, a craft brewery, farmers market, and outdoor concerts, guests will have many great options right out the front door.

Located in the Upstate of South Carolina, Travelers Rest is close to Greenville, SC and Furman, North Greenville and Clemson University. Guests can rent bikes on site or bring their own to ride all the world class cycling routes in the area. The Upstate is an outdoor lovers paradise with abundant trails, waterfalls, lakes and mountains.

In 2014, Wendy Lynam opened the first Swamp Rabbit Inn in downtown Greenville at 1 Logan Street catering to visitors and business travelers looking for an affordable, more relaxed alternative to a hotel. She has since added five more vacation rentals along the trail and the former Magnolia Inn will be the sixth in the collection of fresh and funky, IKEA adorned properties. "Many of our guests come here to cycle and explore the area's beautiful outdoor amenities by day and all the great restaurant and entertainment options by night. I have set up the properties to appeal to cyclists coming to enjoy our fabulous 21 mile Swamp Rabbit Trail the gateway to some of the best cycling in the Country."

There will be a big Estate Sale at the Magnolia Inn this Thursday, January 19 - 21, from 10 - 2 each day. 

To learn more about our new property, the Swamp Rabbit Inn TR or to book a room visit www.swamprabbitinntr.com or for our complete list of properties visit www.swamprabbitinn.com #bikeinnbikeout

###

Contact Information:

Wendy Lynam, Owner

swamprabbitinn@gmail.com

864-517-4617

Press Kit 

 

Bike Month in Greenville Just Keeps on Pumpin'!

Keep your helmets fastened, kiddos, 'cause the pace is not letting up!

This Saturday continues the spirit of Bike Month with the Blessing of the Bikes in front of  M. Judson Books on Main.  And then Stephanie Morgan held story time on the front the steps with that book "Hey Blue!" about my cousin's kid, Blue, the bike riding bunny rabbit (wonder where he gets it from?!?).

Later that day the expo for the Mountains to Main Street Triathlon and Half Marathon was held almost next door at  the Marriot Courtyard   where The Swamp Rabbit Inn manned a booth.

On Sunday morning bright and early the race began with the swim in the ultra-pure waters of Lake Keowee in Seneca, SC, and your faithful Swamp Rabbit hopped along for all the action...

Then the bike ride commenced along the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  After the ride the participants ran along the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail, around Furman Lake, then toward the city with a finish line overlooking the Reedy River and Reedy Falls in award-winning downtown Greenville, SC.

Congrats, Everybody!!!  You looked fabulous out there!

Now hang with us a little longer here, because May is not done and there are a few diversions left to take inn.  Need a little break from biking?  Well, I suppose you can always easily ride your bike to these events, too,  if you choose (we recommend it)!  The 22nd Annual Upstate Shakespeare Festival begins May 22nd (tonight!) and continues through July 31 in Falls Park.  Shows are FREE and start at 7 pm. See "As You Like It" in May and June, and "Julius Caesar" in July.

Remember when we warned you:  The Scottish are coming!!!??  Well they are almost here. Gallabrae -Greenville Scottish Games will be hurling away May 27th - 28th.  The Great Scot parade marches down Main Street in downtown Greenville Friday the 27th at 6 pm and the games take place on the 28th, all day, at Furman campus. They call them "Heavy Athletics".  Uh huh!

Did someone say "Where's the beer?" ?  It's Greenville, surely the beer is near!  If you can tear yourself away from the parade, tap into the wild at the Brew in the Zoo, also on the 27th, from 6:30 pm t0 9:00 pm. Adults 21 and older can sample an assortment of beers and enjoy food and live music while exploring the zoo after-hours.  All proceeds benefit various programs throughout the zoo.

See?  Come to Greenville.  Work up a sweat.  Hydrate.  Watch some other folks work up a sweat.  Hand up a beverage.  Get some culture.  Have a beer!  Repeat!  That's a summer day in Greenville!

After seeing that racer I think I'll rock the rainbow "hare" one more time.  Cheers!

--Percy

Cultured Swamp Rabbits Love Public Art in Greenville

I’ll let you two-legged folks in on a little secret:  rabbits LOVE art!  Especially the 3-dimensional kind.  We're more sophisticated than you might think!  If I had opposable thumbs I’m sure I would sculpt.  I’m rather an expert on the properties of wet, red clay.  Of course the furrier one is, the less likely to be allowed to enter a museum or gallery (except for the mice ; mice go EVERYWHERE!)

The rest of us with tails and snouts must make do with what is installed outdoors - public art.  But in that regard Greenville does not disappoint!  There are many different sculpture viewing opportunities all over Greenville.

Clockwise from upper left: Pietro Tacca, Children’s Museum of the Upstate, Anthony Howe, Brad Spencer, John Acorn, Dale Chihuly, Michael Gard.

This weekend, however, it got more personal.  The resident artist of our Inn family, Kathleen King, had an opening celebration for one of her works on The Swamp Rabbit Trail, and our Queen of Clean, AJ, joined in the fun. The press and interwebs are buzzing with the success of the event and our gals are front and center.  Here are some images from the day.  Several photos are from the article in the Greenville News as indicated.

"The Runner",  nicknamed "Ethyl", is a ten-foot metal sculpture and the second installation in the Swamp Rabbit Trail Public Art Collection.  The sculpture was funded by donations from the Greenville Track Club and VisitGreenvilleSC.  It was dedicated to the memory of  former GTC administrator Darrell Jennewine.  Darrell was beloved for his dedication to the running community in Greenville.  His last pair of running shoes were bronzed and set on a plaque under the bike rack bench designed by Ryan Calloway.

A great crowd came out on a beautiful day!

It takes a collaborative effort!

Reception at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe

What it's all about.

Come stroll the streets and trails of Greenville and enjoy the artistic inn-stallations!  The Swamp Rabbit Inn is conveniently close to all.

--Percy

Fall Festival in Greenville SC: Hoptoberfest at the Swamp Rabbit Inn

We had such a great time with Truck INN Tuesdays this summer that we're at it again. We're hosting THE BEST fall festival in Greenville, SC. Join us October 25th from 4-7 for our first annual Hoptoberfest!

We're thrilled to have Charlotte bluegrass and Americana musicians My Girl My Whiskey and Me (and their sweet pup Homegirl), Automatic Taco food truck, and all our local Makers like Modern Forestry Soy Candles, Reedy River Farms, Greenville Goods, Jocie Pots, Bone and Ink, and many more.

Super excited to have our  special guests from Tennessee @brewbracelets and @thebeertrale. Give a listen to an episode of The Beer Trale, an entertaining look at the world of Craft Beer.  They will be coming here to do an episode Greenville's craft brewing community so please connect with before or at Hoptoberfest!

Of course, The Bike Shed at Swamp Rabbit Inn will be open as well. And no proper fall festival would be without a kids and pets costume parade!

If you're a local looking to partake in a family and pet friendly Sunday event, we're the fall festival for you. In town for the Hincapie Gran Fondo or other local event?  Join us for a fun, relaxing time! We look forward to seeing all our friends, fans, guests, and neighbors in a few short weeks.

P.S. Mark your calendars for our holiday event in the inn, Holiday Hoppinings, December 10th.

The GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail #12 On Daily Burn's List of Best Bike Trails in US

Come visit Greenville SC and bike the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail, right out the front door of the Swamp Rabbit Inn, and just named one of the best bike trails in the US by Daily Burn. The 15 Best Road and Mountain Bike Trails in the U.S.

The Swamp Rabbit Inn offers bike-friendly lodging two blocks from the Swamp Rabbit Trail in downtown Greenville SC and two block from Main Street.  Stay with us and live like a local.  We are a great alternative to hotels in downtown Greenville, SC.  We have 6 guest rooms and common areas to relax and cook your own meals in our community kitchen and grill out on our beautiful back deck.

Park your car in our lot and explore Greenville on two wheels and two feet.  Everything Greenville has to offer is within walking distance from the inn.  Check out the award winning Falls Park and walk the Liberty Bridge, take in a ball game at Flour Field, and eat to your heart's content and over 100 restaurants in our booming downtown.

Bike rental is offered on-site at our pop-up bike shop/gift shop/cafe right in our parking lot in the "Bike Shed".  We can help you make the most of your stay and even wrote "Cycling Greenville SC" with detailed maps and instructions on 20 of the best rides in Greenville.

Come to Greenville SC and Ride the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail

Here is some good information for visitors to Greenville, SC who want to ride the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail.  This article was written by Jack Horan of the News&Observer.  Don't forget to book your room with us at the Swamp Rabbit Inn in downtown Greenville SC or the Swamp Rabbit Lodge near Travelers Rest SC at the north end of the trail. Swamp Rabbit Trail, town and country