A Day Trip to Pickens, SC
Ready to join me for a day trip to Pickens, South Carolina? I’ll show you fun places you can visit to shop and eat. You won’t want to miss out all that this town has to offer.
Hi! If you are new here, I’m Sharlie! Sharlie from little ole bitty Donalds, SC. I’m married to my high school sweetheart, Benjamin, and we have six kiddos. Pressley (13), Jackson (9), Asher (7), Eleanor (5), Margaret (1), and Miller (3 months)…at the time of writing this. You can find us over at The Front Porch Farmhouse sharing our home and lives.
I also love visiting small towns, exploring, and then sharing all the goodies we are all missing out on! Recently, my oldest daughter has been tagging along on these day trips and it’s been really fun! Miller, the baby, comes along too. So, with that being said, I encourage you to grab a friend or relative and go out exploring too!
Our day visits occur on Fridays. I then write the blog up and share on Sundays. This past Friday we were in Pickens, SC! It’s probably been a year or so since I’ve visited Pickens and it’s an hour and fifteen minute drive away from us. The Pickens downtown is your standard downtown, a main street, with shops on either sides. This main street was busy, which is a good thing! It does make it a little intimidating with moving around, but there are lots of red lights, to help you cross streets. One thing that is absolutely beautiful about this downtown are the mountains in the background.
If you live anywhere in the Upstate, you’ve heard someone make mention of Finder’s Keepers. It’s a very well-known store, filled to the brim, with friendly owners that encourage you to make a deal with them. I came so.close to buying a pair of Adirondack chairs for our porch. I didn’t because I wasn’t sure if I could fit them in the car. Regret. If you see something you like at Finder’s Keepers, you have to grab it quick. The good stuff gets snatched up quick! The quick-moving inventory also means there’s always new stuff to check out when you stop by!
Finders Keepers is sorta off on its own (but still on the main downtown strip) so we decided to jump back in the car and park in front of Full Circle Vintage Modern Market. This store was a real treat and Pressley’s favorite. They refinish furniture and it was all gorgeous! They also have some really cool pieces with techniques I’ve never seen before. Some of the pieces had vintage-style posters on them. I’m not even going to try and figure out how they do that, but it was really unique!
It was at Full Circle that I discovered RMK Collection’s booth of jewelry. Oh my! I fell in love and had to buy that cute cameo necklace.
We crossed over to the other side of the street and stopped in Blue Cotton. It was stocked with women’s clothing, purses, and jewelry and other goodies. Pressley bought a pair of earrings here.
We were hungry and decided to try out Street Tacos for lunch. Pressley ordered a chicken and cheese quesadilla with beans and rice. I ordered a shrimp taco. The shrimp was wonderfully seasoned. Pressley said it was one of the best quesadillas she’s had. The staff was friendly and service was quick.
I intentionally didn’t eat a lot because I knew I wanted to stop by You Drive Me Glazy donut shop. Wow, what a fabulous little jewel this place is! When I asked Pressley what she thought was special about Pickens, she answered the donut shop! We were greeted by a very friendly gentlenman that explained they made the two-bite donuts as you order and explained how you get to make your own donut creations. So much fun! Pressley’s favorite was the Chocolate glaze, Oreo topping, and peanut butter glaze. The other two were sorta tied for favorite for me. Vanilla glaze, rainbow sprinkles, caramel topping and the other combo was lemon glaze, toasted coconut, and raspberry glaze. They also offer ice cream and other creations!
We crossed the road and ventured over to explore a spot that had a sign for antiques and a bakery towards the back of the downtown. The bakery appeared to be closed and we couldn’t find anything that looked like an antique store that was open so we decided to head over to Coyote Coffee to grab a drink before we left downtown Pickens. I got a caramel coyote frappe and Pressley got a strawberry/banana smoothie. They were delicious!
We decided to make one last stop before leaving Pickens. The Market at the Mill had been mentioned several times by my IG friends. It’s about a four or five minute drive from downtown and is essentially a giant flea market. But a classy one. The inside had lots of booths and some were even built up with walls and everything. Unfortunately, it was later on in the day so a lot of the booths were closed, but this place is HUGE and I can imagine it’s a lot of fun to shop when you stop by early in the day.
And with that stop complete, we made our way home, one of us on a sugar high from donuts and smoothies and the other feeling a bit sick from the amount of sugar she’d ingested. I’ll let you guess who was who. Let’s do a bit of a photo dump to share other views of Pickens, shall we?
Alright, friends, make sure to share this post on your personal pages so that we can love on these small towns and businesses! Pickens business owners, you need to share and get some free exposure! Let’s make Pickens, SC a place people know to visit!
Want to check out other small towns in Upstate South Carolina? Visit my Abbeville, Laurens, Simpsonville/Foutnain Inn, Easley, and Pendleton blog posts!
Until next time, friends! Love y’all!!
About The Author
Sharlie
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Glad you came to pickens and enjoyed our little town. One day we hope to have all of our store fronts full of shops., but it was a great review of some of small town shops , there is a lot more to do and see here in pickens like historic hagood mill, the hagood-mauldin house, pickens museum, wagon wheel antiques, remember when, the golden butterfly , twisted roots and many more too come hopefully . Thank you from finders keepers
Your store is a treasure! Thank you for sharing some other spots for people to visit! I will have to check those out myself the next time I’m out that way.
Downtown Pickens is super cute. I can’t wait to maybe my way to Finders Keepers again! Looks like you guys had a great time!
I’m already looking forward to the next time I’m out that way! 🙂
Thanks Sharlie for writing up such a great review of Pickens! Kind of an undiscovered little southern town. You’re right, I think that Pickens business owners should share too! I will on my Facebook and Instagram pages. You hit some of my favorite spots on Friday! Your family is lovely and I am so glad you had a great time here! Stay safe!
Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment, Diane! I appreciate it so much! We enjoyed our time in Pickens so much! 🙂
This is my hometown. I’m 46 years old, always been around and I am proud of our town and I love how it’s growing!!! Thank you for sharing this! It was great!!
It was so fun to visit! Thank you for stopping by and leaving this comment, Julie! I appreciate it! 🙂
I love love this. Moved away 4 years ago from Anderson so these pics are particularly fun and sentimental . We were always going to Pickens or Easley or wherever just for fun. Can’t wait to get back at least for a few days to visit these special places .
Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving this comment! I just love being able to connect with people through these visits! 🙂
My daughter was working at Blue Cotton that day. Thanks for the positive shout out!
Was she running the cash register? If so, she was so sweet! We loved this cute store! 🙂
Your visit and blog about Pickens was so on spot for this town. As a Market at The Mill Vendors, I greatly appreciate you mentioning us. We’ve only opened in March of 2020 to be shut down in April because of the virus. Back up and operating in late May. We need all the attention we can get to have visitors come and explore all we have to offer. Please come to our town again and visit as we really appreciate the mention. I will be sharing your blog as I know all who have read it will do the same. Thanks again
Thank you so much for sharing! It’s the best way to get word out and encourage people to get out and shop local! I loved the Market! It was around 2ish when we made our way over there. A lot of booths had understandably already closed, but the ones open were awesome and I can only imagine what’s it like early in the day! I’m already looking forward to visiting again! 🙂
Come back and I’ll give you a guided tour of some of the spots you missed. I will say that you hit some representative spots.
I look forward to the next time I’m out that way! 🙂
Very nice article about our little home town. We are transplants, as we moved here 15 years ago. The nearby lakes, State Parks and the Blue Ridge Mts. really appealed to us. We consider this “God,s Little Acre”.
Thank you for doing such a comprehensive article on Pickens and it’s lovely shops and people!
It’s an absolutely beautiful town. I loved seeing those mountains in the background! Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment!
It was so refreshing to read your post. With all the uncertainty around the world, you really made my day. It reminded me why I returned to Pickens to call home. If those chairs are still there, I’ll see if they have a lay away program til you return to town. Again, thanks for the visit and thanks for the post.
Fletcher Perry
Mayor, City of Pickens
Where the Mountains Begin
Thank you so much for stopping by, Mr. Perry! Your comment is exactly what I hope for when I visit and share small towns, such as yours. They are hidden jewels and I hope by sharing, I can encourage others to shop local and see the value that’s sitting right in front of them. Again, thank you for your comment. It made my day. 🙂
Pickens has been my home since 2009. I have to agree that Pickens is like a hidden gem! There are so many other aspects that was not mentioned that can be accessed in like a 30 minute ride. We have hagood mil, bald rock, Caesar’s head and pretty place. The list goes on and on and on. I love living in our small town but having access with only a small ride to big cities like Greenville which is like 30 minutes. We have some of the prettiest mountains and waterfalls around! Thank you so much for sharing with other people the enjoyment you get from visiting lil ole Pickens.
Thank you so much for sharing these other spots! I know my readers will enjoy hearing other places and stops that Pickens has to offer that I missed during my short time there. I’m already looking forward to my return to check these out one day! 🙂
Been wanting to buy that old bar in Pickens forever. Have great plans for that place. Unfortunately tied up in a family dispute that seems can’t be resolved. Glad you enjoyed our little hometown. Come back soon.
Oh, I hope it works out for you to buy that building! It has my heart! Such beautiful architecture.
Thank you for such a sweet post about our small town!! Glad you enjoyed some of the many things our town has to offer. We love it here ❤️ Born and raised Pickens country girl!!! I own June Berry Boutique inside the Market at the Mill, with this heat some vendors are leaving a little early. We have lots of upcoming events here at the Mill, so come back for another visit, stop by and see us!!
Your town is such a treasure! I’m so thankful I got the opportunity to visit y’all and I can’t wait until I’m back in that area again! 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by, Tammy! I truly appreciate it!