But my favorite restaurant in the world is American Grocery. Joe Clarke sources as much of his menu as he can from local farmers, what’s grown and raised right here. The first time I ever ate beef tongue was at his table; the first time I ever barged into a restaurant kitchen was to thank him. The Saturday Market draws these same farmers to sell their produce from May through October, melons and peaches and beans, heirloom tomatoes with names like Cherokee Purple, after the first people to call this place home.
And like a good Southern town, we keep a hand on the past. The paths along the Reedy connect to the greater Swamp Rabbit trail, almost fourteen miles of reclaimed railroad now connecting Greenville to Travelers Rest. The old Markley Carriage Paint Factory, which became the Duke’s mayonnaise factory, now the Wyche Pavilion, stands on the banks near the Peace Center. Its open arches are hung with flowers and paper globes for this evening’s wedding. Everything belongs to something else, something with deeper roots, flourishing in unexpected new directions.

Above the park, there’s the campus of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. High school students from all over the state, dancers and musicians, actors and artists and writers, live and work here, apprenticed to artists in their field—evil genius George Singleton publishes a book almost once a year, and he teaches his students as though they might one day do the same. These kids win national awards for their portfolios and become Presidential Scholars. They go to any college they want to go to, and this is where it starts.

We have two children now, and a white house with a garden that sometimes blooms. I cut peonies from my own yard for our table. We walk our son to school down our street. I love this place because I’ve loved it so long, and also because it keeps changing. It’s a loop I’m glad to travel, downtown on the trolley and back, across the bridge and back, each time noticing something new. Sometimes, you luck out the first time, and you get to stay forever.