Carolina Cider Company
This quirky roadside stand in is the perfect spot to stretch your legs when traveling between these two great Southern belles.
The drive between Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia is just over two hours, mostly on a divided highway, U.S. Route 17. It’s an easy drive with little to see except miles and miles of trees and grasses.
Heading south, the Carolina Cider Company in Beaufort is one of the few interesting options for stopping midway between the two cities. Friends had told us about the “pie place” along the way but it turned out to be more than that.
The huge billboard on the side of the road that warned we were approaching the Carolina Cider Company for a “taste of the low country” didn’t overpromise. (Admittedly, we were confused at first because the sign on the door read Carolina Cherry Company but whatever…they were one and the same.)
The “front porch”
The building exterior looks like an old-fashioned general store with some high-backed wooden rocking chairs outside and a retro feel reminiscent of road trips from the past. Even the prices on the old Texaco gas pumps are frozen in time at 42 cents a gallon.
Inside, you can grab a cup of coffee with one of the shop’s famous pies, either a tartlet (for one) or a regular size pie to take home. When we stopped, the fresh homemade pies available for purchase that day included pecan, blueberry, peach, sweet potato, cherry and apple.
Homemade Apple Pie
Another specialty is the peach and cherry ciders, all made with natural flavors and no sugar or preservatives. Having been in the area for several weeks, southern delicacies now seemed more familiar. Some of the regional food specialties for sale at Carolina Cider include Benne wafers, hushpuppy batter mix, grits, fruit jams and jellies, barbecue sauces, pickled vegetables, Hoppin’ John, and Cajun deep-fried peanuts you can eat with the shells.
Low country specialties
Everything is served up with a big dose of Southern hospitality. Both the sales clerk—and open jars with spoons beside them—encourage customers to sample the products.
Although all the foods were regional specialties of low-country, these type of products are akin to the small-batch food delicacies we have found in shops in New York, like Dean & DeLuca or Eataly. Branding is everything so some of the syrups at Carolina Cider were tagged as one of “Oprah’s Favorite Things” and packages of nuts said they were favorites of NBC weatherman Al Roker.
Some of our favorite things
One of the virtues of a road trip is that there are no 3-3-1 rules. Because we could take bottles and liquids home with us, we were able to purchase pretty jars of peach and fig fruit preserves as gifts.
The shop surely felt one-of-a-kind.
Then we realized, upon returning to Charleston that a clone of the Carolina Cider Company was on the other side of the road just in case someone missed it on the way going.
IF YOU GO:
Carolina Cider Company, 81 Charleston Highway (Route 17), Yemassee, South Carolina
25 Comments
Laura
January 28, 2015 at 9:56 pmI love unique places, especially those that seem frozen in time! This definitely qualifies. Too funny there’s one on each side of the road! They don’t miss a sale that way.
Irene S. Levine
January 28, 2015 at 9:58 pmI thought that was quite a punch line, too:-)
Laura
January 30, 2015 at 1:01 pmTotally, I didn’t see that coming! I would have wanted to go to the other side and see if it was exactly the same.
Donna Janke
February 9, 2015 at 12:47 pmThis unique place looks worth stopping at. I love the retro look of the exterior. I am not a cider fan, but that pie looks scrumptious. I also have never tried peach cider – I might like that.
Irene S. Levine
February 13, 2015 at 11:20 pmI’m sure you would be suckered into buying something:-) We brought home a bottle of whole figs preserved in a liquid.
Elaine J. Masters
February 9, 2015 at 5:51 pmI grew up taking road trips around the U.S. with my parents and just loved being able to pull over on a whim. You’re so right about not having to worry about liquids and security on a car ride too!
Irene S. Levine
February 13, 2015 at 11:20 pmThose were the days!
noel
February 9, 2015 at 5:59 pmIt’s been awhile, I love little roadside places like this and I really love Beaufort too!
santafetraveler
February 9, 2015 at 6:21 pmWhat a great looking place. It made me think of the old Stuckey’s signs on I-95 going through the south. Carolina Cider Company looks like a great find.
Laura
February 9, 2015 at 6:28 pmI thought of Stuckey’s when I first saw this post! I was trying to remember if they were on both sides of an interchange?
Betsy Wuebker | PassingThru
February 9, 2015 at 7:55 pmOh man, chow chow, hush puppies, cheese grits and pie, too? I’d need plenty of cider to wash it all down. Fortunately, this company seems to have this covered. 🙂
The GypsyNesters
February 9, 2015 at 9:22 pmWhat a fun place! Better yet, it is perfectly positioned between two of our favorite cities.
Kristin Henning
February 10, 2015 at 5:17 pmAnother great reason for a road trip. I think we’re due for another USA circle route this coming year!
Patti Morrow
February 10, 2015 at 8:49 pmPlease never post a photo like that apple pie again. I just licked my computer screen and may have damaged it.
Seriously, looks like a great road trip. I live in South Carolina and planning to get to Savannah later this year, so I’ll definitely stop in.
Irene S. Levine
February 11, 2015 at 10:11 amHope you’ll write about the place on the other side of the road:-)
Carole Terwilliger Meyers
February 11, 2015 at 11:40 amI love stopping at a good roadside stand. I’ll keep the Carolina Cider Company in mind when I’m out that way. Here’s one I recently discovered in my own Northern California territory, http://weekendadventuresupdate.blogspot.com/2015/02/highway-49-gold-rush-country-auburn_6.html
Suzanne Fluhr
February 11, 2015 at 1:19 pmIrene, this sounds like a great “pit” stop (pun somewhat intended) on the road between Charleston and Savannah. We’re overdue for a road trip, so I need to file this place away somewhere I can retrieve it—-i.e. other than in the deep dark recesses of my aging brain. Is the cider “hard” cider?
Irene S. Levine
February 11, 2015 at 4:03 pmDidn’t notice anything alcoholic here…but I have another place to send you!
Travel with Kevin and Ruth
February 11, 2015 at 11:31 pmOooh I love cider and the cherry one sounds delicious, I think I would be carting some back home too! It is fun seeing stores like this that actually sell real homemade products.
Ruth
Karen Warren
February 12, 2015 at 12:31 pmI love the look of that food and the cider. That part of the US is on my bucket list – perhaps I’ll get there one day.
Sue Reddel
February 13, 2015 at 11:19 pmThat pie crust looks amazing! We would definitely stop there if we were in that neck of the woods.
Anita @ No Particular Place To Go
February 15, 2015 at 8:15 amMmmm – You had me at pecan, blueberry, peach …! What a fun place to visit for a little nostalgia and good eats. And how convenient to have the opportunity to visit this place available on both sides of the road!
Irene S. Levine
February 15, 2015 at 11:05 amHad I known, I would have left time for another stop on the way back!
Michelle da Silva Richmond
February 16, 2015 at 11:04 amI love these charming roadside stores. I really enjoyed your post. Can we expect a story about the shop on the other side of the road?
Debbie
January 19, 2022 at 1:53 pmWe’ve stopped there and it’s everything described and more. We purchased a small peach pie and wished we’d purchased more flavors. Delicious! Also purchased a bottle of apple cider and it keeps very well in the refrigerator. The lady at the shop told me it would keep for two months in the fridge. Some pickled okra, fresh honey. All very good.