Southern Pines, North Carolina…

When we first came to this part of North Carolina two years ago we kind of fell in love with the small towns in and around the village of Pinehurst. However, one town stood out as a place we might consider as a place to live longer term. That was the town of Southern Pines, NC.

Southern Pines is located in Moore County on the eastern edge of the Piedmont section of the state of North Carolina and is in an area known as the Sandhills. A small town of around 12,000 inhabitants it was Incorporated in 1887. There are many small towns and villages nearby offering lots of varied entertainment and activities.

With over 200 lakes and ponds in this area it was attractive to the Highland Scots that first settled the area in the late 1700's. This is despite the fact that most settlers passed over the sandy soils found in this region. The Highland Scots immigrated here to escape the harsh environment in Scotland at the time. There is evidence that many Scots still live in this area and we were even treated the some entertainment provided by some Harriers at one of the local watering holes.

There are over 40 championship golf courses within a 15 minute drive so if you are a golfer this is the place to be. There are also some great artists and musicians in this area as well. Many master potters live there and many have shops along Pottery Road. We have mentioned the musicians in past blogs before but we do always look forward to listening to live entertainment whenever we can. The mild climate in Southern Pines has also become an attractive home for horse people and horses. We also mentioned in the past the harness training track in Pinehurst as a fun place to visit.

While our daughter and roommate visited we took them into downtown Southern Pines. Advertised as ”the most dynamic small town that you'll ever see” Southern Pines has a nice collection of shops, restaurants and nightlife along with its theatre, music and arts scene. We enjoyed walking in and out of the many shops and had we stayed longer we could have had the choice of many quaint bistros, pubs or ice cream stops. Our current favorite pub, however, is in the nearby village of Pinehurst at Maxie’s.

Every time we are in this area we really enjoy ourselves so is this a future place for us to live sometime in the future? Only time will tell because for now our love for the open road still beckons...