COVID has majorly sucked but one good thing that has come out of it is our new fave OAKHURST MESS MARKET! From the peeps behind Front Porch Sundays, the Oakhurst Mess Market operates on Saturdays off of Monroe Rd from 9:30am-12:30pm, bringing together a few local CLT makers, bakers, and purveyors for a socially-distant, outdoor experience of local goods! Any way that we can support local is A+ in our books and after browsing and snagging a few goods, we decided to go ahead and explore a couple of other local spots in the Oakhurst-Monroe Road area. Check out this quick itinerary guide and peep below for a list of other businesses in the neighborhood that we love to support!
OAKHURST MESS MARKET
The line-up of vendors changes weekly with a few mainstays that appear every week. With the seasonal change, there wasn’t much produce on our visit today but it was still filled with some of our favorite local businesses and more that we discovered today!
We appreciate all of the efforts that the Esther and Elsa team have put together to make the market happen. We can’t even imagine what it’s been like for local vendors to try to find a ‘safe’ place to sell their goods–but the E+E team are persistent and committed to bringing more to our communities! The Mess Market will continue every Saturday until Christmas!
City Farm Foods: We got hooked on CFF from Mere’s CLT and CLT Find. For all of the charcuterie board lovers, we HIGHLY recommend always stocking your pantry/fridge with their spiced Marcona almonds and any of their jams/jellies/spreads! It’s that extra flavor that will really amp up your board and take it to the next level!
It’s Poppin! Gourmet Kettle Popcorn: We sure do love a good kettle corn–the smell of freshly popped ones gives us all the happy feels! But It’s Poppin’ isn’t just your basic kettle corn: today we got cotton candy and FRIED CHICKEN. Yes, we said fried chicken flavored kettle corn! Yum.
Pet Wants: You’ll find something for EVERYONE at the Mess Market–including your pets! We snagged a couple of treats for our four-legged family member and we would have taken a picture but he devoured it all too fast! LOL!
Bake Mohr Sweets: We had to have some restraint because we absolutely wanted to grab a box of the cinnamon rolls–they also had pumpkin cinnamon rolls!! But they were gigantic and we still had some other sweets at the house! We did snag ourselves some of the handpies and man…we sure want MORE Bake Mohr for sure!
Mud & McQueen Coffee Bar: Need we say more…Coffee. Yes, please! LOL! But really…we had one of their fall-ish drinks (can’t remember the name–whoops!) but we can say that it was perfectly good with that pumpkin flavor and caramel drizzle but not too sweet! Definitely a must while shopping!
There were other stalls too–we love Michael’s Exotic Peppers but still had some hot sauce from our last CLT Find purchase so we didn’t get any on this visit. And another tip from E+E: If you’re out and about to support a specific vendor, make sure to still circle at least once or twice through to make sure you don’t miss any. You never know what new local goods you may discover! 🙂
Stop #2: Banner Nursery
Need we say more…#plantsmakepeoplehappy and Banner Nursery is a dreamy spot to meander about and find all the planty things your heart desires.
We purchased one of the largest mums we’ve ever seen for only $8.95 (what a deal!) and snagged a couple of ground cover sedums for our yard. Somehow, we also went home with one more indoor plant…because, what’s one more?!? Ha ha ha!
Stop #3: LUNCH TIME at Hawthorne’s Pizza
We’ve enjoyed Hawthorne’s for take-out many times over throughout this pandemic. Their DIY pizza kit is a fun dinner idea–perfect for families or even as a date night in idea! On Tuesdays, kids eat free and the deal applies to take-home orders, too. And well…we finally decided to brave inside dining as a family (with Grayson included), and Hawthorne’s was our first try out! We appreciated so much that they had so many COVID measures in place like every other table spaced out, bagged/covered cutlery, QR code menus, mask enforcement, and social distancing markers! So not only did we get to enjoy our great tasting lunch–we also could feel safe!
Last stop but most certainly not least: Edge City Brewery
Aesthetic ☑ Great beers ☑ Friendly peeps ☑ Mask Requirement ☑ …what more could you want from a brewery??? Y’all, we’ve loved Edge City since our first trip out to MORA and we’ve not had a beer from them yet that we can’t endorse. On this week’s trip, we snagged a few crowlers (32 ounces of goodness for sure!) Their current tap list is 🔥🔥🔥. Kriska’s current fave is Pontoon Tunes (Tart Ale, 4.5ABV%) and Shawn’s fave is Outdoor Edges (Hazy IPA, 6.8ABV%).
There are many other shops and businesses to support in the Oakhurst area that we love, but we hope this mini guide gives you an idea of what you can do in the neighborhood. Here’s a list of other spots we have enjoyed:
🧁 Swirl CLT – cupcakes, cookies, ice cream–it’s a sweet tooth’s paradise!
🍰 Sweetspot Studio – recently, Chef Jossie revamped the Studio and they’re offering so much more beyond her classes.
🍕 Sals Pizza Factory – we were introduced to Sals’ Grandma Vodka pizza and let’s just say…we are now sups hungry thinking about it!
🍺 Common Market – who doesn’t love a good bodega?
We love that Charlotte has so many different neighborhoods to explore. We’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. Each one has their own personality and we just love that so much about our Queen City!
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