Holiday Shopping at Horse Shoe Gap Village
Horse Shoe Gap Village may just be the quaintest and most charming place in all the Northern Hemisphere. Am I saying it’s better than the North Pole?
Yes.
The Village is just a few minutes West of downtown Hendersonville - off of Hwy. 64 and it *the* place to go for Holiday Shopping.
Each (adorable) stand-alone petite building houses local vendors, including an *amazing* Coffee Shop.
Anyway, my mom had mentioned that the former ghost village was now up and running, and a great place for some laid-back shopping vibes and photo ops galore.
We decided to meet up at her house and headed down on a Saturday, early afternoon.
Not only does the shop carry all the Holiday/Christmas items, they also have beautiful antique dishes and glass, fun & unique collector items, and vintage jewelry.
Also, I got a bling-bling bear brooch to make one of my juicy handbags extra-extra.
After we left with bags on bags on bags from The Little Corner Shop - we took the hidden door that leads to 'Smitten Smiths Jewelry Gallery'.
*Not hidden door - outside door.
**To find hidden door enter through Little Corner Shop
The jewelry shop has gorgeous (yet very reasonably priced) nickel-free silver pieces, and more. The gallery is a co-op that has pieces from 13 different local artists.
When we went in, the super nice jeweler greeted us and my mom mentioned that I wrote a blog - so the jeweler was like “oh, you might want to know about ‘Bob’". My mom’s like “is Bob a bobcat?”, and I’m like “is Bob a bear?” she’s like “just wait”... and pulls up her tablet to show us some footage that their Ring captured in the middle of the night.
So Bob is actually a ghost! Her Ring footage shows the (very) clear shape of a face floating around and watching over the jeweler's bench into the wee hours of the night.
Want the full story on Bob the benevolent being? You’ll just have to stop by Smitten Smiths and find out. Oh - and buy some jewelry while you’re there. Just don’t buy the necklace in the right of this picture, Santa Claus (aka my mother) has dibs on buying that for me for Christmas.
Next, we were off to 'Hidden Trails Coffee Shop House'.
The exterior and interior of the shop are absolutely adorbs. Grab a coffee and relax at the shop, or get one to go and continue shopping.
I ordered a Dirty Chai with Oat Milk to go.
Chai in hand, we headed over to the super cute red building that’s a (soon to be) shop - and took some photos.
After that, we meandered over to the woodsy cabin-like building that houses the world's cutest birdhouses and Woodland Creatures.
(Not real woodland creatures, fake ones!) Not taxidermied woodland creatures (either)!
They have cute ones made out of felt and cotton and stuff.
Pay for your purchases from this cabin back at the Coffee Shop!
Last (but certainly not least) we went over to the Glassblowing Shop ‘Woodhaven Glass’.
Definitely pick up some glass-blown Christmas Trees (they even have one’s that light up!), some glass-blown ornaments, or a beautiful handmade lamp.
Everything at the shop was beyond affordable, when I asked the nice lady at the shop if she was sure the prices were correct she confirmed they were and that the owner (Larry) doesn't want you to have to purchase a piece but then be forced to sustain yourself Ramen noodles for a month.
I like it.
Lastly, the nice lady also told us that Larry teaches glass blowing classes once a month, and can usually be caught doing demonstrations at the Village a few on Saturdays. That’s when my mom laughed and told us a story about how her and her friends “decided to do glassblowing in college, and (funny thing) they actually ended up accidentally burning a cabin down.”
On that note; if you also have a history of arson that runs in your family gene pool, maybe just skip the workshop - stop by, and purchase some unique pieces.
Just don’t purchase the blue lamp, that one’s mine I claimed it.
*keep in mind each shop in the village has specific days and hours*
Update 6.1.24: Hidden Trails Coffeeshop is now called ShareWell Coffeehouse
Buy my book 'The Crystal Inn ~ A Southern Haunting' (click this link to go to Amazon page)!
