Brenda Coates

Wed 6/29 4-9 PM – $5 sangria special – Pinot Gris, brandy, fresh Georgia peaches, pear, pineapple, fresh fruit juices, too good to be true!

Thurs 6/30 – 4-9 PM Gold Cocktails special

Did you know that the first gold found in the Americas was in North Carolina?  In 1799 a 12-year-old-boy named Conrad Reed was playing in Meadow Creek on his family’s farm in Cabarrus County and found an unusual pretty-looking rock weighing about 17 pounds that he took home to show his father. Since the locals were inexperienced at identifying gold, the family used it as a door stop for about 3 years. Curiosity getting the best of him, Conrad’s father took the rock to a local jeweler who recognized the rock as rough gold and offered to buy it. Unfortunately, Reed did not know the value of what he had brought in and sold it to the jeweler for $3.50 (equivalent to $66.28 which was approximately 1 week pay for farm labor at that time). Thus began the first gold rush in the Americas called the Carolina Gold Rush.

   After learning of the value of the rocks on his land, John Reed entered into a partnership with Federick Kisor, James Love, and Martin Phifer to continue mining gold on the farm. In 1803 the men found another nugget weighing 28 pounds. At this time the only mint in the Americas was in Philadelphia and it was difficult and dangerous to haul the raw gold there. A bill was proposed to Congress by Samuel Carson, a Rutherford County resident, to open a mint in Rutherfordton but it never reached a vote. By 1824 over 2,500 ounces of gold had been deposited in the Philadelphia Mint from North Carolina. In 1835 Charlotte, NC became the first branch mint in the US.

   Among the thousands flooding NC in the 1820-30s was the German jeweler Christopher Bechtler who bought land in Rutherford County in 1830 and began his own unsuccessful search for gold. A year after Bechtler and his family moved to the area, gold miners urged him to create a market for raw gold by opening a private mint. In 1832 Bechtler minted the country’s first $1 gold coin, 17 years before the US Mint. He also minted coins in $5 and $2.50 denominations. During the mid-1800s, the Bechtlers minted more than $2.24 million in gold coins. A $5 Bechtler gold coin is worth $50,000+.

   Gold is still mined in NC at Vein Mountain on US- 221 at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains just south of Marion. In the works is the North Carolina Gold Trail that will be a heritage destination trail spanning NC. You can pick up the Gold Trail at the Bechtler House Heritage Center and the Mint’s Historic Site in Rutherford County.

Brandy Gold Car – Pear brandy, Cointreau, fresh squeezed lemon juice; Gold Fashion – Remy Martin XO, brown sugar cube, spiced cherry bitters; Gold Rush – C & K American brandy, lemon juice, honey syrup; Pot of Gold – CB Frost, Sour apple, coconut milk, pineapple juice; Brown Gold – Clear Creek apple brandy, Clear Creek pear brandy, St. Germaine, vinegar, malic acid, simple syrup; Worldly flight 1/2 price                                                                                                                   

 

Wed 6/22 – 4-9:00 PM – $5 sangria special – Sauvignon blanc, CB Frost brandy, mango, raspberries, Meyer lemons, pineapple, with fresh fruit juices – a truly summer-time refresher! Folks like the white sangrias because of their fruiti-ness dryness. We guarantee you will love it!

 

 

 

Thurs 6/23 – 4-9:00 PM – Green River Narrows specials

The Green River Narrows, also called the Narrows of the Green is a 2.9-mile section of the Green River running from Henderson County into Polk County, between the Big Hungry Creek confluence and the Fish Top access area. The river is located completely on a rugged tract of more than 14,000 acres, named the “Green River Game Lands,” and is managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission that belongs to the people of the State of North Carolina. Its primary purpose remains wildlife conservation and management with river otters, bears, deer, snakes, turtles, fish and numerous birds residing safely and freely.

Best known for being one of the most extreme kayaking runs in the Eastern US, the Green River Narrows releases its water on a on a regular basis from the Tuxedo Power station (built circa 1921) with a 100% release being equivalent to 216 cubic feet per second- a truly powerful rush of nature. The power station (located on the Lake Summit dam) utilizes a Pelton wheel type of hydro turbine that was originally created during the gold rush in 1880 by Lester Pelton. This regular flow allows for year-round kayaking and is part of the reason the Green is such a notorious and well-known river and the holy grail for whitewater enthusiasts. The river has an average gradient of 178 ft per mile with a half mile section dropping roughly 342 feet and containing 11 major class IV+ to V+ rapids. Through this area the water often channels through extremely tight slots as narrow as 4 feet wide as the river funnels through a stunning gorge. The three major rapids (“The Big Three”) are called (1) “Go Left and Die”; (2) “Gorilla” considered the most visually impressive rapid on the river consisting of the river funneling into a 4-foot-wide slot (“The Notch”) and is then immediately followed by an 18-foot waterfall (“the flume”) and then another 10-foot waterfall (“Scream Machine”); and (3) “Sunshine” with a route about 4 ft wide and mistakes here have been known to cause paralysis, and is considered the most difficult and dangerous rapid consisting of a 14-foot waterfall landing on a jagged rock shelf below. Sadly, the river is the site of several fatalities and countless other minor and major injuries. This majestic Western NC beauty is not to be taken lightly! In 2019 the Power Station was sold to Northbrook Energy who have agreed (with outside duress) to continue to keep the waters flowing.

Green River Narrows – Courvoisier, rum, Cointreau, lemon juice; Gorilla – Spanish brandy, Anisette, black tea, simple syrup; Go Left and Die – CB Frost, rum, maraschino liqueur, lime & grapefruit juices;  Sunshine – CB Frost, rum, Cointreau, lime simple syrup; Scream Machine – CB Frost, rum, Curacao, dry vermouth, grenadine, ½ price US Flight

 

Wed 6/15 4-9 $5 sangria specials – red – cabernet wine, brandy, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, fresh fruit juices and white – pinot grigio, brandy, Apple, pear, mango, fresh fruit juices – your choice and what a choice from our special sangrias that are prepared not too sweet nor not too dry – just right! 

7-9 PM – Songwriters Session –

ANNOUNCING THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF SONGWRITERS SESSIONS

Please join us on Wednesday June 15^th  7:00 – 9:00 PM

For an evening of original songs in the natural acoustics and listening room atmosphere of the handsome and historic Brandy Bar + Cocktails located in the Historic Depot District 504 Seventh Avenue East,  Hendersonville, NC 28792 – 828.513.1336

OPENING NIGHT FEATURES

Mare Carmody  grew up a Virginia gal but has lived in Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina, absorbing music, and musical experiences along the way. To this day she enjoys getting song ideas from real life and conversations and can’t wait to hear what other songwriters have to say.

John Longbottom  grew older in England, then somehow arrived in Virginia spending the next 50 years playing in bands and as a solo act. Nothing famous, just another working musician among countless others. Now retired he looks forward to sharing his songs with Mare, Charlie, and other songwriters.

Charlie Wilkinson  grew up playing folk music in central Virginia, and although it’s a bit of a  portage from the James to the Mississippi, he has recently been enjoying playing Chicago style blues – roots music – with Mr. Jimmy Anderson.  He’s happy to be getting back to his own roots with Mare and John and this project.

For more information, please contact Songwriters’ Sessions at: WNCsongwritersessions@gmail.com

Thurs 6/16 – 4-9:00 PM Historic Roads Cocktails

Ever wonder how folks found their way into the Western North Carolina Mountains? In this circa 1800s’ photo, a team of oxen trudge up the Howard Gap Road, as it leaves the drovers’ market in Spartanburg, SC, and climbs the Green River Gorge before landing on the plateau of present day Henderson County. Howard Gap Road then, as now, terminated at the location of present day Fletcher Park where it picked up another trail, “Cane Creek Road,” that ran in an easterly direction and T-intersected future Hwy 74 at Fairview. The 2nd road from the south, the “Cherokee Indian Path,” ran a course west of Greenville, SC through the future lakebed of Lake Keowee and skirted the west side of future Flat Rock. (This trail was a route taken by the Cherokee from their coastal towns into the mountains for their summer retreat) It became a major road for pioneers as they left Charleston heading west through Columbia. Later the road leaving this Path became the “Turnpike Road” that ran through future Hendersonville along a course east of and parallel to present Highway 25 (also east of present day Mountain Home and Naples), through future Fletcher where it became the “Buncombe Turnpike.” Another historic and primary road running from the north, the “Great Philadelphia Wagon Road,” left Lancaster, ran through the Shenandoah Valley, and entered North Carolina’s Piedmont where it established the town of Salem (now Winston-Salem) before continuing its journey southward. The 2^nd major road from the north, “The King’s Highway” ran from Boston to Charleston, and still maintains that name as it enters downtown Charleston. This road was less used because of freezing and thawing that left treacherous mud holes up to wagon axles.  

Howard Gap Road – Calvados brandy, Cointreau, Benedictine, fresh lemon juice; Cherokee Indian Path – Calvados, Dubonnet, Cointreau, bitters; Turnpike Road – Courvoisier, rum, Antica vermouth, sherry, Luxardo (Maraschino liqueur), bitters ; Cane Creek Road – Courvoisier, rum, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice ; Great Philadelphia Wagon Road – Courvoisier, rum, Cointreau, fresh lime juice, bitters;  Flight – Worldly flight 1/2 price