New to Baxter and SC (Fort Mill, Chester: real estate, rental, how much)

[Martini21]

So, my wife and I finally decided on a place and we decided to buy a Saussy Burbank in Baxter Village. We have a couple questions that we hope some of you can help us with.

1. What are the best things to do in the Fort Mill area? We like outdoors activities and own two dogs so we generally like to include them too.

2. The house we are buying backs up to 160 so I know there will be road noise. I'm just not sure how much. Baxter has a nice greenbelt buffer between the road and the property but when I was there I could still hear a good amount of traffic. That was the lone drawback and we decided we could live with it. I just wanted to know if anyone has any comments or suggestions on the topic.

3. We're going to have a celebratory dinner when we get into town so I wanted to know what the best Italian restaurants and Seafood restaurants are in Charlotte metro area. Or, if there are any good dining spots on the Lake. Any ideas there?

Thanks, Mike and Nita

[Sharpcarolina]

We moved into Baxter in Jan and love it. We are in the old section, so I cannot tell you about the road noise.

Plenty to do in Fort Mill. Great golf and the Greenway has all kinds of things to do.

I don't know the best resturants at all, either.

I have just noticed, I am not much help, but welcome to the neighborhood, if you are friendly at all, you will love it

[erinavery]

i haven't been in the area real long either but i did try an italian place in charlotte called brio that was really good. also t-bones on the lake is always kinda fun. you take 160 to hwy 49 and it's right by the buster boyd bridge. as far as local activities you may have fun just taking the dogs to the lake or hiking in mcdowels park or maybe even crowders mountain or kings mountain.i know there is the ann close greenway in fort mill and also the rec center so that might be fun and then you've got the ymca in baxter...that's about all i can think of.congratulations on your house though and welcome to the area!

[groove1]

There is a dog park off of hwy 51 in Pineville. A short drive up hwy 51 w/out traffic. Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation

Towne Tavern at Fort Mill not far from Bax is excellent and they just opened a frozen custard shop next door. Brio is ok. They are a chain basically a step up from Olive Garden so if you are seeking authentic Italian food, Brio is definitely not it. I would recommend Portofino's at 485 and S. Tryon (hwy 49) for semi-authentic Italian. At least Italians are making the food.

[lovethecarolinas]

Originally Posted by Martini21

So, my wife and I finally decided on a place and we decided to buy a Saussy Burbank in Baxter Village. We have a couple questions that we hope some of you can help us with.

1. What are the best things to do in the Fort Mill area? We like outdoors activities and own two dogs so we generally like to include them too.

2. The house we are buying backs up to 160 so I know there will be road noise. I'm just not sure how much. Baxter has a nice greenbelt buffer between the road and the property but when I was there I could still hear a good amount of traffic. That was the lone drawback and we decided we could live with it. I just wanted to know if anyone has any comments or suggestions on the topic.

3. We're going to have a celebratory dinner when we get into town so I wanted to know what the best Italian restaurants and Seafood restaurants are in Charlotte metro area. Or, if there are any good dining spots on the Lake. Any ideas there?

Thanks, Mike and Nita

Alright Mike and Nita...you made it over to the "SC" side!!

Just got back home from having lunch over in Baxter.

A must for you and your dogs here locally.....Anne Springs Close Greenway. Not only to I guarantee that you and your wife will enjoy it but your dogs will as well.

Anne Springs Close Greenway Trails

Welcome to your new hometown!

[jenn02674]

The absolute best Italian Restaurant in the Charlotte area is Villa Antonio's. There is one off of South Blvd and there is one in the Ballantyne area. You will need to make reservations ahead of time and it is kind of pricey but it is not a chain and it is very, very good and well worth it. Real italians (vs. NY Italians - we always find that funny when people say they are italians but are really from NY) own and run the restaurant.

Seafood is a different story. Do you like a big old plate of the cheap, fried stuff or do you like a really nice upscale seafood restaurant? Captain Steve's has the cheap, greasy but great fried seafood and it is off of Hwy 21 in Fort Mill. Upstream is a the opposite end and is in the Southpark area of Charlotte. It is an upscale, seafood restaurant and has great sushi. I personally like Fishbone's for a midlevel seafood restaurant. It is a chain but it is in Fort Mill, by Tega Cay, and it sort of like a Red Lobster (which I actually love too) but maybe a little bit better.

Personally, my favorite restaurant in Fort Mill is the Inn at Baxter. Service can be a little iffy though. I have had wonderful very professional servers that would rival the more expenisve restaurants and I have had terrible service but I think the food is always good, or it has been for me. It is a nice restaurant, a little pricey but not upscale if you know what I mean. I am not crazy on Town Tavern. The food is always good but it is always very noisy in there. So if you like a sports bar kind of atmosphere it would be fine. I am also not a big Portefino's fan either, but maybe that is just me. There are more restaurants on Lake Norman than there are on Lake Wylie for whatever reason. The T-bones up there has live music on the weekends.

Parks you need to check out:

Greenway in Fort Mill - very nice although not huge. lots of trails and they even have a tiny little nature center

Langsford Canel - this is in Chester County about 25 minutes from Fort Mill and the last two weeks of May is the best time of year to go because the water lilies are blooming. It is an amazing sight then. Trails run along the Catawba river and there is a nesting pair of bald eagles. They had some babies but they might have left the nest by now though. They were fledglings in May.

Latta Plantation in Huntersville - About half an hour from Fort mill. Great trails and a big lake and you can even rent horses (I have my own so don't know what they are like). They also have a raptor center.

Kings Moutain State park - about half an hour from Fort Mill

Brattonsville in McConnell's SC - Revolutionary war era plantation. Very well done and interesting if you like history. There are some trails where you can take your dogs. Parts of the Patriot were filmed there.

Umm, I am drawing a blank because I know there are others but those are my favorite places. There is a small dog park in Tega Cay but we actually let our dogs run loose on the trails here in Baxter if noone is around. Lots of people do this and if you have well behaved dogs that won't run off, won't be a problem, although technically it is illegal :-/

Good luck!

Jenn

[jenn02674]

Oh, and check out the white water park in Belmont, NC. Very cool and even if you don't kayak you can walk around for free and watch them.

[Martini21]

Hey there,

Thanks so much for the wonderful suggestions. We just moved in on Thursday, August 2nd, can I say its been a hectic few days.. but we're finally getting things in order even though the place looks like a hurricane has just hit it. We've been driving around town checking out some places aswell as shopping for the house.. so much to do as I'm sure you all know.

We actually did go to Villa Antonio's a couple months ago, when we had no idea about that restuarant and kind of just walked in casually thinking it was just an Olive Garden type Italian place. lets say it was expensive but the food was great.

We joined the YMCA today in Baxter, I'm a gym fanatic so it was a must... the classes look great, I used to go to them all the time back in Atlanta at La Fitness. Anyway, I hope to see you all around soon. We will definitely try to stop by some baxter events. Thanks again.

Nita

[SantaluzMom]

We are moving to Baxter next week into a rental house on Richards Crossing that, also, backs up to 160. I'm not too sure about the noise, but you're right about the nice woods out back. I wanted to let you know that I got a magazine called Fort Mill Township FOCUS the newcomers' guide to fort mill, tega cay and indian land. It has been absolutely invaluable. There are sections on where to eat, who to contact for utilities, schools, parks, etc. They're free and I think I got it from a real estate office. Hope this helps! I've all ready got the resturants we want to visit highlighted. We're going to the Low Country Boil and Music in the Park on the 18th. They're a lot of fun.

[cpb496]

Welcome to the neighborhood. We just moved to Baxter in early July, coming from from Charlotte, where I've lived for 20 or so years. Still trying to figure out what's what in Fort Mill. I've been mountain biking at the Anne Springs Greenway which was lots of fun. The nature trails around Baxter have been good for running and walking. Golfing at Tega Cay, which ate me alive (greens were in poor shape). There's a Catawba River Access area at the end of Grey Rock Road, but the day I went there was a shady-looking crowd down there.

As far as dining, if you go up the road to Charlotte, there is a great italian restaurant at Philips Place (by Southpark) called Il Posto Osteria. Awesome!

Phillips Place | Dining

Charlotte doesn't really have any great seafood restaurants that I am aware of. I've been to Upstream and McCormick & Schmick and neither was anything special. LaVecchia's uptown is the best, if I had to pick one.

LaVecchia's Seafood Grille