Cross posting over from hunter/jumper land since I know there are many eventing riders who winter in Aiken. 
It looks like I will be moving to Aiken, SC soon. Can anyone tell me more about the area? I did get to do a quick drive through of the downtown area and it looks cute. Best feed stores? Where to get hay? Best grocery stores? Anything like that would be very useful. How terrible is the summer going to be? Any non-horsey things in the area I should go do/see?
thanks!
Bumping. No one has any knowledge of the area?
I lived in Aiken for a few years. Loved it and hated it at the same time. This is just one person’s experience - I was a recent college transplant when I moved down to Aiken.
The good: you can ride all year round - there’s tons of horse stuff, it is truly an equestrian town… and if it’s not in Aiken, it’s going to be easily accessible in neighboring towns. Almost everyone knows everyone or knows a friend that knows them, it can be a very small community even though it is a huge ‘city’ – there’s tons to do that is horse related all year round. There’s a big hunt population there, and they’re wonderful - I capped with the Aiken Hounds and had the time of my life with them. It has Hitchcock Woods which has a spring and summer series, there’s derbies, polo, show-jumping, eventing… just about every discipline - there’s some western contingent too. There were quite a few places to get tack while I was there, but I am not sure if they are still around. There was a nice consignment tack store off of Pine Log out towards Wagener, it usually had higher end tack but it was nice to browse and see if there were any deals. There’s some decent places to eat (I LOVE Marias and TakoSushi) and downtown is cute to walk through. Aiken is close-ish to some major attractions in GA, if you’re the type that likes shopping and eating there are some great places in Augusta and it is only a 30m drive (depending on where you live in Aiken). There’s tons of nice boutique shops, great places to shop for cute clothes, and there’s a Dillards which is the southern equivalent of Kohls. It’s great for everything from casual to business clothing. There’s not a lot of traffic even in peak rush hour, and while the southern “way” of driving takes some getting used to, I never felt as frustrated as I do driving outside of Boston. I miss my commute in Aiken. And the gas! I remember calling my parents and bragging about how I was paying over three dollars less than them…
The best supermarket in the world exists down south, Kroger - it has a big cheese shop in it (Murrays!!!) that has just about every wonderful cheese ever known to man… I may have spent as much time at Murrays as I did at the barn…
The place I got all of my feed was Boots Bridles and Britches, but they are no longer operating - there was Banks Mill, which was just down the road. I got all of my hay from Luis Valdez (sp?) who ran Aiken Hay Farms - it was a beautiful alfalfa/orchard mix that was just gorgeous but not exactly cheap. Land and rent down there is dirt cheap, I paid $650 a month for a house (split it between three people) that in the NE would command $2000+/mo for rent. Board is cheap too - I worked off my board, but even high end farms in that area don’t charge much more than $600 for full care board.
If you are into hiking or generally being outdoorsy, some of the most beautiful spots I ever saw were in and around Aiken - there’s a few trails, there was this one gorgeous glacial hole just outside of Aiken that had water the color of byzantine blue - apparently from the caelum (sp?) deposits from the area. Gorgeous scenery and I really thought some parts of SC were beautiful.
The people are by and large mostly wonderful - I was young when I went and I had several horse-moms tuck me under their wing. I still keep in contact with a few of them to this day and miss my Aiken family terribly. There is some real southern hospitality there - one of my fondest memories was spending Thanksgiving morning with the people that owned the farm my friend boarded at. I never encountered more friendliness than in that town - people always wanted to know who you were, where you came from.
The bad: it gets hot In the summer, it’s frequently high 90-100F. I grew up in the NE, and didn’t really like it at all. It’s bearable if you have an office job, it’s difficult if you are working outside in a barn laborer capacity. I would usually have to ride either stupidly early (6 AM) or late, after 8 PM, if I wanted to avoid the heat. My gelding, who had lived in the cold north his entire life, had a hard time when it got over 95 degrees - I really had to keep an eye on him on the days it got to 100F+. The humidity is what got both of us - come noon it’s like walking through cement.
The hay and care was very different than I was used to in NE; a little more lax on some things. I spent a lot of time at several different barns as I originally went down there with a friend and she moved around from farm to farm - some things were okay, some were not. There’s not the same amount of catering to boarders that I think some people get used to in NE, and the horses are treated more like horses… which is good and bad. The coastal hay is ok, and you can get some good timothy/bermuda, and there are some nice alfalfa distributors as well.
It is actually a small town and once you get over the honeymoon phase, there is not much from a social standpoint to do. It has a big college culture, there’s a few bars, there’s a few clubs, and there was always a party to find if you’re younger and into that sort of thing. There was no shortage of fires to go to or college parties to visit, but that wasn’t really my thing but I usually tagged along with my friends. There’s not much in the way of good food out that way, but if you go to some of the bigger satellite cities there’s tons of fine cuisine options.
The ugly:
The culture - there isn’t a way to diplomatically say it, but the education is just different… I had major culture shock; lots of racism, misogyny, etc… more close-minded than I was used to. There is a brutal undertow of poor living in that area, there’s some major socioeconomic struggles underneath the thin veneer of wealth.
Jobs - the minimum wage is terrible and there’s very few true career opportunities in a place like Aiken - if I moved there again, I think it’d be impossible for me to find a job that is competitive with my current wage. If your company offers transplants or you work from home, great – but outside of the horse industry, the economy is stagnant and a bulk of the population is in poverty or toeing the line.
The hospital care SUCKS. Plain and simple. There is not the same amount quality of care or education there.
I’m sure I will think of more. I miss Aiken but never want to live in the south again.
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Thank you so much for the info Beowolf! I love cheese so I will have to go to that Kroger haha. I definitely got the culture shock when I came to southern pines… and its too bad about the hospital. That sounds like a horrible experience!
We were there for a week this spring. The people are amazing for sure. The racism is there, but no more shocking than the midwest area where we transplated to 3 1/2 years ago. There are several really good restaurants that we found, some expensive and some not 
I would love to relocate there after retirement, but it would be a hard sell to my spouse because he thought most of the social aspect revolved around the horses. Small farm prices in nice areas are Very high. If you want to live outside of town and drive a bit to things, I think it’s more doable. Hay is a LOT more expensive, but services are readily available and reasonably priced and you have actual QUALIFIED people there for farrier, vet and alternative therapies. The footing is great, but housing horses on sandy soil is more problematic. If I had a steady 6 figure income that was guaranteed for life, I would go in a second Not sure if I can realistically afford it.
Think twice before buying property and moving to Aiken, SC.
Aiken is just a stones throw from the Savannah River Site which has been dubbed the Most Radioactive Toxic Waste Polluted Place on Earth.
Read this…
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/old-ellenton-abandoned-town-sc/
I visited Aiken this past Jan for a week. Loved loved loved it! Horse heaven and such perfect weather coming from Canada. The people were friendly, great atmosphere in town, such great horse culture. I bet it changes dramatically in the summer when most ppl clear out tho. I could definitely see the undertones of what people mention as the negatives. Poverty, racism, elitism. It’s all there but it is still very high on my list of places I want to go back to.
Just to clarify, it isn’t Atlanta that’s 30 minutes from Aiken, but Augusta. Columbia, SC isn’t far, either, and is a cool little city.
If you are a liberal snowflake (and I say that with love, speaking as one) it can be TOUGH to get used to. A baptist church on every corner, with the occasional methodist or presbyterian church for variety. At least the time I spent there (and I haven’t been down since 2011), there was a 10 Commandments sign in a lot of yards. The last winter I spent down there was in 2008, and one of the local diners had a sign out that said “Obama special- half white meat, half dark meat.”
But with the bad things come lots of good. Southern hospitality is a very real and beautiful thing. People are generally friendly, sweet, and welcoming. There are some great places to eat and some cute shopping in downtown. The horsey part is unbelievable (and this is coming from someone who lives and works in the Middleburg, VA area).
As with most places, it has its good and its bad. Most people would kill to live in Middleburg, but the stories I could tell! The same applies to Aiken.
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That dinner special :eek: :no:
Would love to hear about middleburg if you have the time. We have been considering moving to the NOVA area for a few years now but haven’t gone through with it yet.
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