If you're looking for a short morning trip, afternoon drive, or day trip- I recommend Serenbe. It's a community close to Palmetto, Georgia and about 45 minutes South of Atlanta, GA. Its worth it. I was inspired by its location (it seemed tucked away and intentionally away from everything) and its mission to live in a way that gives back, eliminates their footprint, and strives to be better.
Serenbe stole me today. I am happily an Atlanta native. I live in the midst and heart of all the chaos on Peachtree St. Ive always owed my love of the city to the unexplainable energy that lives in the concrete sidewalks. I grew up in the country, and my morning was met with nostalgic smells of manure and dirt roads.
I have been longing for an escape for a while now. Obviously, Serenbe is a short 45 minute drive south on 85. It isn’t exactly a far trip to travel for a nice escape from this concrete jungle. I honestly had NO idea what to expect. I had heard from a college classmate a few months ago about the area and it’s sustainable attributes. My undergraduate thesis (the equivalent- we call it the Capstone Project) was on sustainable living. I am on fire about the topic, and Serenbe was my morning fix.
You drive about 35 miles south from Atlanta. You turn right and veer left and yadda yadda yadda. When I came to the road I actually passed it the first time. I wasn’t sure because of a busy wedding recital going on at the forefront that this dirt road was my ticket in. Immediately I was met with stables and horses and these houses that look like they were built early century.
I started laughing to myself when I first got on this road. This whole adventure started on a whim, and quite frankly I had to no idea where I was going, what I was going to see, where this road was taking me, and if i even was on the right road to get to wherever I didn’t know... I was one of those life moments where you are aimlessly wandering and it’s just funny. I was the epitome of the saying, not all who wander are lost.
Here is a picture of a beautiful shot of the dirt road, the road before pavement and residential and stores. Which is funny because Serenbe is charming in its ways. A lot of the time i didn’t know if i was looking at a commercial or residential building. I kept driving talking to myself saying, “where am i?!” “this is great, what is all this?!”.
This is a shot by a bakery. Blue Eyed Daisy. It was charming and i was impressed by it’s LEED Gold rating and it’s 2012 winner of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. Everyone that entered the front doors were either residents or visitors or wanderers like myself. I could never tell. There was this blanket over the the lines that defined residences and business or visitors and residents.
What I also found refreshing were the homes that lined the main street. The people lived as though time here ticked a little slower. Not in a lethargic way, but in a totally refreshing way. People left out their scooters, their shoes, their decorations, their cars as if the chance to lose them did not exist. I had the opportunity to see HGTV’s Green Home while I was there. It was nestled behind the Stables, next to Serenbe’s General Store.
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I had in my senior project at SCAD a retail level that sold merchandise that supported a sustainable lifestyle. In that was a refill station where individuals had the option of refilling their cleaners instead of buying new products with excessive packaging, etc. etc. This is the FIRST refill option I've ever seen. This is at the General Store in Serenbe. Fern's Market 10528 Serenbe Lane Palmetto, GA 30268 |
The general store had me really excited. I recently did [re]think, that project I was referring to earlier, that was rooted in sustainable education and giving people the resources and utility to live sustainably. Little did I know that communities far off where adopting this mindset and really were leaders to me. I immediately found myself respectful of their way of life. In Atlanta, I find it impossible to buy goods that are locally traded or foods that have no GMOs. It just is so hard to find. I know! Trust me, I know. I spent 20 weeks enveloped in a project that tried to get people to live outside their comfort zone. I would more to Serenbe in a heartbeat. Except when I was peaking in the storefront of Serenbe’s Real Estate shop, the pricetag of 500k was a bit of a deterrent for a young single out of college.
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| This is the first time I have ever seen a dispenser that dispensed something other than duck food, candy, chiclets.... It dispensed seeds to grow. I LOVE THIS IDEA! Can I please have one? |
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| Recycle Or Trash. Why thank you for the option! |
I will definitely be back. On Saturday’s Serenbe has a market from 9-noon. I missed it today going there on a Sunday, but I will be doing that. As well, I will be renting bikes from the newly establish Peachtree Bikes that just added a location to Serenbe’s community. So for those of you whose interested is similarly piqued by a community such as this, don’t be deterred when you turn on the main street and its dirt road with no signs. Keep on trucking. Let you sense of adventure take to you to a little town off the beaten path!
