Two of my favorite towns to visit when we’re down around Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, and Land Between the Lakes are Aurora and Grand Rivers. Grand Rivers offers a great deal wit it’s Badgett Playhouse, Grand Rivers Fudge Factory, Patty’s, Lighthouse Landing, and Green Turtle Bay. It’s a beautiful little village with a lot going for it.
Aurora has a different “vibe,” yet I enjoy it every bit as much as I do Grand Rivers. Aurora, Kentucky seems to delight in being very laid back. This community is home to my favorite Willow Pond Restaurant, one of my all-time favorite BBQ Restaurants (Aurora BBQ – Home of the Winking Pig!), the Dinner Bell, and one of my favorite spots to unload cash that’s weighing down my purse – The Hitching Post Gifts and Country Store. I’ve never…never… gone into this charmingly fun store without exiting with loot that I can’t wait to take home.
In addition to an endless display of Kentucky memorabilia – from t-shirts, jewelery, and hats to candles, figurines, ornaments, and cookbooks – they carry a remarkable variety of Yoder’s Homestyle jams, jellies, etc. They also have BBQ sauces that’ll send you over the proverbial moon.
On our most recent trip, I got a jar of Yoder’s Homestyle Sweet Potato Butter. Have you ever had Sweet Potato Pie? Well, this Sweet Potato Butter pretty much lives in that delicious neighborhood. So, whether you put it on buttermilk biscuits, cornbread, or toast, you get that same amazing flavor. Frankly, I can’t say enough great things about it. Their Apple Butter is also ridiculously good. It’s great on toast, served alongside scrambled eggs and bacon.
The next time you’re in the Land Between the Lakes region, make a point of visiting the “down home” friendly people at the Hitching Post Gifts and Country Store in Aurora. If you time your day just right, you can work up an appetite at the Hitching Post, have lunch with the winking pig, explore the beautiful Kentucky Lake area, and then make an appointment with the best hush puppies on earth at the Aurora Willow Pond that evening.
It’ll be a day you won’t forget. Just be sure to remember the apple butter!
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Wow! Thank you!!!! Who are you? I saw genuinekentucky.com in our guest book. This is too cool! Thank you so much.
I am the new owner of the Hitching Post. We are reopening the country store for the Oct. 3-5 Fall festival. It will be great. A step back in time to an old general store. Please stop by.
This will be a glimpse of what is to become next year. So many people have asked for the country store to reopen. It has been closed for 4 years, All new fun things in the HP too….and all the favorites still there.
Anyways, thank you so very much for the wonderful write up and visiting our store. Please introduce yourself next time, would be so happy to thank you in person.
I appreciate your kind words.
Best,
Su Festen
The Hitching Post
Hello! I’m the Diet Coke addicted, candy-buying female who has been into your store several times. You (or the other lady?) looked up a recipe for me once on your laptop. Also, my husband (who had poison oak at the time) bought bars of Lye Soap, which worked wonders by the way!
The last time we were in there, we dished about how great The Willow Pond Restaurant is. My itchy husband and I had just eaten supper there and stopped by for a few drinks (aka Diet Coke for me and Sassafrass pop for him) for our ride back to Owensboro. We also bought some sticks of hard candy that our daughters LOVED.
See you Saturday!
Joi
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