Explore Our Winter 2026 Issue
Heritage grains, a village of remembrance, home preservation, and winter gardens
Our Winter 2026 issue is here!
Celebrate a Lowcountry menu staple made with heritage grains, a South Carolina town preserved by generations of locals, revitalized homes that honor the South’s history, and resilient gardens that burst with color amid winter’s chill.
Explorer subscribers: You’ll receive your printed issue within two weeks.
Thanks to those of you who participated in the reader survey we sent out to our most active readers. We’ll share the results with you soon, and have randomly selected and contacted the winner of a $100 Visa gift card. (The email went out at 6:50 p.m.)
Let’s preview our winter features!
Harvesting History
A Lowcountry tradition goes from creekside breakfast to menu star
By Patricia A Branning
Shrimp and grits didn’t begin its life on fine china with parsley sprigs and waiters in starched shirts. This dish was born of necessity, cooked creekside at dawn by hungry fishermen. It was the sort of meal meant to warm the bones and fuel a hard day’s work.
Village of Remembrance
Explore Mount Carmel’s Huguenot & Railroad Town Recollection
By Tom Poland
It’s been called the Village of Remembrance with good reason. The old homes and shuttered churches in this late 19th century village will pique your curiosity. Its Classical, Victorian, and Queen Anne architecture evokes grandeur. For that and more, South Carolina Highway 81 lures me back time and again.
Voices of Yesterday
Learn from the sacred stories preserved homes tell
By Beth Yarbrough of Southern Voice
Most anyone who cares a lick about beautiful architecture will tell you that houses can talk. They will also tell you that the old ones have the sweetest voices—deep, rich, and layered with centuries of stories that will both break your heart and make it sing.
There and Back Again
Asheville to Chapel Hill, North Carolina
By the Backroad Portfolio staff
While numerous horticultural havens exist across the Southeast, this three-day itinerary focuses on those in Western and Central North Carolina, with routes leading down country roads that wind through frosty forests to towns and cities where you can enjoy a warm winter meal or cocktail in a historic inn or boutique hotel.
Plus:
Meet a self-taught luthier, expxlore a dirt road museum, shop independent bookstores, and discover the art and history of papermaking.
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Backroad Portfolio is a quarterly magazine for explorers.
Travel down roads marked by endless fields, immaculate vistas, and small, cozy towns. Discover the history behind how these backroads came to be for future generations. Meet people who breathe life into the landscape, sharing stories, traditions, and artisanal endeavors that make each stop along the way unforgettable. Escape from the busyness of life on the main thoroughfares.
Take the long way home.
The most beautiful issue of all so far and great reading.
I have close friends who live outside Asheville and have wanted to visit them. The Victorian house in your photo is fabulous. There's also a Chapel Hill in East Texas; I wonder what they have in common?
I'm currently writing the third book in my trilogy, and a main character is traveling through the southeast on his way home after the Civil War. Did you know there are sharks in several southeast rivers? Bull sharks can live in salt and fresh water; they swim upstream from the coast.