- There's a lot you can learn from a day on the farm.

Add to that the joy of spending time around Scottish Highland cows, and you have an experience you won't soon forget.

As producer Teresa Litschke discovered, all it takes is a trip to a farm called Crooked Creek.

- Hamptonville is a small community, kind of in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but it is a growing community.

We have a lot of businesses here.

There's a lot of great things, a lot of beauty here.

- Megan White's family has lived on land in Hamptonville since 1851, so it wasn't a stretch for her, her husband Evan, and their children to leave Charlotte for a life here centered around Scottish Highland cows.

- We talked, you know, maybe we'll get a couple cows, and so we ended up with two Highlands, and from there, it just kind of evolved.

We fell in love with the breed.

We love to learn about them.

- They're really special.

They're different than normal, like, beef cattle.

- They're extremely docile.

They're friendly.

They're really good with kids.

They're also pleasing on the eyes to look at, so we're not immune to that.

- They are called fluffy cows, and they're a long-haired cattle.

- In Scotland, they'll call them the fluffy "coos."

They're a little smaller than our regular beef cattle that we see in the United States.

They do have horns.

All of them have horns, and they come in seven different colors.

- Before long, the Whites had created a business of breeding Scottish Highlands and sharing them with the public from their farm called Crooked Creek Highlands.

- So Crooked Creek has a special name.

Our very first Highland, her name is Strawberry, and Strawberry has crooked horns.

We also have a creek on the property, so it became Crooked Creek.

- The 100-acre property is perfect for all kinds of events featuring the adorable cows.

- We do paint parties.

They are a lot of fun, so we have an artist come in and teach a class on painting, usually a picture of a Scottish Highland, but we've done other things as well, and they are able to take a blank canvas and people that have never painted before, and they leave with something that looks like a Highland.

That's pretty remarkably well done.

- We do movie nights, yoga, photography.

We have a lot of fun with our photography groups.

A big part of what we do, though, is educational farm tours, so letting people come, see the animals, have a private experience.

- Yeah, so we start out with the goats.

It's a walking tour.

It's usually about a quarter mile long.

- We have a pony, donkey, and of course, the Scottish Highlands.

- You will get up close and personal and be able to brush, pet, and in some cases, feed the Highland cows as well.

- Didn't expect to pet a bull that size and him be so calm and so friendly and so gentle.

- It's something most people never have the chance to do, making it time well spent at Crooked Creek.

- We lived in London for seven years before moving here to North Carolina, and my wife has always loved Scotland's Highland cows.

We saw them on social media, and we decided to drop by.

- Yep, we have had people from all over the country stop by.

We've got a guest book in there that we love to have people sign, and a lot of people come for their bucket list item.

- When the tour's over, you can stop in their store for great gift ideas to help you remember your day at the farm.

- We have our T-shirts, our merchandise, a lot of Highland cattle goods.

- But the Whites say the greatest gift when visiting Crooked Creek isn't something you take home in a bag at all.

- We love to provide great experiences for families, for groups of friends, to just come out, enjoy the quiet aspect of it, see some really, really fun cows to be around, maybe learn something while you're here.

- It's so enjoyable to see families come here and see the happiness on the kids' and even the parents' faces, just to be out in nature and to talk about the beauty around here and to get to see the animals.

I think animals can bring a lot of happiness to a lot of people, and we need more happiness in the world, so it's a good start here.

(upbeat music) - Crooked Creek Highlands is at 4147 Summers Road in Hamptonville, and they're open Monday through Saturday.

To find out more, visit their website at crookedcreekHighlands.org.