WV Day 5 - Country Roads and Comfort Food
Today was another day without an open mic, so I had a lot of free time which meant a lot of driving. The nice thing about West Virginia though is that it has quickly cemented it's status as possibly my favorite state to drive aimlessly in. Because it's relatively rural, but also mountainous, there's not always a lot to see in any given location but what's there tends to be pretty stunning, and the winding, hilly roads are never too boring.
The roads also happen to go through a few state forests and parks which is quite a treat. My first stop of the day was Blackwater Falls park. I got to see the Falls, which were gorgeous and much cleaner looking then the name would imply. The blackness of the water actually comes from natural minerals and not man-made dirt so the rocky outcrops around the falls were also something worth taking in.
After that I stopped for lunch at Big John's Family Fixins. I was planning to go further for food, but I literally turned my car around to go there because I couldn't resist the name. The food lived up to my excitement for the silly name, and there were a bunch of arcade games there for kids to play but because there were actual children there I thought it would be weird for me to use them. I ordered chicken dumplings with a side of mashed potatoes. It was a nice pairing because the mashed potatoes came with brown gravy, and the dumplings came with white sausage gravy so I got the full palette of southern sauces (with the noticeable exception of BBQ). I'm more used to Chinese Dumplings than Southern Dumplings but it was just a mess of tender chicken, fluffy breading, and good gravy, so it was hard not to love.
After Lunch I stopped at the Tiptop Cafe in Thompson. It was really, really good coffee, and it was overlooking a small river valley which was a nice little bonus. It seemed like the whole town was only one street but there was an impressive amount of cool things crammed on that one street, including local art galleries, the cafes, bars, and shops. Again, the theme with WV seems to be quality over quantity when it comes to things to do and see.
Fueled up, I drove back to Elkins to try out the beer at the Brewstel I had stayed at two nights ago, because I felt like I had missed out on the full experience. Before I could get a drink though, I got distracted by S and T's Bees, and very similarly to Big John's the silly-ish name lead to a great find. They had lots of local honey products as well as crafts, so it was a really cool community shop, and the owner's pug kept a good watch over the place which was very sweet. I bought some local chocolate, honey, and root beer that had also been brewed with honey. It was quite possibly the best soda I had ever had. I was hoping to get some mead there as well, but they only had huge bottles of it, and I didn't think to bring cork stoppers. Alas!
From there I did make it to the Brewstel, which was great. It was small but packed with friendly locals and travelers alike, so the room was filled with good conversation. I didn't feel lke drinking a full flight for once, so I just had the nitro Stout brewed in house, which was really great. And I tried a small taster of the bourbon barrel aged porter. It was also delicious, but 11% ABV so I didn't want a whole glass.
For dinner, I went to a place my friend recommended call Pies and Pints. Holy crap, was it good pizza. I ordered a mushroom and garlic pizza. It had also been liberally doused with olive oil, and it rocked my taste buds pretty hard. They also had a good beer selection, and I got the Big Timber Porter which was solid but a bit less memorable compared to the pizza.
By that point, I had actually gone pretty far with my aimless wandering so I had a 3 and 1/2 hour drive back to my hostel, which led to me calling it an early night because those winding roads are beautiful during the day, but a bit tricky in the pitch dark of West Virginia nights.
Favorite Random Sightings: My Grandma's Attic; Ware Wolf; Hell Bender Burritos
Regional Observations: If I'd never seen as many dead deer than I'd seen on PA highways, I've neever seen so many Live Deer in my life than on WV highways.
Albums Listened To: Holiday Show 2009 by the Slackers; Holy Shit by Davey Dynamite (great folk-album that I completely forgot I had on my iPod. A really pleasant surprise); Home Again by Michael Kiwanuka (solid easy listening that would not have led me to anticipate his way better follow up); Home Movies Soundtrack by Brendon Small (soundtrack to the underrated TV show Home Movies, which is a comedy geeks treasure trove, as almost everyone that is associated with Bob's Burgers worked on it, as well Brendon Small, Paula Poundstone, Louie CK (who might not be in vogue much longer), Mitch Hedburg, and many others)
People's Favorite Jokes:
Why don't bears wear shoes? Because they have bear feet
Song of the Day
Bonus Franz Kafka Musical:
Just incredible