Before heading out of town, we fueled up at the Roxboro Biscuitville, this time trying their pancake breakfast. Not bad for a fast food chainWeek Three
This is a blog of my five-week exploration of culinary experiences in North Carolina. Baaswell Sheep is accompanying me and offering his own commentary on the trip, although he refuses to go into any place that serves lamb chops.
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Please note that all restaurant names are used simply for referential purposes and links provided as a courtesy. Reviews are the sole opinions of the reviewer: no restaurant has paid to be listed here, and no restaurant is being explicitly endorsed. In other words, go out there, try them all, and form your own opinions!
Before heading out of town, we fueled up at the Roxboro Biscuitville, this time trying their pancake breakfast. Not bad for a fast food chain
So, we detoured a little bit today, leaving North Carolina and heading up to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. This might seem a little odd when we we've been on a North Carolina culinary adventure, but there's a rhyme to our reason. Much of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed in North Carolina due to a combination of damage from hurricane Helene last year and a three-year bridge replacement project affecting the northern thirty miles of the parkway in North Carolina until 2027. As my companion had been looking forward to enjoying a large portion of the parkway this year, he decided to rearrange his plans and head up to the Peaks of Otter at milepost 86 of the Parkway, just north of Bedford, Virginia, and spend the holiday weekend at the lodge there. It's a nice way to get back to nature and avoid the big crowds and the noisy fireworks. We didn't get any pictures of the lodge area today, as my companion had to do IT work once he got there, and then he wanted to get in a waterfall hike before dark. So, I've dug into his archives and pulled a few pictures from his last visit so you can see how great this place is. In essence, you have three lodge buildings plus a dining room / front desk building, all of which face a huge, gorgeous lake. The three "peaks" are (in ascending order of height) Harkness Hill, Sharp Top Mountain, and Flat Top Mountain. And don't ask about the "otter" part – no one knows how it got that name, though there's a number of theories.
My companion did a 1.6 mile loop hike out to the waterfall called 'Fallingwater', which according to him was a very good waterfall hike (he's done quite a few in his time, including many of the best at Shenandoah National Park). He said there were multiple viewing points giving some remarkable views, and with virtually no one else around, it was quiet and relaxingly peaceful. He tried to get me to go with him – what does he think I am? A mountain goat? I think not. I stayed back at the lodge and enjoyed the lake views, but I include some of his pictures below.
I wasn't sure my companion was going to make it back from his hike in time for dinner, but he just barely made it. We got a lake view seat and enjoyed a reuben sandwich and much to my delight, a nice bowl of fruit. Of course he had to go and spoil this healthy turn by ordering a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream, but, well, okay, I took a few licks and yes, I admit it, it was delicious. (I'll also admit in all fairness to the dining room that we were so hungry that we ate half the meal before thinking about a picture. So, the meal was really about twice the size you see, but, well, sometimes these things happen.).
Happy Independence Day everyone! We're on vacation at the Peaks of Otter in Virginia for the holiday, and while I've been relaxing my hooves by the lake, my companion decided to hike all the way up to the top of Flat Top Peak, the highest of the three Peaks of Otter. That's an elevation of 4,004 feet, and yes, the entire trail is up, up, up. I'm glad I took it easy today – my companion looked completely beat when he got back, though he said the views were truly amazing and definitely worth it. We'll have to see if he feels like doing anything tomorrow – I'm wagering that his feet are going to be sore, sore, sore.
We got to dinner after eight o'clock again tonight, but the upside to eating late is that there's no crowds. We got a window seat again, though someone was having a birthday party right outside the window, down around a park picnic table. Still, we enjoyed our dinner: my companion had the salmon dish with mashed potatoes and wilted spinich leaves, while I enjoyed grazing on the caeser salad. Afterward, we split an absolutely delicious cheesecake. (Full disclaimer: I had some of the salad before we took the picture: what they served was nearly twice what you see: enough to nearly overflow the plate.)
My companion was crazy brave enough to try visiting a second mountain peak today, though he had the good sense to ride the shuttle to the top and simply hike back down. He said there were some really nice views, but not quite as nice as on Flat Top peak. He's happy to report that he's now been to the top of all three peaks (Flat Top, Sharp Top, and Harkening Hill), and has hiked up (and back down) the latter two. Even so, he's looking forward to the next time he can get to Peaks of Otter, as it's a great place for a relaxing vacation, even over a holiday weekend. FYI, the panoramic picture shows Harkening Hill on the left and Flat Top Peak on the right, the Peaks of Otter lodge and Abbot Lake in between the two. The last picture is of a black vulture, which was captured while it was flying – as pixelated as it is, it's still a rarity to get that good a shot with an ordinary smartphone.
Our last visit to the Peaks of Otter Dining Room before we head on to our next destination. I finally got my picture made, and we enjoyed a chicken pasta alfredo and a house salad, and then topped it off with another cookies and cream ice cream. Absolutely cannot complain about the food here, albeit as with any resort the pricing is a bit high, but since it's a holiday, I'm okay with splurging with my companion's money :-)
All good things must come to an end, and so we had to leave Peaks of Otter and head back south. Unfortunately, there's a closure of the Blue Ridge Parkway right now just below the Peaks of Otter. We decided to go as far south as we could, then come back to VA 43 north and take it up to Buchanan, from which we detoured down to Roanoke before picking up the parkway where it crosses US 220 on the south side of the city. The views up here are breathtaking: kind of like a well fitting prequel to the Shenandoah National Park further north.
The Blue Ridge Parkway detour made it quite feasible to go right by my companion's favorite BBQ place in Virginia, Three Li'l Pigs in Daleville, just north of Roanoke off I-81. In spite of being a Virginia restaurant, the place has a great Carolina vinegar sauce that he loves, and the atmosphere and people are great, too. Personally, I'm not a big fan of barbecue for obvious reasons, but I nibbled on the slaw and tried the iced tea, which were both pretty good.
While this entire section of the parkway is still open, it's kind of a desolate place, especially on a rainy day. The main attractions along here are three picnic areas (Smart View, Rocky Knob, Groundhog Mountain) and the famous Mabry Mill. The odd thing is that we've been by the Mabry Mill three times over the years and have never seen more than a handful of people there, and we've never seen the restaurant open. I don't know if it only opens for the spring and fall, or if it's just closed for good. The big problem right now is that they've shut down all of the restrooms along this stretch. The ones at the Rocky Knob visitor's center might still be open, but we got there after 5 PM, so the center itself was closed. All of the other restroom buildings at all four locations had signs reading "No Bathrooms Available" along with locked doors. Only Mabry Mill had portable toilets, which is appreciated, but they need signs at the other three locations to point you to Mabry Mill for restrooms. All that said, the Rocky Knob and Smart View picnic areas are just plain awkward: huge, hard to navigate with lots of one-way lanes, and just not well maintained, thus hardly anyone seems to use them, making them a bit creepy. They'd probably do well to close both completely and maybe build another small picnic area like Groundhog Mountain: something easy to see and access and with a lot fewer picnic spaces, since it seems like people just don't picnic like they did in past decades. With the rain, we didn't get many pictures along this section, but we did get to see three mother deer with two fawns, one of them the liveliest thing I've ever seen. That made the short hike in the rain more than worth it. Interestingly, on the way back from seeing the deer, we spotted a three-foot long snake crossing the road. We didn't get a picture, but it was interesting to see something like that: contrary to popular belief, most snakes stay out of sight and don't want to hurt people. Most snake bites come from people disturbing them accidentally (or unnecessarily) and then, as you'd expect, they're going to defend themselves.
We made it to Mount Airy, albeit a bit late, and went down the street to Arby's for a quick dinner. Not a North Carolina specialty, but my companion likes it for a quick and simple meal when nothing else sounds all that good at the moment. He went with his usual: a beef and cheddar, add lettuce and tomato to make it healthy, with curly fries and an apple turnover. Not sure I call it all that healthy, but at least he had something to eat.
There's a Biscuitville right across the parking lot from our hotel, making for a nice, quick brunch. My companion tried the spicy chicken and honey biscuit this time, which he said was quite good: not too spicy, and the honey helps balance it all out. I enjoyed eating his hashbrown, and I tried a few sips of that Cheerwine he loves so much – it's acutally pretty good.
For an interesting change of pace, I can report that Downtown Mount Airy is bustling with business: I don't think we saw a single vacant storefront along the three primary blocks. That's surely due to the town's embracing of hometown boy Andy Griffith and his classic TV show, The Andy Griffith Show, in which the fictional town of Mayberry was based very much on life in Mount Airy when Andy was growing up. Now, the town tries to model itself after Mayberry with an oddly interesting effect. About half the stores are what you'd expect to find in any small town: antique stores, general merchandise stores, small restaurants, specialty services, etc. The other half are all clamoring to claim some connection to the fictional Mayberry, and it seems the tourists are eating it up. On one block, you can find Floyd's Barber Shop, with pictures of the four "Floyd"s who have worked there over the years. Oddly, it's up for sale, so if you'd like to become the fifth Floyd, well, here's your chance. Next door to the barber shop is Opie's Candy Store, which feels a bit unreal, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's not as bad as someplace like Gatlinburg, Tennessee, but definitely heading in that direction. There are still some historical and cultural elements intact, like the Historic Earle theater, which still hosts the "Merry-Go-Round" radio broadcast, started 77 years ago in 1948, every Saturday on WPAQ 740 AM. As we did our walking tour around six in the evening, we didn't get to go in anywhere, but we're going back tomorrow at lunchtime to see some of the more interesting places.
On the edge of Mount Airy in a former Dairy Queen barn-style building is a restaurant proclaiming itself to be Aunt Bea's, undoubtedly referencing the matriarch of the Andy Griffith Show. That said, I just can't picture the Mayberry Aunt Bea giving her stamp of approval to this place. Granted, my companion didn't try the BBQ, but that probably would not have made any difference. Don't get me wrong: the place was clean and bright and the staff friendly, but the food felt a little too much like what you might have gotten at the former Dairy Queen. In my mind, I'd expect a place named for Aunt Bea to be one of those nice meat and two vegetable places. This place did have some of those plates, but the vegetables were not what you'd expect, more than half along the lines of french fries and onion rings. We were able to get a small side salad, but there really wasn't another "healthy" vegetable on the menu. The food wasn't all that bad, but a little on the greasy side.
And now, a special shout-out to Pepsi. If you're outside of North Carolina, you might be completely unaware that Pepsi AKA Pepsi-Cola had its origins in this state, specifically in the coastal town of New Bern. Outside of this state, you'll see standard generic brand advertising, but throughout North Carolina you'll see advertising like in the picture on the right: "Pepsi-Cola: Born in the Carolinas". With apologies to a certain Georgia based cola, my companion and I have always liked RC Cola, but given the limited availability of RC, our next favorite is Pepsi. So, it's nice to find so many places selling Pepsi, and nice see them celebrating their local heritage. We've been doing our part to occasionally get Pepsi when Cheerwine isn't available. However, given that the North Carolina Pepsi bottling companies also bottle Cheerwine, Pepsi tends to be wherever we find Cheerwine, and we tend to lean towards Cheerwine, or being the southern folks we are, a good sweet iced tea.
Yet another business basing itself on a Mayberry character, Barney's Cafe of course is full of memorabilia of the famous deputy of Mayberry. On the upside, the place has a real soda shop kind of feel – our first choice for lunch had been an actual classic soda shop, but it wasn't open today, so we ended up at Barney's. My companion got a Mayberry Gourmet Burger and I had a side of macaroni salad, but he got the better end of that deal; the macaroni salad had zero flavor to it whatsoever: I couldn't even taste the mayonnaise in it. Dictionary definition example of 'bland'. My companion said the burger was quite flavorful, and in the end we split an apple cobbler that was pretty good, albeit a bit on the large side (good thing we didn't order it with ice cream).
We wandered about and went in half a dozen shops, but nothing was terribly impressive. We wanted to tour the Historic Earle theater – the signs suggested it was open daily, but the door was locked both times we went by it. So, we ended up at the Regional History Museum, which was pretty cool (both figuratively and literally, the latter much appreciated on a 95 degree day), so we spent nearly ninety minutes in there. Exhibits range from early history to local music (Donna Fargo is a native of the area among other musicians), and a cool fire fighting exhibit in the basement with three classic fire engines in the basement. One of them had a slate of unlabeled buttons on the display board, so my companion pressed one of them and we were bombarded by the recorded sound of the engine starting up – I had to cover my ears with my hooves. I didn't think that recording would ever end, but it did and he tried some other buttons: one sounded the bell, one the siren, and one made the red light come on. Don't think we've ever come across a fire truck exhibit that was so interactive. Went back out into the heat and looked at a few more shops before deciding to return to our hotel.
Had another dinner at Bojangles. This location was not quite as nice as the other two we visited in past weeks, but the service was friendly and the food as you would expect. My companion just wasn't all that hungry and wanted something simple, so he got a two-piece dinner with green beans and mac-and-cheese. Nothing to write home about, but since we're doing a North Carolina culinary blog, I'll document it nonetheless. Interestingly, we noticed that they're now offering "Bird Dogs": imagine a hot dog bun with a large chicken finger in it with appropriate sauce on it and a couple of pickle slices. And here I thought I'd already seen everything imaginable …
Not much to report on the culinary scene today, as we traveled from Mount Airy to Boone, spending most of the day at the New River State Park for some quiet R&R. We bought a sandwich along the way and had a picnic there, though my companion forgot to buy a cold drink and we didn't have any cold ones with us, so we had to make do with water. As it was, my companion was a little under the weather, which was appropriate given the rain off and on during the day, so he didn't do any difficult hiking. However, at one point he walked the River Run trail, which as the name implies runs beside the New River and is pretty flat. On the way back, we sat on a bench for about fifteen minutes, and out of the blue a deer fawn appeared in the tall grass near the path, staring at us from a couple of places, but never coming any closer before running off. Most of the time, though, we sat on the wonderfully large back porch of the visitor's center. He wants to do a waterfall hike on Friday early afternoon, and he's trying to build his energy back up before then if he can. Fun side note: if you remember the old "Home Improvement" TV series, there was the neighbor Wilson who's mouth they always hidden behind something. It started as an accidental fluke, and once realized, they decided to keep it up the rest of the series. I always think about that when we go through this part of North Carolina, as there's a small town listed on signs as "Mouth of Wilson" – I guess we know now where his mouth disappeared to!
Another night where my companion just wanted something simple and quick, so we walked across the street to a pretty nice Wendy's. He ended up getting a chicken caesar salad and a sugar cookie, and says it's nice that they have regular caesar dressing once again – for some period of time they'd replaced it with some kind of lemon caesar, which he never cared for at all.