I found myself humming that John Denver Song from the 70's called "Take me Home, Country Roads" Except, I'm still enjoying this, I'm not ready to leave just yet. One week from today we'll be on the plane back home.
As we drove into West Virginia yesterday, it didn't seem too much different. Same lush green hills/mountains, many trees, occasional farm; after all we were in the Appalachian Mountains. It was also so cool and clean, it was really beautiful.
A difference we noticed was that there were more towns in WV than in Kentucky. It could be because it's a smaller state and they have less space to put the towns ... I don't know much about the history of West Virginia and why it's name such. We're just enjoying it.
Before we crossed the Kentucky/ West Virginia border, we stopped at another one of the diners that we saw featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives". You would think if it got featured on the show, it would be great food and one of those undiscovered gold mines in the food business. Well, it got mixed reviews and we would add our to the side of "not so good" They may have been short staffed, given this was Sunday, but none of the 8 or so empty tables were bused. It was also a bit smokey, but we decided to wait and see if we could make it through our meal before anyone else came in and "lit up". We watched another couple come in and sit at a dirty, used plate covered table and they immediately got their table cleaned and their order taken. So having stood waiting for direction a while, we figured that was what the locals do. Well the waitress started cleaning other tables before she noticed us and did come right away and cleaned our table. We ordered, and got our food in normal wait time. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, but not bad either. We didn't get halfway through our meal before someone started smoking behind me, to the side of us and a few tables behind Russ. Nothing ruins your food worse than breathing 2nd hand smoke while eating. We couldn't gobble our food fast enough before we high-tailed it out of there. We didn't even stop for their signature dessert as we ran for fresh air. So now we know why they call it "Smokey Valley Truck Stop"
As we drove down the interstate for a few miles, laughing over the stories we would now tell, Jonathan realized that he left his Nintendo DS on the bench seat back at the smokey restaurant. We turned around and fortunately, the waitress saw it first and put it behind the counter for safe keeping. A relieved boy and a happy family, we set off again.
So we arrived in beautiful West Virginia, found our hotel and walked to a pizza chain local to this area; "Bellacino's" They gave us an extra order of cheese bread because they had one extra. So now we have a lot of leftovers. Cold pizza for lunch tomorrow!
We didn't have anything planned for Charleston, as we needed to get on the road to Virginia. Maybe I can talk Russ into swinging by the beautiful golden domed capital building as we drive out of town.
I'll be adding another event to yesterdays post about our visit to the Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky so if you're interested check that post again in the next day or two.
Thanks for your comments and letting us know you're following our blog. It's good to know you're on the trip with us .... you're all in our thoughts and in our conversations too.
As we drove into West Virginia yesterday, it didn't seem too much different. Same lush green hills/mountains, many trees, occasional farm; after all we were in the Appalachian Mountains. It was also so cool and clean, it was really beautiful.
A difference we noticed was that there were more towns in WV than in Kentucky. It could be because it's a smaller state and they have less space to put the towns ... I don't know much about the history of West Virginia and why it's name such. We're just enjoying it.
Before we crossed the Kentucky/ West Virginia border, we stopped at another one of the diners that we saw featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives". You would think if it got featured on the show, it would be great food and one of those undiscovered gold mines in the food business. Well, it got mixed reviews and we would add our to the side of "not so good" They may have been short staffed, given this was Sunday, but none of the 8 or so empty tables were bused. It was also a bit smokey, but we decided to wait and see if we could make it through our meal before anyone else came in and "lit up". We watched another couple come in and sit at a dirty, used plate covered table and they immediately got their table cleaned and their order taken. So having stood waiting for direction a while, we figured that was what the locals do. Well the waitress started cleaning other tables before she noticed us and did come right away and cleaned our table. We ordered, and got our food in normal wait time. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, but not bad either. We didn't get halfway through our meal before someone started smoking behind me, to the side of us and a few tables behind Russ. Nothing ruins your food worse than breathing 2nd hand smoke while eating. We couldn't gobble our food fast enough before we high-tailed it out of there. We didn't even stop for their signature dessert as we ran for fresh air. So now we know why they call it "Smokey Valley Truck Stop"
As we drove down the interstate for a few miles, laughing over the stories we would now tell, Jonathan realized that he left his Nintendo DS on the bench seat back at the smokey restaurant. We turned around and fortunately, the waitress saw it first and put it behind the counter for safe keeping. A relieved boy and a happy family, we set off again.
So we arrived in beautiful West Virginia, found our hotel and walked to a pizza chain local to this area; "Bellacino's" They gave us an extra order of cheese bread because they had one extra. So now we have a lot of leftovers. Cold pizza for lunch tomorrow!
We didn't have anything planned for Charleston, as we needed to get on the road to Virginia. Maybe I can talk Russ into swinging by the beautiful golden domed capital building as we drive out of town.
I'll be adding another event to yesterdays post about our visit to the Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky so if you're interested check that post again in the next day or two.
Thanks for your comments and letting us know you're following our blog. It's good to know you're on the trip with us .... you're all in our thoughts and in our conversations too.
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