Pancake House! Decided on the Log Cabin Pancake House because I could walk to it from the hotel, and they had a lot of pancake variety. Surprising myself, I ended up ordering plain old ordinary buttermilk pancakes with a side of sausage. And ordinary they were, but that was quite alright. An ordinary pancake is practically unrivaled in deliciousness.
The drive out through Pigeon Forge was worse than the drive in, so I was extremely relieved to finally hit the interstate. Just a three hour drive to Bedford, so way shorter than any other trip I'd made so far. Actually fit one more BBQ sandwich into my trip when I stopped at Sheetz for lunch. This was trashy BBQ on a sub roll, drenched in sauce with a cole slaw smear. I liked it. I wouldn't put it in a category with any of the other sandwiches I'd eaten, but I'd eat it again.
Rolling into Bedford. I don't remember anything about this place other than the Peaks, but I certainly don't remember a Wal-Mart, any chain restaurants, any semblance of life in the area really. So, a few changes. But I headed straight up to the Peaks Lodge just to check it out.
You know, it's a pretty stupid thing to do when you're trying to avoid thinking about how old you are, to go revisit a place you haven't been in twenty years, chasing nostalgia. The Peaks area looks pretty much exactly the same, though the inside of the Lodge check-in area and restaurant had changed considerably.
Pretty much it for that day.
Day 9: Heading Home
Rough night of sleep. It was so freakin' hot in the room, and the buttons on the air conditioner just did not seem to be working. Laid there all night just trying to get over it, until about 5 in the morning it occurred to me to unplug the thing and see if that jolted the buttons into use. It did. Probably should have tried that a lot earlier. One of the main reasons I decided to stop in Bedford was the Peaks Of Otter Lodge Sunday Breakfast Buffet, which was one of my favorite things on Earth when I was a lot younger. But, tired as I was, there was just no way I was getting myself together in time to make that, so I skipped it and opted for the free waffle that came with my room. Oh well.
The other thing I wanted to do while I was there, again, idiotically chasing nostalgia, was take the hike up to the Johnson Farm that my family made a million times.
Man that hike seems a lot shorter now. It used to seem like the most arduous thing, but this time I was pretty much up and back in 45 minutes. Not even the length of Ys. (Soundtracking again, and once again perfect.)
Heading out, stopped at a gas station to fill up and ended up leaving with some ENORMOUS apples from the local orchard that were incredibly cheap compared to any grocery store. Amazing how much good stuff actually costs when there's no transport fees involved.
That's pretty much it. On the way home I stopped in Charlottesville for a sweet burger at Riverside Lunch and peanut butter/chocolate frozen custard from Kohr Bros. Awesome. Perhaps the greatest of frozen dessert concoctions. I kind of like Charlottesville. Great way to end it. Within an hour and a half after that I was home doing laundry, watching the Redskins lose, and dreading having to go to work the next day. The end.
Wow, thank you for sharing your adventures! I feel fortunate to understand how truly special this trip was for you. I wish I could have been there, if not interacting directly with you on the trip, then just on the outside, witnessing your glee as you visited Sun Records and Graceland, or agreeing that Beale Street is really only great for nostalgia's sake, to think of all who have played there before, but not really feeling part of the current life. And also living vicariously through you as you came to understand the wonder that is southern BBQ. Thank you for sharing.
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