California - Lone Pine - Alabama Hills Cafe and Bakery & Totem Cafe by Dave Hileman

Cindy and I had never heard of Lone Pine or of the Alabama Hills until we began to research where we would stay before going on to Death Valley National Park. And then we did not know what a gem we were going to see. The town was neat and the old motel, Dow Villa, was where John Wayne and a host of others stayed while movies and tv shows were filmed at the nearby Alabama Hills. We ate two places in town, both pretty good. We ate a late lunch at the Totem. An eclectic menu that matched an eclectic place. The most notable things was the ear of corn Cindy ordered that was covered in cheeses and salsa and ?? She loved it. The next morning we got a take out breakfast form the bakery. French toast, eggs, bacon - usual food but done well. There is a rumor that a cinnamon roll might have been spotted as well. We ate in the courtyard of the motel. This was a really nice stop and I would love to return here and explore more of the area. It is in the shadow of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states.

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North Carolina - Raleigh - Angus Barn by Dave Hileman

One of the most popular restaurants in Raleigh is the Angus Barn. Every evening the parking lot is full, very full. It opened in 1960 along what was then a rural highway between Raleigh and Durham. Facing the enormous odds of the restaurant industry, but armed with stellar customer service and food, the Angus Barn endured and the lights of the red barn became a Raleigh dining landmark. It is a birthday, anniversary, celebration kind of place.

This spring, Geof and Laura asked us to find our business casual clothes and pick them up at 6:00 on a Wednesday night. They directed us to the Angus Barn entrance around back for personalized dining in the basement kitchen with our own chef. Also on the lower level are two or three beautiful private dining rooms and an 18,000 bottle wine cellar that we toured after dinner.

What an amazing meal! We verified allergies and preferences but there was no ordering. The chef and our servers delivered an impeccable meal along with a wine chosen for each course: shrimp and bruschetta appetizers, salad, bread, soup, and steak, shrimp and salmon entrees with fantastic vegetables, and an incredible chocolate souffle plus the signature Angus Barn pound cake for our 50th Anniversary. Excellent food and delightful company - the whole experience was unforgettable.

The Angus Barn lives up to all the accolades it receives. It deserves a visit to create your special memory.

http://www.angusbarn.com

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Arizona - Kingman - Mr D'Z Rt 66 Diner by Dave Hileman

We visited Kingman and found a lot more to see than we expected after the disappointment we had at Barstow, CA. Kingman was well preserved, seemed reasonably prosperous and the history of the town along with Rt 66 memorabilia was well presented. There was an excellent museum and that led us to lunch across the street at Mr. DZ. Not the best food we have eaten but more than okay. What made it special was the ambiance and the root beer float. The building and the decor was 1950’s - 60’s everything (but the prices). Along with my burger I ordered a root beer float. At first I was a bit disappointed because there was so much ice cream that the root beer was gone in a sip. Then the waitress - no waitstaff here - came past with a pitcher of root beer and filled my glass, three times. Excellent. It was a fun and convenient place for a quick lunch. Get a float if you stop.

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Nevada - Las Vegas - Freeds Bakery by Dave Hileman

Las Vegas is over the top. Bigger hotels, more casinos, more shows, bigger billboards, and lots and lots of “interesting” people. Lots. So it is fitting that Freeds Bakery is here. Freeds is large, it is extravagant, it is amazing. We found it because Cindy is diligent and read some reviews and off we went because who can resist a local bakery. We were amazed. We bought a slice of cake - cause they are famous for the cakes. The fellow who helped us said they sell hundreds of cakes every day. They have 18 full time bakers and scores of decorators. While we were there, admittedly a bit long for a bakery visit :) we saw a dozen or more people picking up cakes. In the morning on a weekday! In addition to our cake slice, we had some superlative cookies and one perfect cinnamon pastry that I wish I had right now with my coffee. If you are in Las Vegas, go to Freeds, - just take your time the choices are overwhelming and everything we ate was exquisitely done. Not just the taste but the presentation and even the proper boxes for a bakery.

And they do mail order, now what cookies must I have?

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Michigan - Portage - Full City Cafe by Dave Hileman

I was so hungry for a good breakfast. I wanted eggs, crisp bacon and decent toast. Not to mention coffee, the coffee had been abysmal. So as we neared lunch time I asked Kellen - who was excellent at finding a neat place to eat - fo find an “all day” breakfast place. He located Full City Cafe, serving until 2:00 about 10 miles away. We headed directly there and arrived by 1:15. Wow, it was so good. Kellen had a Nashville hot chicken sandwich with a fried egg that he declared excellent and spicy tots, my meal was perfect. All I wished for but better because the bread was really good and the coffee, finally, excellent. If you are traveling along 94 in Michigan I can highly recommend the Full City Cafe. Just watch your speed the 3 miles from the intersttate, lots of police patrols and speeders were being ticketed.

The food was so good and we were hungry so I almost did not get a photo! Did I mention the coffee - two refills from our fine server were just right.

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Massachusetts - Cape Cod, Dennis - Captain Frosty's by Dave Hileman

We were roaming Cape Cod, our trailer was off the peninsula and we were hungry as it was getting late. We asked someone where to eat great seafood reasonably priced and they said Captain Frosty’s. We found it about 4 miles away and set the GPS - when we arrived I thought, no this is not what we want. It did not first seem as well presented as a Captain D’s and that was not my favorite, not close. But in the parking lot we saw car after car. And found that it is highly rated on Zagot, Fodors, Best of Boston and lots more and the reviews were excellent. And so was the fish. Wow. You ordered at the counter, found a seat and they called your name. Excellent haddock and lots of it. Instead of hush puppies you get the same type of side but with clams. We intended to get a Frosty but we were both too full. You deserve better photos, I will head back and take those for you. They also have clams, scallops, shrimp and lobster rolls.

https://captainfrosty.com

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New York - Poughkeepsie - La Deliziosa Pastry Shoppe (3 photos) by Dave Hileman

Poughkeepsie is not the place you would normally want to stop on the way to, well, to anywhere. One of the worst hotels I ever stayed at is in Poughkeepsie. They do have some decent diners and a college and a mile-long bridge high over the Hudson that you can walk across and that is pretty neat. None of those are reasons to go out of your way to Poughkeepsie. La Deliziosa’s is that reason. Located almost under the bridge in a tiny section of the town near industrial places along the river is a remarkable Italian pastry shop. We love to make this a pause on our trip to Maine because then we have cannoli and cookies and pastry for a week. Or maybe a couple of days. And you get all that goodness in little white boxes tied up with string. Classic.

https://www.ladeliziosany.com and check out TripAdvisor for reviews.

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Virginia - Exmore - Diner by Dave Hileman

I did not get to eat here in December which was disappointing. I have not gone to Chincoteague too often by myself but those times I did leaving early in the morning meant a stop at the Exmore Diner on Virginia’s Eastern Shore for breakfast. The food is not exceptional but it is good, fixed to order and on the inexpensive side. The treat is the place and the cliental - mostly locals with interesting conversations bouncing around the room that included a full length counter and a few booths. This place is an authentic diner and been here for decades. Eat at one like this before they are all gone.

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Virginia - McGaheysville - Klines Dairy Bar by Dave Hileman

Klines has been serving frozen custard in the Shenandoah Valley for nearly 80 years and this one is, I think, the newest location - right at the foot of Massanutten Mountain. I, of course, have had a cone at all five locations, the hard part of traveling all over Virginia for work:) They have two standard flavors and one or two special daily flavors and you can buy it hard packed as well. Klines is very good and worth a stop. So is the Shenandoah Valley for hundreds of reasons.

https://www.klinesdairybar.com

sorry about the blurry photo it was windy, cold and I wasn’t holding the iPhone very well.

sorry about the blurry photo it was windy, cold and I wasn’t holding the iPhone very well.

Virginia - New Market - Jackson's Corner Cafe and Coffee Shop (4 photos) by Dave Hileman

When we are traveling and want a cup of coffee I am always optimistic that the next little town will have a great place with ambiance, good pastry, fine coffee and be a “perfect” place. Occasionally I am right. We won’t go into percentages here. In New Market, Virginia in the Northern Shenandoah Valley on old Route 11 is my perfect place. All five of us were searching for coffee and a block away we located the place in an historic old hotel (civil war era) - first bonus points. They had a fire (2nd BP) comfortable chairs and tables (3rd BP) very good and reasonably prices coffees in actual mugs (4th BP). Additionally, excellent pastry, historic photos on the walls and a welcoming staff. (+BPs). I would leave I-81 any day of the year to stop here. Highly recommend this oasis of comfort and caffeine if you live, are traveling through or need a nice place to visit for a bit New Market has some quite nice shops, history, the New Market Battlefield and a superb museum. GO.

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One of several well done signs and photos.

One of several well done signs and photos.

This photo of the VMI Cadets marching on Main Street en route to the reenactment of the battle is interesting for in it you see why the National Park Service begun in 1917 use the style of hats they do today, taken from the military ones of the time.

This photo of the VMI Cadets marching on Main Street en route to the reenactment of the battle is interesting for in it you see why the National Park Service begun in 1917 use the style of hats they do today, taken from the military ones of the time.

I do recommend that you check for “shady” characters hanging out nearby. The General Store was a find full of unique and interesting Virginia items.

I do recommend that you check for “shady” characters hanging out nearby. The General Store was a find full of unique and interesting Virginia items.

Tennessee - Pigeon Forge - Cruze Farm Dairy by Dave Hileman

Looking for ice cream is nearly a full-time job while traveling. So many places sell you a cone but are not making nor, in some cases, even taking good care of their ice cream. I don’t avoid brands of ice cream, like Hershey’s for example, but don’t hide it from me. And don’t charge me gourmet home made prices. And, I admit, I have long been suspicious of soft serve ice cream. So many of those are cheap, grainy, runny and tasteless. But there are exceptions and Cruze Farm Dairy is not only an exception it is exceptional. We stumbled on it in the midst of picking up our dinner from the excellent Five Oaks Kitchen - we were doing take out instead of dining in this week and there it glowed on the hill right behind Five Oaks. We picked up some already in the freezer pints and went back to the house. Everyone liked it and plans were afoot to go back for more. We referred to it as the “Pretty Girl Ice Cream Shop”: and there were a lot of young women who were all dressed in red gingham and bright, matching red lipstick. A cute theme carried out in the decor of the whole shop. Yet it is the ice cream that is the star here, smooth, full of flavor - a simply wonderful product that means I must rethink my long held prejudice and expand my ice cream limits. A very good thing.

Cruze Farm features products from their own dairy including milk and has three locations in the Knowville area. https://www.cruzefarm.com

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Cadillac’s new found celebrity made him even more difficult to live with. Here4 is one of his “fans.”

Cadillac’s new found celebrity made him even more difficult to live with. Here4 is one of his “fans.”

The Moose working on a new potential product for endorsement.

The Moose working on a new potential product for endorsement.

Louisiana - Cane River Heritage Area - Cane River Commissary by Dave Hileman

Well, this was interesting. CJH had a shrimp po’boy sandwich that was amazing. Huge, And with hand cut fries. It was really good (I know cause she gave me a slice of the sandwich. Just excellent. Mine on the other hand, well I did not really like it. I had jambalaya and it was very dark and I just didn’t enjoy it. but interesting place. This whole area is very special - old plantations, old river houses, tiny towns and beautiful churches. We really enjoyed the main town, Natchitoches. More later on the area.

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Georgia - Marietta - Stockyard by Dave Hileman

Just off the square in downtown Marietta is the Stockyard. We were hard pressed to find a place open after 2:00 but these folks were so we ducked in out of the rain for lunch with friends, Billy and Debbie Swain. Turns out it was a decent choice. My burger was excellent with homemade pickles. CJH had a pork BBQ sandwich that was good as well, with large pieces of meat. Enjoyed the food and the company.

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Pennsylvania - Strasburg - Down on the Farm by Dave Hileman

Yup, another ice cream place. When most restaurants are closed or you are not certain if eating at a new place in less than ideal circumstances is wise, the ice cream still beckons. Often you can be served at a window but you can tell pretty quickly if it seems clean and well prepared in the Year of Covid. This one ticked off all boxes labeled “concern” and as a bonus it had very good ice cream. Excellent really. Lots of flavor choices and very reasonable prices and nice people. As most ice cream people are. Down of the Farm farm is two miles south of Strausburg and we did not go there, save that for the next trip but we ate twice (or three times?) at the store near the Strasburg train station. The place was neat, clean, and had milk and homemade fudge and other treats. There were several young kids there as well and one very young girl was practicing weighing out candy. She would fill a bag, take it to the scale, weigh it and recored the price, then do it all over again. I had a very interesting cone here, chocolate carmal espresso. Had some whole coffee beans in the mix. Loved it and the key lime pie. Other flavors tried by the group included black raspberry, butter brickle, salted carmel pretzel and a mint. Not a bad taste in the batch. We still love Lapps but now we may alternate ice cream in the land of Lancaster.

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Pennsylvania - Gettysburg - Mr G's Ice Cream by Dave Hileman

Over the years and frequent trips we have not found many places we enjoy eating in Gettysburg since the demise of the Dutch Cupboard - way too many years ago. We have recently enjoyed Appalachian Brewing Company. However we also have found a very good ice cream place, Mr G’s. Now Gettysburg has a lot of choices within two or three blocks including Kilwin’s which is superior ice cream but we like to try local places, that make their own. Mr B’s is excellent, generous size scoops, very good flavors and pleasant staff. It was a nice, warm night after a hot day and to finish the day on a bench with our two cones - one being a well-crafted salted caramel, just perfect.

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Pennsylvania - Strasburg - Speckled Hen by Dave Hileman

Yes, I know there is no hen in the photo and no restaurant shot either, someone forgot to take a photo. I am sure that our new scheduler position will be filled soon. In the meanwhile, in Lancaster area in June there were some but not a lot of choices and we found this place on Main Street in Strasburg. They served good coffee, some interesting flavors of beverages, sandwiches, baked goods and breakfast all day. We ate here twice. I am told by the contingent traveling with me that the chicken salad was quite good. I can only vouch for the coffee and the egg, bacon and bagel sandwich that was also very good, not quite up to the Morning Glory standards but still a good sandwich.

Check them out here: https://www.speckledhencoffee.com

Not a pretty as a speckled hen but OK, right?

Not a pretty as a speckled hen but OK, right?

Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Selection by Dave Hileman

Yes, it has been awhile. I wish it were not and that we were out trying new places but not much new (one for next Thursday) and this is not in that category. Each of the places in this note have been featured on TLTEats!’ in the past. Last week we were in Lancaster along with Dennis and Kathy Mook (The Wandering Lensman). It was wonderful to get out but it was also a bit odd. We ate at Dienners, Good n Plenty, Lapps (ice cream), Lancaster Market, and the Tomato Pie in Lititz . Dienners was at the top of their game. The restaurant was refreshed and pleasant, the former “dish it yourself service” was now more like a cafeteria and the folks who served you were just great. The food was fine and the experience was really nice.  Well done in the new environment. Good n Plenty was the opposite. The atmosphere and the service were poor, the staff indifferent and the food from mediocre at best. It was uninspired, luke warm and too limited in the selection. They had a great reputation years ago and, I think, lived off the tour bus traffic for a while, I do not expect them to be there by 2021. And if they continue to provide food like our meal, they will not be missed. Lapps Family Farm is just ice cream but that is like saying Monet was just a painter or Jordan just a basketball player. They do ice cream very well and the place is a delight. It was the least changed by the new rules though masks were in abundance. Sitting on the porch on a nice afternoon (or two or three nice afternoons) was special, felt familiar and we enjoyed our time poking around the farm. The Lancaster Market - when you have been in business for 290 years or so you are not going to let a plague force you to close. It was mostly like the past but limited numbers in the building, masks and don’t handle the produce. Still super food, unique offerings, great selections all at fair prices. Yay for the market. Tomato Pie was good, maybe a bit better than most but they did not quite have the rhythm of serving and staffing down. I think they will get there and the food will improve again to the expected quality. But we were fine with our meal here. We will share the one new place we ate next Thursday, stay tuned.

Central Market in downtown Lancaster.  This market has continuously operated since 1730. I remember coming here in the late 60’s on to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Notice the few people. They were limiting the number of individuals allowed i…

Central Market in downtown Lancaster. This market has continuously operated since 1730. I remember coming here in the late 60’s on to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Notice the few people. They were limiting the number of individuals allowed in at one time due to the need to socially distance during this viral pandemic. Also notice how well the Fuji dealt with the extreme contrast of sunny outside and dark inside. Who says the APS 26MP BSI X-Trans CMOS 4 doesn't have good dynamic range? (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T3 with Fujifilm XF16-80mm f/4 R OIS WR, 1/30th sec. @ f/4; ISO 1600 at 19.2mm metering on average, hand held with 71% average humidity and s slight humming noise from the fans.™

Maine - Otter Creek - The Burning Tree by Dave Hileman

Simply one of the best meals we ever had - each of the times we have been here and definitely one of the best times shared with friends. The Burning Tree specializes in sea food but nothing usual, certainly nothing fried. They grow their own herbs and eatable flowers in beds at the restaurant, on old house on the main road from Bar Harbor to Otter Creek. I cannot even describe well the dishes we have had, a haddock broiled in a sauce, a seafood dish infused in a wine broth, cold (and really good) blueberry soup and desserts that are truly one off creations. Not something we can afford regularly but we have been there three times and each one was an adventure in good eating.

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Florida - Disney's Animal Kingdom Resort - Tiffins Nomad Lounge by Dave Hileman

Just as you are about to cross a bridge into Pandora on the right side of the pathway is a restaurant that is a great place for a break. The fancy place inside is Tiffins but the porch and maybe something more than the porch is the Nomad Lounge. On the day we were there is was a great option. I prefer dinning indoors but that was not an option that day so we got a table on the porch and it proved to be a good choice. Your menu is extensive and the service was good, it was quiet! and we had comfortable seats. The food was fine and reasonable enough for Disney, so altogether, a good choice and a really nice break.

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Georga - Americus - Cafe Campesino Coffee Shop by Dave Hileman

One of the things that has changed in the last decade is that you can often find really good coffee where you don’t expect to - and I don’t mean the ubiquitous Starbucks. (Even though they are even welcome at times.) We were in Central Georgia and stayed at a tiny hamlet to visit the Andersonville NHS. Cindy and I both wanted to find some coffee before we left the area to drive to Clermont, FL. I searched on the Apple Maps for “Coffee Shops” and this one popped up 4 miles away. I am optimistic but also often disappointed. Not today. What a nice place and really carefully roasted coffee. We enjoyed the atmosphere and bought a pound as well to enjoy on our trip. In Americus we highly recommend Cafe Campesino Coffee Shop -they offer breakfast and lunch, nice selection of baked goods and fair trade, organic coffee, I don’t think you will be disappointed either.

To learn more or hear their interesting story: https://www.cafecampesino.com

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