Wrdensville is a cool little town with a handful of amazing, locally owned shops and restaurants. Drifters Cafe is one of those - and a hidden gem, as it is literally on the backside of a building with a bookstore so you need to walk around to get to the entrance. This open space offers food and coffee in a relaxing, fast-casual environment. I opted for a blended hot cocoa and breakfast quesadilla with a side of avocado ranch. A frozen hot chocolate is maybe one of my most favorite drinks. It may be partly because of the paradox, but I know I just enjoy it. It is sweet, has that icytexture and has just a tiny touch of bitterness from the cocoa, making it not too sweet. The breakfast quesadilla was huge. It could have fed too easily. I enjoy the concept here, but I do wish that there was some more melted cheese and salsa. The ranch just didn't hit like salsa would. Overall, though, I did enjoy this combo and would be happy to stop here again to try some more menu items. Grade: B

Star Mercantile is an antique shop, local goods store and restaurant all wrapped up into one.

They even have the shop across the road which has even more goodie inside.

But I stopped by quickly to get some snacks for my upcoming train ride later in the day.

You order at the counter, find a seat, then they bring your food.

The menu features hearty breakfasts, broasted chicken, hot dogs, burgers, and sandwiches.

For something portable, I went for "The Patwich," -- Not your ordinary grilled cheese. Made with potato bread, cheese, butter & love.


While waiting for it to cook, I looked around at the local products, antiques and more. This was perfect for my trip!

Here's a quick snap of the Trough, where we saw three eagles!



And the last state park I had to check off my list.

The Lost River Trading Post is a unique spot that combines art, local goods and tasty snacks.

With the trademark red cow out front, this shop truly has a little bit of everything, and I was excited to explore it.

While looking around, I found antiques, jewelry, blankets and more.

There's even a fine art gallery.

At the cafe portion, they have frittatas, coffee, biscuits, sweets and even falafel.

The latter sounded perfect for my scenic train ride later in the day.

And, it's a little unexpected and unique! What's your favorite item here?

I headed over to the Lost River area to check off the last state park on my list.

And while in the area, of course I wanted to check out some local fare.

One place that I recently heard of was the Wardensville Garden Market + Bakery.

The Wardensville Garden Market + Bakery is a nonprofit farm that employs local youth, encouraging their entrepreneurial spirit through small-scale sustainable farming in an education-rich environment. Our goal is to enhance the knowledge of local youth by teaching them how to run and sustain a successful small business, and by offering opportunities to pursue new career paths, through classes and scholarships.  We reinvest 100% of every purchase and donation made back into the program to hire and inspire even more young people (ABOUT).

How cool is that? The bakery is really cute and known for these gigantic cinnamon rolls. They even had free samples of cookies!


As I was getting ready to leave, I saw the entire other half of the place - the market!



It's such a cute space with some great local products.


Have you been here yet? What's your favorite item?

It's not so much of a restaurant (and doesn't sell many food products), but Lucky Johnson General Store does sell coffee and some snacks. So, that's good enough for me.

This shop is the cutest with tons of West Virginia themed goodies to snag. And their coffee is locally roasted, organic and fair trade and can be purchased by the bag and brewed fresh. And, if you're lucky, you might snag a vegetarian/vegan snack.

Grab a delicious coffee, browse this sweet shop and get a cool piece to take home.

Lost River Brewing Company is actually located in Wardensville along this very cute stretch of shops. I don't know that I have ever had a Lost River beer before, so I had no idea what to expect. And, as soon as I walked in, I was impressed.

First of all, this place is beautiful. There's a huge bar with wooden stools, large dark wooden beams down the center, tall tables and decorative lighting that makes it feel warm, yet sleek. Plus, paper on the tables with crayons.

The menu is also incredibly diverse. They serve everything from salmon tartare to a jumbo soft pretzel. Bison meatloaf. Chicago hot dogs. If I were to run a restaurant, it would be the same way - just all of my favorite things in one place (ice cream, sushi, queso, pasta carbonara).

I didn't want to stuff myself too full because of the various stops we had planned during this day, so I instead ordered an appetizer of macaroni and cheese, a cup of the Maryland Style Crab soup and a side of hush puppies. Plus, of course, samples of each of the beers.

Let's start with the macaroni and cheese. It was a cup full of cheesy cavatappi noodles with caramelized shallots, cheddar and feta. Delicious.

The soup had these giant hunks of white crab meat and tons of veggies. Additional optional Old Bay on the rim. Definitely received the seal of approval from my Maryland native friend.

And the hushpuppies. Light, flavorful and so, so good.

Onto the beer. Easy enough: All of these were delicious. From a dark coffee beer to a lighter hoppy beer, they were all on point.

So, go. Go eat everything on the menu. Go drink all of the beers. Tell them they're your favorite. They'll probably like that. Enjoy.

Grade: A