I have a sort of strange little attachment to Marlinton. In my undergraduate studies, I spent a weekend in this town for a journalism project where we were "immersed" in the community and produced a video, print story and photo package by the end of the weekend.

I recently visited Marlinton again to check out the Locust Hill Inn, an inn, pub, cabin and restaurant combo located just a little further out from the downtown area. It found itself on the 101 Most Unique Places to Dine in WV list, which means it found itself on my to-go list, too.

The restaurant doesn't open until 5 p.m., and I arrived just a bit after. I found a seat looking out into the dining area, which was homey and still. The restaurant has this comfy country feel.

The menu is small with a cheese platter appetizer, a salad with choice of protein and dressing, and a handful of entrees: pork chop, steak, salmon or crab cakes. It was getting late, and I still had to make the trek back to Morgantown, so I based my decision on what could be easier to eat on the go. That would have to be the crab cakes. After putting in my order and waiting for about 15 minutes, I was told that they do not have any made. And, to make them would take another hour or so. Sigh.

So, I was left to peruse the menu, and this time, I also looked at the daily specials. Chicken marinara sauce over spaghetti seemed like the better of the two. Why not? I wasn't expecting much, as this isn't particularly exciting, but it'll do.

The most endearing part of this entire experience was when I asked if they had plastic cutlery to go, they replied that they didn't. But. They handed me a set of silverware and just told me to return when I can. This was super heartfelt for a few reasons - they had no idea how far I had driven for this meal, and not having that silverware would have made me unable to actually eat this meal on the go (unless I found a store somewhere to purchase some). That, and seriously, only a hometown, local place would ever do something like this.

I took a quick bite of the bread - average. Nothing too stellar. I took another quick bite of the salad - pretty damn good. Fresh, shaved hunks of parmesan, giant croutons and a creamy garlicky house dressing made this salad better than just "good."

The pasta smelled so good, I pulled over for a few minutes to get a sampling. First of all, it's linguini and not spaghetti. Second of all, those sad three mini asparagus are sad. And there was a small black clothing fiber in that empty pocket.

But the pasta... this wasn't just an average pasta dish. It was incredible. It has this deep, sweet tomato flavor. It had to have been slow cooked and babied, because it kind of blew my mind. I was expecting a very average dish, and this had really, really good flavors. I ate every last bite. The fresh shaved parmesan on top was the cherry on top. I can only hope this makes a permanent appearance on their regular menu, because I would be back for it.

Grade: B
 

Snowshoe has some tasty restaurants, but if you wander off the mountain in search of some variety in your dining options, it's likely you'll end up at a small restaurant in Slatyfork. Slatyfork doesn't have a ton of options, but it does have The Fiddlehead, which was recently named to the 101 Most Unique Places to Dine in WV list.

I arrived at The Fiddlehead as soon as it opened (4 p.m. on Saturdays) ... and realized pretty quickly that I probably should have given them some more time to actually open. It was like I walked in and interrupted a get-together amongst the workers. There was a server's coat and purse just hanging out on one of the tables in the middle of the dining room, and pop music was crackling across a radio from the kitchen as people working had more interest in singing along with it than tending to customers. After I ordered and was receiving change back, the folks behind the counter were talking to each other during this transaction, rather than me. It was also very, very clear - via the aroma in the air - that there had been some extracurricular activities happening before my arrival. I mean, whatever. Sigh.

I ordered their fresh cut fries to go, which come with beer cheese, Fiddlehead "fry sauce" and mango habanero ketchup. A lot of other things on the menu actually look appealing - pimento bacon cheeseburger, crab & shrimp jambalaya, and a fig, rosemary and prosciutto pizza all caught my eye. But, fries are supposedly what they are known for.

As soon as the fries were ready, I left and opened them up in my car to snack along my drive. The ketchup was not unlike a regular ketchup - it just had a bit of a sweet flavor. The "fry sauce" is much like a cream "yum yum" sauce from a hibachi restaurant, and the beer cheese - as much as I wanted this one the most - had some interesting textural issues, like something had separated and I couldn't quite get it back together. It was the only sauce served warm, and I just played it safe and avoided that one. Fresh-cut crisp fries? Yes. Pretty decent sauces? Yes. Would I even want to try some of those other tasty items? Definitely. But a good environment? Meh.

Grade: C

To get fueled for a long day of driving ahead of me, I did a quick search for coffee shops while in Hinton. The first place that popped up was Chestnut Revival, a quaint coffee shop on Summers Street.

The shop occupies the bottom floor of this house, and the seating area spreads across the hallway and sprawls into different spaces with eclectic seating and decoration. It's all quite sweet actually.

They do have some lunch items. And, lots of tasty coffee drinks are available: chai latte, pumpkin spice, dirty chocolate, bravado (espresso, half and half, honey), and one called the Tall, Dark & Handsome. When DON'T I want something tall, dark and handsome? It's hot coco, espresso and whipped cream.

After putting in my order, I wandered around the place. I really, really love it here. It's so friendly and cozy and quiet and warm and large windows allow for lots of light. I could spend a whole day here just taking it in.

But when my drink was ready, the woman behind the counter wanted to show me how cute it looked like before she put the lid on. I wanted to grab a photo then, but before I knew it, she warned me to step back because she filled the coffee so far to the top (as she always does), that it will make a mess when she puts the cap on. And, boy did it. She said you'd think she'd just not fill it up all the way, but she doesn't want to short people. I just found that so endearing. She cleaned it up for me, and I was on my way.

And, it was the best damn coffee I've had. It's coffee and hot coco, so it tastes good, and it gives me a nice jolt. I mean, what more could you ask for? I just need to find a local place that will do this for me every day. Because I'm totally obsessed now.

Grade: A
 

Just a handful of places left on my 101 Most Unique Places to Dine in WV list, and Hinton was next up. The Market on Courthouse Square was listed for its "Main Line" - a reuben. So, I didn't need much time to peruse the menu here.

I went up to the counter and ordered this reuben before finding a nice window seat to enjoy my meal.


The reuben is pretty standard. Two pieces of marble rye bread hold a pile of corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and a house-made Russian dressing.




This sandwich was good - very similar to every other reuben I've ever had. It certainly had a ton of corned beef and a generous serving of the sauerkraut. I love when the swiss gets melty so it adds that creamy element to the sandwich, but this sandwich didn't see that. So, overall, good. Anything super special? Not sure. Might have to try another item to see what stands out!

Grade: B
 

I've traveled to a bunch of breweries around the state, but they keep popping up more quickly than I can keep up with! That's a good problem to have, and I'm pleased with how West Virginia is moving forward and capitalizing on this industry.

Stumptown Ales in Davis is one of the more recent breweries to open. These hop-centric craft brews (as they state) pays homage to hops and brews with passion all while embracing the towns history in timbering.

So, hoppy beers. IPAs. Tripels. Sessions. Not exactly my cup of tea, but what the hell?

I ordered a Jack Frost Pale Ale, which was certainly hoppy but also had a lovely well-balanced taste. What goes better with a nice hoppy beer? Food.

They have just a special or two available each night, and on this night up for grabs was a plate full of nachos or a hummus/olive/pita platter. Lisa and I decided on the nachos.

While these were good, they were super heavy on the black beans. But bites of nacho and sips of beer can't go wrong.


Get yourself a pint, nosh on some snacks and take it all in.