We've made it, you guys. The very LAST restaurant on the 101 Most Unique Places to Dine in WV list. The VERY LAST one! It's hard to really guess how long it took me to knock off this list, because I had about half of them already complete when the list came out, and then I was just casually knocking them off as I could. Within the past 6 months or so, I've really focused on completing those ones that are out along unbeaten paths in the state. Like the Holly River State Park Restaurant in Hacker Valley.

Fun story: I actually tried to visit this place earlier this year while knocking off a few other restaurants in the area. Then, MUCH to my dismay, I discovered it is seasonal. It is closed during the winter and opens back up in April. It's only open Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Memorial Day. Then, it should be open daily until Labor Day, then it goes back to weekends only. BUT, you'd be safe to just give them a call if you are planning a visit (304-493-9493).

After the 2.5 hour drive south, I arrived at the cabin that houses the restaurant. And - with a sigh of relief - I saw other vehicles parked out front. Yes! Open! This time, when I turned the door knob to the screen door, it opened and revealed this rustic, wood-paneled dining room. There was one table enjoying a meal, and I found a table toward the back.

After a few minutes, I received the menu. They were no longer serving breakfast, but everything else was up for grabs. I had read the meatloaf was great, and the homemade pies and cakes were divine. So, I ordered up the meatloaf dinner with mashed potatoes (and gravy) and corn. I also ordered a slice of hot cherry pie.

The restaurant is operated by Debby Schoolcraft Catering, who I can only assume was the woman who waited on me because she apologized profusely for my initial wait. And, she took care of me for the whole meal - always tending to my refills and asking if the food is good.

The meatloaf, while good flavoring, was a bit dry. I remedied that by sharing the giant helping of mashed potatoes and gravy with each bite of meatloaf. The mashed potatoes are very thin and reminded me of school cafeteria food - but not in a bad way. I actually liked them. Also, a big fan of the roll served with dinner.

Dessert, though, was so good. This pie was piping hot and perfect. The crumbly crust and sweet cherries were a special treat that I don't get often. If you're in the area, stop by and get yourself a nice heaping helping of pie.

Grade: B

The Boston Beanery is a casual American restaurant that has a few locations in the Morgantown area (i.e. Evansdale and Downtown). Apparently a few of the locations have branched off under a new rebranded "Beanery American Grill," including a new location right off of I68, Exit 1 near the "other" Walmart.

I remember this building, which is right next to a Quality Inn, previously being a diner. I hadn't gone, but I remember it existing. So, this is the first time I've been in this new building - and I do mean new. There was this almost overwhelming smell of sawdust. It was suffocating at first, but it subsided after a few minutes. This was just their opening week, so everything was brand new.

The inside has dark hardwood, some cool dangling jar lighting and a fairly large dining space. Here's Maggie doing her best to be in public on a Sunday :)

The menu features the same items as other Beanery locations - a variety of fried appetizers, sandwiches, wraps, salads, burgers, pizzas, entrees and "homestyle" sides. I ordered honey BBQ boneless wings with a side of macaroni & cheese.

The "wings," aka adult chicken nuggets, are good. A nice crisp outside, white meat inside and a sweet and tangy sauce - what more could you ask for? Piled atop a bed of curly fries and a side of ranch made it a good, easy meal.

The mac & cheese was more cheese sauce and overcooked noodle, but, again, you can't really go wrong with mac & cheese. Still decent.

For dessert, we ordered a piece of peanut butter pie. This thing was tiny. Think 5 conservative bites - for around $6. It wasn't bad, but it's definitely not what I was envisioning. It was more like a liquid peanut butter fudge, as opposed to a more crumbly Reese's filling. Not bad, but definitely too small for that price.

The Beanery is this overall crowd-pleaser because it has a little of everything. That cousin who only eats pizza? Got it. The vegetarian? Yep. Homestyle favorites for dad? Sure. It's an easy, local place to take family. It's comfortable and familiar. And, there's always a time and place for that.


Grade: B

Charleston had its first major beer festival recently (ahem, Morgantown). Foam at the Dome was held at Laidley Field under stormy skies (only raining a bit, though!), with hundreds turning out for a cold one. Or two.

There were definitely some organizational hiccups - like waiting in line for 30 minutes before we even got into the event. But, it's great to see a huge turnout (smart hosting it the same day as the East End Yard Sale). They had more than 40 breweries, 150 beers, 10 restaurant vendors and 20 artisans.

Those breweries included: Country Boy Brewing, Charleston Brewing Company, Berkeley Springs Brewing Company, Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company, Screech Owl Brewing, Saranac, Morgantown Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing, Bridge Brew Works, Chestnut Brew Works, Terrapin Beer Company, Big Timber Brewing Company, Blue Mountain Brewery, Dobra Zupas, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Breckenridge Brewery, Flying Dog Brewery, Mountain State Brewing Company, Duvel Moortgat Brewery, Samuel Adams, Sierra Nevada, Shipyard Brewing Company, Green Flash Brewing Company, Rogue Ales & Spirits, Harpoon Brewery, Leinenkugel Brewing Company, Sunken City Brewing Company, Ommegang Brewery, Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company, Sea Dog Brewing Company, DuClaw Brewing Company, Finch’s Beer Company, Goose Island Beer Company, Kona Brewing Company, Oskar Blues Brewery, Redhook Brewery, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Widmer Brothers, Yuengling, Lost River Brewing Company, Magic Hat Brewing Company, and Weihenstephan.

After devouring beef sandwiches, deep dish pizzas, and tons of hotdogs that have been dragged through the garden, my sweet tooth was feeling neglected. Time to fix that.

A quick google search for sweets near my current location brought up Vosges Haut-Chocolat, which are luxury chocolates in a strange, sort-of enchanted setting. Think dark purple, bright green grass/vines and black everything. These dark chocolates take on interesting spices, flowers, herbs and more in flavor.

We decided to try a few different treats. I bought a chocolate caramel marshmallow, which was quite good. The dark chocolate is not my favorite, but the caramel and marshmallow made up for it.

And I also got a packet of petits chocolats, which had caramel filled pink himalayan, smoke & stout, blood orange and black salt flavors. My overall thoughts? These are OK. I like the caramel, but the percentage of cacao is not what my tastebuds are used to. But, definitely very cool to combine neat flavors and do it in this strange, fantastic world.

I've been hearing a lot more about The Frosted Mug lately, because they've bumped up their advertising, specials and even host team trivia now. Located off Greenbag Road, The Frosted Mug is a total dive bar that typically townies frequent.

But, guess what, after living here for 10 years, I think I'm pretty much a townie now. I convinced my friend Katie to join me for dinner here.

It's not much to look at from the outside, with dark windows outside beside a sign that says "bikers welcome. no colors." I was concerned for a second this was racist, but then realized it's just referring to biker clubs?

When we walked in, it was clear we don't know where to go or what to do, and all eyes were on us. Whatever. I'm used to this. We found a table that was free, and I walked up to the bar to ask for a menu. After some seats cleared out at the bar, we moved up there and placed our orders. Their "Mugwich" burger seems to be the special, so I ordered that - and a water. Which was probably super strange.

Side note: I invited my longtime Twitter friend Rose to join us (mostly because I solicited her advice about this place because I assume she knows all things bar-related or townie-related), so it was awesome to see her here!

After a little wait, my burger came out - stacked high and accompanied by fries. The bun on the burger was fluffy. Stellar. The burger - while decent on flavor - was just a bit dry. I think because it was so dense and cooked to well done that it dried it out a bit. It's a huge burger, though, and the fries were good.




Grade: B