Corn season is the best at the Morgantown Farmers Market, and it's Bernatowicz Farm's specialty. While other vendors do offer some corn, it's what brings Bernatowicz out. The Kingwood farm sells sweet corn right out of the back of a pick-up truck.

Does it get much better? SO GOOD. I boiled a pot of water, added two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of lemon juice and then added the corn. Cover it. Turn off the heat. Let it sit for 10 minutes. All of the butter. Delicious.

No, I'm not turning in Marilyn Hagerty. Promise (though she is kind of a badass, tbh). I never thought I'd ever write about a McDonald's ...

BUT THE ONE IN SPENCER, WEST VIRGINIA, HAS PIZZA.

PIZZA.

It's just one of two locations left in the United States that still serves pizza. This was kind of a BFD a few months back when this discovery went viral on the web. The Daily Mail even made the trip to try it for themselves. Two McDonald's left in the United States that still serve pizza, and one is right in Spencer, West Virginia.

My friends were shocked when I suggested McDonald's. I'm a fierce advocate of NOT chain restaurants, but c'mon.

The McPizza was launched in the late '80s and was gone from menus by the late '90s due to its long cooking time - 11 minutes. However, Greg Mills, who owns a McDonald's store in Pomeroy, Ohio, and Spencer, West Virginia, continues to keep pizzas on the menu.



When I went into the McDonald's, I thought maybe I flubbed and went to the wrong location. I just saw the menu plastered with Big Macs and Quarter Pounders. BUT, off to the side was the pizza menu.

They come in both personal and family sizes. You can get cheese, pepperoni, sausage or deluxe. Or you can add on a second family pizza for a deal. Additional toppings include pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, sausage, green peppers and cheese. I squealed with excitement. The woman behind the counter said something like "y'all ain't from around here, huh?" I realized I was acting like a fangirl. I had to calm down. I ordered a personal cheese pizza with mushrooms.

Apparently the pizzas are popular sellers. The woman warned us it would take a little while. That was A-OK with me. We took our drinks and sat down.

Side note: Maggie had never had a Big Mac before (wtf?), so she ordered one. Isn't she adorable?

So, the verdict: You know, the pizza is alright. The sauce is indeed sweet, the crust was lightly crispy and a bit greasy. They don't skimp on the cheese, which I totally dig. It wasn't bad. It's about where I'd expect a McDonald's pizza to be.

The hotdog culture in West Virginia is real. Exhibit A: http://wvhotdogblog.blogspot.com/. And it's something I didn't really "get" until I was living in Charleston. A hotdog joint has a certain appeal to it. It's not refined or classy. It's just a thing unto itself.

Charleston has a few hotdog joints - Skeenies Hot Dogs being one. Well, technically Sissonville. I think.

The Hot Dog Blog says that real West Virginia hot dogs - those with chili, slaw, mustard and onions - began at the Stopette Drive In on Route 21 outside of Charleston city limits in the 1920s. Skeenies is located near the old site of the drive in, so maybe there's some connection that the new concoction migrated to Skeenies. I know I wanted to find out.

My good friend Ashley (and her nephew!) and I went to get some hot dogs. The experience was a bit ... odd, I would say. I ordered one WV-style hot dog. I asked if they had water. K. I only had a $20, and the woman asked if I had a smaller bill. No, or I would've used it. I'm lucky I have cash at all - and ATMs usually dish out $20 bills as the smallest denomination. Then, when she gave me money back, she shorted me a buck. Remind you, my total was only like a buck something, so being shorted a whole buck made a difference. A guy came over, grabbed a buck out of the cash register, handed it to me and said "next!" K.

Whatever. I took my hot dog and sat down on the makeshift table to the left. And when I say makeshift, I mean a few 5-gallon buckets stacked upside down with a board laid across as the table. Then, another set of 5-gallon buckets (with a few more added to make it taller) and another board for the seat part. Ashley came over with the bottles of water (!!!) she bought and handed me one. So, I guess they do sell water.

The hotdog is good. The bun is steamy, the chili is a perfect accent, and the ton of slaw on top was a perfect finely chopped consistency. It's a good hotdog. The other mixups and general ambiance is a solid meh. But it's a good hotdog.



Grade: B

I've been to two other Colasessano's locations: Morgantown (now closed) and Fairmont (Pennsylvania Avenue). I decided to round out the trio with their Mall Loop location.

I was mostly here to do some pepperoni book research, but I got a pepperoni bun in the process. This bun is baked golden brown with sticks of pepperoni inside. It's then split, their signature meat sauce is added, mild, mixed or hot peppers and then provolone. Then baked til it's bubbling and stringy.

This one was done much better than previous ones I've had. Look at all that cheese! Talk about a West Virginia comfort food.


Grade: A

Christopher's Eats was recently listed in the 101 unique places to dine in WV list. The restaurant boasts its coal-fired oven and flatbreads, which are baked to perfection at 900 degrees, according to the website.



The Barboursville restaurant is located in a strip mall, which I wasn't expecting. But at least there is ample parking. The menus have also seen better days, but I was easily able to make my way to the "Artisan Flats."

Tom went with the "Ms. Piggy" flatbread, which has red sauce, pepperoni, pork belly, sausage, mozzarella and romano. I think he was OK with it; just not in love with it. Mostly pepperoni and sausage - kinda missing the pork belly.

I ordered the greek flatbread, which has white sauce, romano, roasted garlic spread, olive, red onion, tomato, spinach, feta, oregano and greek vinaigrette. Totally beautiful, right? It's gorgeous. And the first bite or so was good - nice chunks of feta and a little crunchy red onion. Then as I got inward, the vinaigrette kind of consumed everything, making it soggy, and the flatbread itself wasn't crispy. So everything just kind of ended up being mush. I couldn't pick up a piece to eat; I used my fork and knife to take a few more bites until it was just too soggy to be appealing.

I think if the flatbread was crisp and had an actual crust, that texture difference would have been key. Maybe less vinaigrette to avoid that sog factor. That might also mean less toppings - I'm OK with that. But everything just getting mushy isn't super appetizing.

Grade: C