One of my favorite new-ish stores in West Virginia is the Blue Ridge Bee Company in Princeton.



"Blue Ridge Bee Company is based in the heart of the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia. When we started hearing of the mass honey bee die-off we became interested in saving this valuable creature. After much studying, we started our honey operation in 2014 and have expanded each year since.



In December 2019, we opened our store on Mercer Street in the Grassroots District. We came to this district with a vision of opening a store that was reminiscent of an old-timey general store, selling local bread, meats, honey, jewelry, soap, and more, while also supplying customers with beekeeping equipment and training. Our main goal is to teach people to keep bees properly, helping them thrive throughout the year and rebuild the bee populations."



This lovely storefront, in addition to selling a wide variety of local honey, has so many local goods. There are old-fashioned candies,  local breads and baked goods an even ice cream.



Of course, I had to try the honey - but specifically the WV Wildflower honey. You may think that all honey tastes the same, but when you try a few, you can notice the floral notes or woody notes or whatever type it may be.



One really cool thing they also have here is a line of canned specialty goods under their brand name. Chow chow, dilly beans, jams, jellies, relish - I love these items because they have that Appalachian twist and are not always something you can find in a grocery store. 



In addition to getting some of the name brand products (which are all delicious!), I went for some other local ones, like this Moonstruck Maple Syrup. Which is SO tasty.



This makes me think... I need to do a whole list on WV honey and maple syrups. 



Have you been here before? 

There's a certain void that a smoothie can fill. It's light and refreshing and can be more healthy or more indulgent depending on the ingredients.



At the mall in Barboursville, there's a new smoothie spot: Green Revolution. They have smoothies, smoothie bowls, salads and avocado toast. Many of the options have some feel-good, healthy ingredients. 



I went for a strawberry-banana smoothie - a pretty standard, solid option at most smoothie places. This one was made with yogurt and no added sugar, so it still had the same great flavor without the additional sweetness.



Does that make it a bit more bland? Maybe. Does it make it more guilt-free? Yes. And they even have a paper straw to be environment-friendly. But, man, it sure does get yummy and difficult to use after a bit.



Have you been? I'm curious about the avocado toast! 

Grade: B

We're back in Milton for dinner time! But, this isn't country, homecooking. Instead, it's a bit higher end cuisine at The Venetian Restaurant. 



The Venetian Restaurant is one part of The Venetian Estate, which also includes an event venue and pub. I've previously been to the pub, which is nice but more casual.



When Dawn and I came to check it out, there was a bit of confusion on whether we would be able to join or not because we didn't have a reservation. So we waited for a bit and then were guided to a table in a room off to the left near a wine cabinet. 



The space here really is lovely. It's like a classic home with lots of lovely touches. The service didn't necessarily match the ambiance, though. It was a little hectic and unorganized, but once we finally had a server it was smooth sailing. We started off with some rolls and butter. A little chilly so it was tough to spread, but tasty nonetheless.



Dawn ordered a few appetizers as her main meal, which she was generous to let me sample. First, soft pretzels and beer cheese. I really enjoyed the flavor, though the cheese texture was a bit grainy and began to separate. 



The meatballs were different ... the ground beef had a little funk to it - not necessarily in a bad way. But almost gamey. And the sauce was sweet with a twang. I appreciate that this was a little different, but not necessarily to my tastes.



But for my appetizer, I went with these little beef wellingtons. I've never had beef wellington before, so I was excited for this. They were like mini, savory, tender pieces of beef enrobed in puff pastry with a thick gravy for dipping. It was very savory, and I would've loved like a sour cream or something light and creamy as a relief from the savory.



My entree was scallops and grits. It looked  a little sparse, but still had some great flavors. The scallops were a bit smaller than the giant ones you may see elsewhere, but they had a very light sear and slight sweetness.



Finally, dinner was a bourbon butter cake. It was a pretty dense, almost cornbread like slice topped with ice cream and berries. It wasn't very sweet - most of that came from the berries and ice cream. But I enjoyed it.

Grade: B

 
Here's this month's J.Q. Dickinson Appalachian Mercantile Box. 



This month includes coffee, a coffee scoop, bbq sauce, rib rub, lavender mist, and honey.

Princeton is consistently improving and adding all kinds of new, fun things. One of those new things is Totally Glazed, a donut shop on Mercer Street. 



The shop has a sorta retro vibe with the awning and then some graffiti art. Brick walls lay the way for bright, white counters full of donuts. FULL OF DONUTS.



As I perused all the different flavors, I matched the chalkboard menu on the wall with the options in front of me. Lemon Glazed. Oreo. Peanut Butter. Pumpkin.

They also have donut holes - or BITES - with cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, peanut butter, maple bacon, and more. 



Since I wanted to try out a bunch of different flavors, I went for a half dozen with six different options.



But here's some delish donut p0rn for you adore.



Peanut butter! Maple pecan!



Pumpkin! Fruity pebbles!

 

And here's my final six: peanut butter, pumpkin, cookies & cream, maple pecan, fruity pebbles and I think regular glazed. I think it's a bit tough to mess up a donut. And these were good. Not especially different, but good, solid and reliable.

Grade: B