The West Virginia Renaissance Festival was held this past weekend, and since I have never been, I convinced Sara to make the trek to Lewisburg with me - in costume.



In case you're curious, I wore an off-the-shoulder top with a cape and shorts. Not too outlandish, but still fun.  



We truly weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into. But we knew one thing from the start: It was going to be a HOT day. 



We did get to watch some funny skits and some jousting. 



My main goal, though, was to see what food they had on deck.



First up was Dragon Ice Cream, which had the ice cream bars you'd expect from an ice cream truck. How he was in a dragon costume and not sweating to death, I truly do not know. 



Next up was actual food from The Pub.



I went for a Scotch Egg, which is a boiled egg wrapped in sausage and coated in breadcrumbs before being deep-fried. This was fine, but so, so hot and heavy - which was not the best idea for a hot day. But decent nonetheless. 



I was very cognizant to just have a few bites so I could try a few different things. 



Next up was the sweets building, where I ordered a mixed berry crepe. 



This was a bit of an ordeal - it took quite a while, and then when it was ready, it ripped open. So, the kind woman remade it AND refunded my money. That was really sweet - even though it was totally unnecessary. And, it was a decent crepe. The berries in the middle were still kind of frozen, so it was great for a hot day.



There were a ton of other food places, too, like Friar Tuck’s Pantry, which had cheese curds, chicken and fries and more. 



There was this place with lots of loaded chips and other fried goods.



Finally, my last snack was from Caribbean Specialties, which was an empanada! It's like a savory meat pocket. It was definitely on the dry side, but they gave me a whole side of queso that I couldn't complain about. Interesting pairing, but not bad. 



There was also kettle corn and other goodies I didn't get to check out this time, but I appreciated the variety available. 



Have you ever been?



If so, what's been your favorite bite?



And, shoutout to these cool performance artists! 

Oh, DiCarlo's. Best dang pizza in the world.



I went to visit one of the newest locations - in the Northern Panhandle - on one of the last snows of the year and I've been avoiding writing about it because I miss it so much.



If you're new here, DiCarlo's is an Ohio Valley-style pizza that has a crunchy crust and a sweeter sauce that is baked, and when that comes out, provolone is gently melted on top. I've been to every DiCarlo's location now, and there are some very mild differences between the locations. You can look back through the reviews to check those out. But also - I just like to have an excuse to eat more DiCarlo's, so I travel.



This location is in a shopping area, so parking is plentiful, and it has a more modern vibe in a small space. The menu is short - pizza, pepperoni rolls and drinks. That's fine by me. I put in an order for six pieces (usually the amount that fits in a box) with mushrooms. 



Oh my god. Is your mouth watering, too? The parking, the space, it's all a distant memory when the pizza is in front of me. Sure, the experience was fine. But this PIZZA. It's perfectly crunchy - but not too thick. It has sauce all the way to the edges so you get a full bite every time. And that fresh cheese. All paired with the umami flavor of the mushrooms? Chef's kiss. Perfection.



Grade: A

Can a college town ever have enough pizza places? I'm not sure they can. Huntington added one more to its list with the addition of Pizza 314 on Camden Road. One major plus in the time of COVID-19 is having a pick-up window. So not only could I just swing through to pick up a pizza on my way back to Charleston - but I could do so with the least amount of human contact (tbh this would be my preference always).



I called in an order for a personal pizza with mushrooms and cheesesticks. The pizza was pretty standard. The sauce was a little on the sweeter side, and they got a nice golden brown on the crust. The same can't be said for the cheesesticks though - they could definitely use some more color to get that toasty flavor. 



Overall, not bad but nothing to write home about. But maybe another visit is in order.

Grade: C

Southside Sliders, a Huntington-based food truck that serves up delicious mini burgers and sandwiches, recently introduced a twin food truck serving up cold sandwiches and ice cream: Southside Scoops. 



If you know me, you know ice cream is like my one true love. It can solve most of the world's problems. As I was snooping around on their Facebook schedule, I saw that both trucks were scheduled to be outside St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, so I marked it down on my calendar to check it out. 



When I arrived, I saw that the Scoops truck was out of commission - I guess it must have had some issue. But the door was closed, and a sign said to order next door at the Sliders truck. Luckily, they were still offering some of the goodies from the Scoops truck. 



It must've been a difficult morning for the crew, as they were a bit frazzled to make food from the Scoops truck and had to ask the owner on how to make certain items (which, to be honest, made me a bit worried) - but the worries were for naught. I got the Huntington Ham ($7.50), which has honey ham topped with a cream cheese and pepper jelly spread and arugula salad. A former coworker introduced me to crackers with cream cheese and hot pepper jelly - I'm not sure why I never thought to put it on a sandwich before because it was delicious. It was sweet, creamy, tangy, perfection.



Plus, I got a scoop of chocolate-peanut butter ice cream and a scoop of cherry cordial ice cream. I'm not sure if these are made in-house, but I know they were a perfect refreshing bite on a hot date. The chocolate had these ribbons of peanut butter weaved throughout. And the cherry was fruity yet rich. All in all, a really delish meal.



Grade: A

The Juice Box just opened in Hurricane and is serving up juices, smoothies, acai bowls and more. 



I just so happened to stumble upon their grand opening weekend when I saw a sign on the interstate exit. It's something new for the area, so I was excited to check it out.



The space isn't huge, but there is a little seating, counter area and refrigerated juices. The juice cleanses and super healthy smoothies aren't necessarily my thing, but those smoothies were calling my name.




When I saw the tropical smoothie had banana, pineapple, mango and coconut milk, I knew it would be perfect for a warm day. 



And, I was right. It was cold and sweet - but not too sweet. It was refreshing and didn't make me feel too guilty - like a DQ blizzard might. 



Either way, whichever your preference, I'm sure you can find something here to enjoy.



Have you been?