Unchained in America

Last week , Lisa and I went for a long weekend to the annual French and Indian (F&I) reenactment at Fort Ticonderoga in Ticonderoga, New York. Before coming to Tennessee, Lisa had been the director of marketing and PR at Fort Ticonderoga, an 18th-century fort and museum and a National Historic Landmark. Although she had attended all the F&I reenactments, she did so as a staff member. That is, she had to work.

Now, dressed in our 18th-century clothes, we both intended to play.

We also intended to spend the weekend chain free — and almost succeeded. Unfortunately, though, we had to spend two nights in chain motels. So I thought for this post I’d talk about the nonchain eateries we stopped at:

• Blue Collar Joe’s
• The Olympic Diner
• Hillbilly Fun Park
• The Hot Biscuit
• The Log House Restaurant
• The Wind-Chill Factory
• Blue White Grill

We left around 5:30 on Thursday, June 25th, after a board meeting at the museum where Lisa works. We drove 300 miles and, when we reached Christiansburg, Virginia around 10:00, decided to stop for the night. Although we wanted to spend the night in a nonchain motel, the one we found looked run down and dirty, and we decided to pass it up for the clean-looking Sleep Inn that was beside it.

Blue Collar Joe’s

One reason why we wanted to spend the night in the Christiansburg area was because we wanted to stop at Blue Collar Joe’s donut shop. Joe’s is a wonderful donut and coffee shop that we discovered last April on our way home from a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. (See my Review of Blue Collar Joe’s in a previous blog.)

We were pleased to find co-owner Daniel Knight there, working behind the counter with his staff. Even though Lisa and I had been to the shop just once before, Daniel recognized us right away and was genuinely pleased to see us again.

One thing we like about patronizing nonchains is that often times you’ll find the owners there working alongside their staff — not at some corporate headquarters far, far away. As a customer, I have the opportunity of getting to know them and becoming friends with both them and their staff.

As an on-site owner, Daniel takes pride in what he sells. And that pride isn’t limited just to his delicious homemade donuts, but to everything. Take his coffee, for example. Originally, Daniel sold coffee supplied by a local company that also sold to restaurants and hotels. But he wasn’t satisfied with the quality and so looked for something better. He found it in Mattie’s Mountain Mud Coffee. Mattie is a local coffee roaster in New Castle, VA who uses organic beans which she roasts to perfection. After tasting the coffee, Lisa and I put hers in the same class as Blue Smoke Coffee.

I know from personal experience that Daniel also provides first-rate customer service. When we stopped again on the way back, I bought a Blue Collar Joe’s T-shirt. Generally don’t like wearing T-shirts that have advertising on them. After all, why should I pay someone to plug his or her products? It should be the other way around. But I like Blue Collar Joe’s so much that I gladly made an exception. I’m more than happy to spread the word about Blue Collar Joe’s donut shop.

Unfortunately, when I got home I discovered that instead of a men’s large, I’d picked out a youth’s large. When I phoned Daniel and asked if we could make a switch, I offered to pay for the shipping because it was my mistake. He told me not to worry about it and that he’d mail the replacement that afternoon. He also told me there was no big rush for me to mail mine back. (Of course, I mailed the T-shirt right away.)

Anyway, this Friday morning Daniel couldn’t talk because he had to leave on an errand. But when we told him that we planned to stop by Tuesday on our way home, he said that he would be there. And he was. We all had a great conversation talking about dogs, coffee and donuts, and nonchain restaurants. All the while, though, Daniel was greeting his customers with a smile and thanking them for their business.

Lisa and I discovered Blue Collar Joe’s by accident, when we got off Route 81 at Exit 150B to get coffee at what we thought was a nonchain coffee shop. We didn’t find the shop, but we did find Blue Collar Joes. We both consider that mistake an act of fortune. And whenever we stop at Blue Collar Joe’s, Lisa and I feel like missionaries out to spread the word about Daniel’s wonderful home-made donuts. The first time we were there, we bought a dozen donuts to take to my brother who lives in the Blue Ridge. This time, we bought a dozen donuts to take to our friends Vicki and George for letting us stay with them over the weekend.

When you try Blue Collar Joe’s donuts, you’ll feel the same way, too.

The Olympic Diner

After we left Blue Collar Joe’s, we drove the remaining 700 miles straight through, snacking on potato chips and cookies that we’d brought along. By the time we got on the New York Thruway (Route 87), we were starving. But we refused to eat at the fast-food chains at the rest stops. When we finally reached the Kingston exit, though, about two hours short of Ticonderoga, we had to eat.

So we got off the Thruway at the Kingston exit and asked the woman at the tool booth to recommend some nonchain restaurants. She suggested The Olympic Diner, which is a short distance away.

The Olympic Diner is a family-owned restaurant that is open 24 hours a day seven days a week. Unlike most chain restaurants, the cook staff at the restaurant makes all the baked goods in-house and makes their soups as well.

By the time we sat down, Lisa was actually feeling faint from lack of food. When she mentioned that to the waitress, the woman left and returned within sixty seconds with a steaming bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup, which Lisa found delicious.

Unlike in chain restaurants, our waitress didn’t come up and say, “Hello. My name is [fill in the blank] and I’ll be your server for tonight.” Instead, she smiled and was friendly, took our orders, and checked back from time to time to see how we were getting along. A lot of the people seemed to be regulars. They talked a lot among themselves and joked with the waitresses. They all seemed like members of a happy family who were having a good time. That’s something you certainly don’t see in chain restaurants.

The owner also was in plain sight, talking to customers and even busing tables.

We liked The Olympic Diner so much that Monday morning we stopped by for breakfast on our way back to Tennessee. In the booth behind us, we overheard a customer complaining to the waitress about having a really bad tooth ache. She said that her dentist had skipped town — she didn’t know where he’d gone — and that she didn’t have anyone else to go to. A short time later, the waitress returned with a list of six dentists the woman could call. She recommended her own dentist, but said if he wasn’t available any of the others were just as good.

I bet you won’t see customer service like that in a chain restaurant, where the servers have to focus on turning tables to make profit for the company in some far-off city or state — or even country.

Hillbilly Fun Park

Both Lisa and I love soft serve ice cream, which we can’t seem to find in Tennessee. When we were approaching Fort Ann, which is about 45 minutes from Ticonderoga, I suggested stopping at Hillbilly Fun Park. Lisa agreed instantly. We consider Hillbilly Fun Park’s soft serve ice cream second only to the The Wind-Chill Factory’s in Ticonderoga (which, by the way, the locals call “Ti”).

The “Fun Park” in the name doesn’t refer to ice cream, but to miniature golf. Hillbilly Fun Park boasts two 18-hole courses ($6.00 for adults and $4.50 for children under 12.) Besides selling soft serve ice cream, they also sell hard ice cream and light snacks such as hot dogs.

The place is owned by a husband and wife who work shoulder to shoulder with their staff to make their business a success. This evening, we found the wife behind the window taking orders. When I said, “We’ve come a thousand miles to have your ice cream,” she replied that she hadn’t seen us for a long time. Lisa told her that we’d moved to Tennessee two years ago. We had a friendly chat for a couple of minutes before the owner had to wait on another customer.

We’ve always liked going to Hillbilly Fun Park — not only for the soft serve ice cream but also for the friendliness of the owners and staff.

The Hot Biscuit Diner

Since moving to Tennessee, I’ve been complaining that I could never find a restaurant that makes an omelete and hash browns as good as The Hot Biscuit Diner’s. When we were living in Ti, The Hot Biscuit was our favorite breakfast place.

I’ve never forgotten the annual fund-raising Gala in New York City that Lisa and I attended one weekend in 2001, during her first year working at Fort Ti. On Sunday, we went to a diner for breakfast. We each ordered our usual omelet and hash browns and coffee along with a side of hash for me. With the tip, the bill came to $35.00 — and the food was nowhere near as good as The Hot Biscuit’s — and three times the price!

So before we could even think about attending the reenactment, we had to go to The Hot Biscuit for breakfast. While the four of us were eating, two reenactors dressed as British soldiers sat down at a table opposite us and ordered breakfast. I have to tell you that The Hot Biscuit is about the only restaurant where people dressed in 18th-century clothes can go and eat and no one will bat an eye. The people in Ti are used to seeing them walk around both in Fort Ti and in town.

By the way, The Hot Biscuit is a family-owned restaurant. J. Orley and Bonnie Dixon opened it in May of 1993. In 2004, they sold it to their son Craig and daughter-in-law Valerie, both of whom have worked in the restaurant since its opening.

The Log House Restaurant

We attended the French and Indian War reenactment Saturday and Sunday, and hung out with the “Lose Women.” (That’s another story!) Although we ate supper with the Lose Women at their camp, we had our other meals at The Log House Restaurant, which is located inside Fort Ti and overlooks Lake Champlain. The restaurant serves both breakfast and lunch. Although it has a varied menu, for the reenactment weekend the restaurant manager made up a special, abbreviated one. With 700 reenactors and thousands of tourists visiting over the weekend, the manager decided that having a simpler menu would speed things along.

During her five years working at Fort Ti, Lisa and I both ate a lot at the Log House. This weekend, the restaurant staff greeted us like long-lost friends. Besides being friendly, the staff always provide good service. In fact, when Lisa mentioned that she wished the Southwest of the Border Wrap were on the special menu, they made her one. I know they would have done that for anyone else who had asked.

If you sit at the tables by the windows, you’ll have a great view of Lake Champlain. We had our meals by the windows. A lot of the Fort Ti staff and other people we knew sat down with us to chat before going back to work or to stroll through the military camps or Sutlers’ Row, where merchants sell 18th-century items.

The Log House isn’t just a restaurant, though, but a souvenir shop as well that sells T-shirts, post cards, and history-related trinkets. And if you like 18th-century history, you’ll find an excellent assortment of quality books there, too.

The Wind-Chill Factory

The reenactment ended Sunday afternoon. When we left, we had dinner with our friends Bill and Jackie and their daughter Kris, whom we hadn’t seen since we’d move to Tennessee. As soon as we got together, it seemed like old times — especially when Bill and Jackie suggested playing dominoes.

But before we could play, we all had to go to The Wind-Chill Factory for soft serve ice cream. The Wind Chill has been a local, family-owned institution since 1996. Besides soft serve ice cream, it also sells hard ice cream plus a variety of food, including hamburgers made with hand-formed patties (something fast food chains like McDonald’s don’t offer) as well as homemade french fries, onion rings, and sweet potato fries. It also serves a local item called a Michigan Hot Dog, which is a hot dog covered with a spicy hamburg sauce.

Lisa was pleased when she saw Rachel behind the window. When she was in high school, Rachel interned for Lisa in Fort Ti’s development office. It’s always nice to see people you know working at family-owned businesses.

Blue White Grill

Okay, I’ll confess: On the way home, we didn’t even try to find a nonchain motel.

Whenever we’re driving to or from Tennessee, we use Martinsburg, West Virginia as our halfway point, and stop there for the night. There’s a Days Inn just off the exit ramp that we’ve been going to for years. The rooms are clean and the service is okay. So we stayed there.

Up till now, though, we’d always gone to the chain restaurants located nearby in a series of strip malls. Now, when we asked the clerk to recommend a nonchain restaurant, she suggested the Blue White Grill located in the historic downtown area. She told us that it was the first restaurant to open in Martinsburg and that it served good food.

We found the grill without much trouble. In the evening, the downtown area seemed a bit seedy, but in the daytime it’s probably like any other downtown.

A family-owned restaurant, the Blue White Grill opened in 1941. Not surprisingly, the furnishings are blue and white.
Rock ‘n’ roll music — the music of my generation — was being played unobtrusively in the background. I really enjoyed listening to that music and heard some of my favorite songs, which brought back memories.

The menu was simple, but included homemade soup. I ordered a crab cake sandwich while Lisa ordered a shrimp sandwich. Both were excellent. The only complaint Lisa had was that the cook didn’t cut off the tails of the shrimp. She found it a pain having to stop eating every so often to tear off a tail. But, hey, that just
showed the shrimp were real. Right?

We’d definitely go back again.

Conclusion

Several years ago, when Lisa and I had our rubber art stamp company, we travelled all over the eastern U.S. — from New York to Pennsylvania to Michigan to South Carolina. At first, we ate at the fast-food chains on the turnpikes. We didn’t like the food that much, but at least it filled us up. Finally, though, we encountered meals that were actually uneatable.

I remember the incident vividly. We’d stopped at a Taco Bell — I don’t recall where. I ordered a taco and Lisa a salad with chicken in it. The contents of my taco tasted so foul and felt so slimy in my mouth, that I couldn’t eat it. I had to throw it away. Lisa had a similar experience with her chicken. We vowed then and there not to eat fast foods again on any more trips. Instead, we’d go off the turnpikes and seek out local nonchain restaurants.

We’ve done that ever since — and have found many, many wonderful nonchain restaurants and snack shops that serve delicious food. That’s how we found Blue Collar Joe’s, The Olympic Diner, the Blue White Grill, and many, many other great places to eat.

During processing, fast foods such as McDonald’s burgers and Chicken McNuggets, have their flavors leached out of them. To give the now-tasteless foods flavor, the fast-food chains reconstitute their foods by adding artificial and so-called “natural” flavorings. But why eat crap when you can get good, flavorful, nonartificial food at a nonchain eatery? Why not support a local business instead of sending your money out of town to corporate headquarters in some distant city, state, or foreign country? And why not meet the actual shop owners — such as Daniel Knight at Blue Collar Joe’s — and establish friendships with them?

I always say, “If you like yourself, you’ll treat yourself well.” Lisa and I both like ourselves. That’s why we treat ourselves well by eating at nonchain restaurants and snack shops.

Eatery Information

Blue Collar Joe’s
1171 Roanoke Road
Daleville, VA 24083
540-992-5637
www.bluecollarjoes.net

Weekdays: 6:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 7:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
Sunday: 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Blue White Grill
101 North Queen Street
Martinsburg, WV 25401
304-263-3607
Web site: none
Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Hillbilly Fun Park
10375 Route 149
Fort Ann, NY 12827
518-792-5239
www.lakegeorge.com/Business1328/Website
Hours: 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. 7 days a week

Hot Biscuit Diner, The
14 Montcalm Street
Ticonderoga, NY 12883
518-585-3483
www.hotbiscuitdiner.com
Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Log House Restaurant, The
Fort Ticonderoga
Ticonderoga, NY 12883
518-585-2821 (administrative offices)
www.fort-ticonderoga.org/visit/hours-rates.htm

Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 7 days a week
Breakfast served till 11:00 a.m.
Lunch served till 4:00 p.m.
Snacks served all day

Olympic Diner, The
620 Washington Avenue
Kingston, NY 12401
845-331-2280
Web site: none
Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Wind-Chill Factory, The
Route 9N and Alexandria Avenue
Ticonderoga, NY 12883
518-585-3044
www.windchillfactory.com
Hours: 11:00 a.m.-closing (which varies according to the time of year)