Rain + Blacksburg = Bleaksburg

As was the case everyday of this vacation, today it rained. Since we were headed to Blacksburg, it seemed appropriate though since it's almost always rainy in Blacksburg...at least in Bing's memory. We left Gatinburg by way of Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant, part of the Apple Barn Cider Mill and General Store complex. This place was huge! It's part of a working apple orchard/farm and boasts many menu items made from the local apples. With every meal comes homemade apple fritters, apple muffins, apple butter and an "apple julep" to wash it all down. These were definitely the highlight of our breakfast! The portions were huge and the meal was everything a good ole country breakfast should be; it reminded us of Lancaster, PA a lot. The rest of Pigeon Forge reminded us of a beach town, without the beach - tons of mini-golf courses, go-cart tracks and random "must-see" attractions (e.g., Ripley's Believe It or Not, etc.). Apparently in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area they LOVE pancakes, we counted over 30 pancake houses of some sort along our drive...there were probably more, but we got tired of pointing them out.




Once we got to Blacksburg it was time for Bing to revisit the VT campus. We figured it has been 4 years since he has been on campus for a visit. Most things were as he remembered them, down to the distinctive smell of Owen's Dining Hall (Rach paused at Losta Pasta to reflect on how much that little stand contributed to her Freshman Thirty-Five). We walked through a few buildings, and of course took in the April 16th memorial on the drill field. We drove through Blacksburg and past Bing's old house. Lots of reminiscing and lots of wishful thinking for the future.


The Home Place was one of Bing's college favorites, so we headed there for dinner. Home Place features all you can eat family style country cooking, right up our alley! The food was everything we remembered it to be, if not better...and we even ran into an old lab partner of Bing's (who now lives in NOVA too). We tried to pick favorites, but between the chicken, mac & cheese, roast beef, mashed potatoes, pinto beans....and blueberry cobbler a la mode for dessert, it was too difficult to choose just one thing we liked best! We ate our fill and then it was off to our hotel in Roanoke for our last night on the road.