At home and on the road, we usually cook a large amount of a couple of items to eat throughout the week so we don’t have to cook every night. Our favorite cookbook is Everyday Paleo, and from it we’ve created some of our own tasty lunches and dinners. The author updated her cookbook recently so we even get to enjoy some new recipes. I’ve used more seasonings with her menus than I ever imagined because of growing up in Iowa!
When we’re on the road we like to go grocery shopping about once a week, filling in when necessary. A Google app called Keep helps us track what we need to buy at the grocery store since we both have access to the notes on the phones.
Since we’re off exploring most days, we usually take leftovers with us in a thermal bag—or we make sandwiches to eat quickly on the road. If we eat out, it’s usually for lunch if we find a unique or fun-looking place.
Speaking of eating out, we’ve found some restaurants on our trips with best ever foods. Other places had great food, but these are our stand out places starting with our most recent.
Georgia state parks during Covid – 2020
When our governor started opening up our state in early May, we decided to travel to various state parks in the southern part of the state (to stay warm) since all of the parks were open for camping. During the next 3 months, we went to 10 state parks and 1 city park for 4-5 nights each, getting to know that area of Georgia and its history. Two of our stops gave us some more best ever treats to share with you.
best country lunch ever
Just outside of A. H. Stevens State Park is the small town of Crawfordville. Every time we left the park to go exploring, we drove past a café with a lit open sign and lots of trucks parked on the street in front of it.
The restaurant has moved around the corner and now goes by the chef’s name, Nick’s Place.
When Linda took our order, she asked me if I wanted white or brown gravy. Since I didn’t know the difference besides the color, I asked her what she’d recommend. She said that usually white gravy was for country people and brown gravy was for city folks. I decided I wanted to go country today, and I’m so glad I did!
The owner/cook came out of the kitchen while we were eating to make sure all of his customers were happy. Linda told us that he was a trained chef and had worked at a Ritz Carlton, maybe the one on Lake Oconee about an hour west of where we are. No wonder the food was so good. At the end of July, the café is closing down for a bit as they move to a larger location on the main street. Linda didn’t know if the restaurant would be changing its name when it changes its location. We may have to try it out again when we’re at home in-between trips.
If you want to see more about this cafe or the state park, go to 2020 Georgia – part 7: A.H. Stevens State Park, nearby Crawfordville, and the best country lunch ever.
Note: Just looked up this restaurant and found the name was changed to Cade’ Home Cooking. The restaurant is temporarily closed, probably because of Covid-19 so we won’t be able to take a road trip to Crawfordville. We’ll let you know when their status changes.
best fruitcake ever
Every Christmas we buy a small fruitcake in hopes that our taste buds have changed, and every year we’ve been disappointed. When the park ranger at Gordonaia-Alatamaha State Park told us about a bakery in Claxton that made fruitcake, we decided to try one more time.
During the fall to get ready for Christmas orders, an average of 90,000 pounds of fruitcake is made most days in a large room behind where we are and shipped all over (use the company’s website www.claxtonfruitcake.com or Amazon). We’re not the only ones to like this treat made of real food rather than chemicals and preservatives.
If you’d like to know the history of this family-owned and run business, go to 2020 Georgia – part 14: Gordonaia-Alatamaha State Park, Santa Claus, and best fruitcake ever.
Colonial Williamsburg – 2019
best pot roast ever
On our way home from Canada, we spent a couple of days at Colonial Williamsburg where I got to have my best pot roast ever. On our second day walking around, we stopped at Shields Tavern for lunch, 1 of the 4 taverns open for dining.
And here’s my lunch. Who needs dinner?
best ginger cake ever
We returned to Colonial Williamsburg a couple of weeks before Christmas to see the places we missed on our first visit a couple of months before. Both days I enjoyed the ginger cakes they bake daily at the bakery behind the Raleigh Tavern.
What was interesting is that these cakes are exactly the same as one I enjoyed while we were at the Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. The fortress was held by the French during the mid-18th century and then overrun by the British, so it would make sense that a similar recipe would have been used—but they looked and tasted the same! I searched the internet and found a recipe for Colonial Williamsburg ginger cakes so I can’t wait to try making them!
I so enjoyed these cakes because they weren’t as sweet as gingerbread cookies and they were thicker—like a piece of cake.
Canada – 2019
We had some “best ever” foods on our Canadian trip while on Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Nova Scotia
best bacon ever
After a day of exploring PEI, we were hungry! As we drove through the small town of Murry River on the southeastern side of the island, we saw The Home Plate restaurant that still had cars/trucks in the parking lot at 1:30 in the afternoon. Looks like a good place to stop.
The menu was written on the on the wall, and I couldn’t resist the “All Day English Irish Breakfast,” even though we weren’t familiar with some of the items.
Here’s my breakfast. It didn’t look all that appetizing, but it was delicious.
But it’s the bacon I want to talk about. Even though it doesn’t look like it’s crispy, it’s now on my list of “best evers” since it’s the best bacon I’ve ever had! Our KOA host had told us that PEI farmers start feeding apples to their pigs a month before they’re slaughtered, making their products very sweet. This piece of bacon was indeed sweet, and I wish I had asked for more! Barney, can we go back?
Want to see the original post? It’s PEI Part 10.
best Irish stew ever
After a long morning of walking around the Maritime Museum at the Halifax harbor in Nova Scotia, we were famished. Some people told us about an historic Irish pub named The Triangle, so we started walking the couple of blocks to get there.
Here’s the best Irish stew ever—so spicy and delicious.
Want to see the rest of the post that features this stew? Go to Nova Scotia Part 12.
southwest swing – 2019
best dessert ever
The first best food ever on this trip was at Boiling Madd restaurant along the Gulf Coast outside of Morgan City, Louisiana (southwest swing 2019 trip). We stopped at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had been recommended by a museum employee at the Louisiana State Museum in Patterson, LA. The restaurant’s specialty was crayfish, something we had never had, but they didn’t started serving it at 5:00 and it was only noon!
We had an okay lunch, but as we were ready to pay, our server asked us if we wanted beignets, sweet French donuts, for dessert. Barney knew what they were but I had only heard the name and didn’t know what it was. We asked for 1, thinking we’d split it, and she brought us 1 serving of 3 beignets. We shared 1 that day and had the other 2 over the next couple of days (so much better fresh).
These were the best dessert ever!
best cupcakes ever
On our way to Galveston from Louisiana on our southwest swing 2019, we had an extra night before our campground would be available . . . so we went to Waco, Texas, for a visit to Chip and Joanna’s. There we had such delicious food, including the best cupcakes ever.
Where Everyone Has a Seat at the Table
best Basque food ever (so far)
During my early years living in California, I kept hearing about Basque living in eastern California on the other side of the Sierras and how wonderful their food was, especially since I like lamb. When we were in the 3 communities of Gardnerville, Minden, and Genoa, Nevada, I read about the Basque living there and saw a restaurant advertised. So one day for lunch, we stopped at J & T Basque Restaurant.
And I had delicious and meaty lamb chops, the best French fries I’ve ever had, and my favorite dressing on the salad. Loved every bite!
Historic restaurant and bar has quite a history going back to 1896. See the dollar bills on the ceiling of the left picture? Story goes that a man bet the bar full of drinkers that he could throw up a dollar bill and have it stick to the ceiling and got some takers. He put a pin through the bill and tossed it up high so the pin stuck into the ceiling and won the bet. The hats in the other picture are from men who drank too much and left their hats behind as they stumbled home, knowing they’d get their hats back later. These hats were never claimed.
best pork chops ever
With growing up in Iowa, I’ve enjoyed eating pork chops all my life, but on our way home from our southwest swing 2019 trip, I had the best pork chops ever! We were driving across Oklahoma and pulled off at Bar-H-Bar RV campground close to Seminole.
A couple in the campground told us that the Bar-H-Bar Road House Diner just next to us was the place to eat dinner.
I enjoyed the huge, meaty, well seasoned and grilled chops.
They were so large that I could only eat 1 that night and so was able to enjoy the second one the next day. By the time I thought of taking a picture, I was done with my meal so I took a picture from their website to show you what the pork chop looked like. Yum.
northern midwest – 2018
best sandwich ever
The first best ever on our trips was at Eagle Harbor Inn in the northern part of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (northern Midwest 2018 trip). The docents at a maritime museum recommended it, and we’re so glad we went there. I had the best sandwich ever—a grilled portabello sandwich. I’d go back there again in a heartbeat if it weren’t so far away.
