Restaurants in the southern states of the Appalachian Trail (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia) held 11 places in the Sweet 16, seven of the Elite 8, and the full Final Four.
Proprietors Joe and Sonya Miller don’t consider themselves “owners” so much as caretakers of the legendary restaurant.
My limited experience of the thru-hiker existence does include the difficult, remote and challenging 100-mile wilderness in Maine. And the sharpest memory of that experience, which occurred after about a week in the wilderness, is what was at the end of the boat ride across Pemadumcook Lake. A hot shower and perhaps the most anticipated meal I’ve ever eaten.
The smoked chicken is a specialty.
Which is only a tiny and minor version of what a good meal means to a real thru-hiker, who can go for days or weeks never coming close to a meal beyond what gets put together out of the food bag in the backpack. Each contact with restaurant food is a treasured event.
The good people at the thru-hiker website thetrek.co, and more specifically Lance Ness, undertook earlier this year an NCAA-basketball-style March Madness tournament for restaurants along the 14-state, 2,180-mile route of the Appalachian Trail as it makes its way from Georgia to Maine. (Well, at least if you’re a northbounder, as most thru-hikers are.)
Ness began with 32 restaurants ranging from—south to north— Barney’s in Hiawassee, Georgia to the Monson General Store in Monson, Maine.
And after one round of thru-hiker voting, the Sweet 16 was pretty much taken over our A.T. states:
In North Carolina:
- Smoky Mountain Diner, Hot Springs
- Rivers End, Bryson
- Lazy Hiker Brewery, Franklin
- Spring Creek Tavern, Hot Springs
- Fontana Village Resort, Fontana
In Tennessee:
- Bob’s Dairyland
In Virginia:
- Mojo’s Cafe, Damascus
- The Home Place, Catawba
- Three L’il Pigs, Daleville
- Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub, Roseland
- Spelunker’s, Front Royal
In the Elite 8 round, seven of those 11 remained, with the only outlier being the Maine-famous Monson General Store.
And the Final Four was made up of Mojo’s, Devils Backbone, Smoky Mountain Diner and Bob’s Dairyland.
The winner?
Well, just consider the daily specials at this mountain classic of its kind:
Monday: BBQ Combo Special
Tuesday: Pinto Bean Dinner
Wednesday: Chicken Tender Dinner
Thursday: Hamburger Steak Dinner
Friday: Alaskan Whitefish or Flounder
Saturday: FRIED CATFISH IS BACK!
Sunday: Roast Beef Dinner
And prominent on the “Drinks” part of the menu? “Milk or Buttermilk.”
Yes, Roan Mountain’s Bob’s Dairyland took the championship.
Get out on the trail, build yourself a good day-hike hunger and stop by for lunch where the thru-hikers dine.
The story above appears in our July/August 2019 issue. For more subscribe today or log in to the digital edition with your active digital subscription. Thank you for your support!