Papa’s Breakfast Nook–Spartenburg SC

Spartanburg, South Carolina is home to a wonderful breakfast spot called Papa’s Breakfast Nook. Since we were in town we headed over there for breakfast which turned out to be a road treat.

This place isn’t just for breakfast either as it is open 24 hours. We dined here early one morning and were treated to an inexpensive and scrumptious breakfast. The is just a typical old style diner that has a flat grill that is visible from the dining room where you can watch the cooks make your trashcan omelets for breakfast or your Spartenburgers for lunch.

The place stays crowded with locals and was especially crowded the morning we were there on Easter Sunday. All I can say is the home fries are to die for and you won’t leave hungry.  Heyduke says you have to try the road treat when in the area....

     

Railhouse Brewery–Aberdeen NC…

What a treat we found in the small town of Aberdeen, North Carolina. While checking out the small towns of Aberdeen and Southern Pines or while visiting the more upscale area of Pinehurst you need to make time to stop by the little brewery by the tracks. The day we visited they had four crafted beers on tap: A Pale Ale, Honey Wheat, Brown Ale, and a newly made Oatmeal Stout. We tried three of them and each was really good in its own unique way.

The Pale Ale is hoppy, citrus flavored and lightly sweet with just the right amount of malt added to balance the flavor. The Honey Wheat had a sweet honey aroma with some yeast present and was not as sweet as I thought it would be but it was still too sweet for my liking but the wife liked it a lot… she had a few of them to make sure. The Oatmeal Stout is deep brown in color with a light sweetness and a rich earthy taste, by far and away my favorite of the three we tried.

You can find this Road Treat at 105 E. South Street in Aberdeen. The Railhouse Brewery offers wonderful hand crafted beers which can be found in several of the local taverns and pubs in the surrounding area. They will also sell you growlers (large jugs with metal handles which can be filled and refilled for a nominal fee), kegs, and clothing at the brewery. 

 

We happened to stop by on open mike night and was treated to some really nice music by some local musicians. We also got to hear one of the locals sing several songs and she had a wonderful booming voice and could easily make a living doing gigs somewhere.

Stop by some evening and you never know who may be playing there. On another night we were treated to the lyrics of singer/songwriter Jeremy Gilchrist and to borrow a quote from his reverb nation site “His music is rich with emotion, and threaded with meaning, often woven into numerous layers. This was good – almost as good as my Railhouse Oatmeal Stout. Stop by on Thursdays for open mike night and more importantly stop by for a sample or purchase a glass of your favorite crafted Railhouse beer for $3.00 (now that’s a treat!) and belly up to the makeshift bar and chat with a local from the nearby plant, play a game of pool on the free table, or get in on a game of “corn hole”…What ever you do don’t miss this Road Treat!

Thirsty Monk Pub… a place for the beer snob… ;)

The place is Asheville, NC which is a mountain town in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. The town is not much unlike those in the mountains of Colorado filled with young outdoors oriented intellectuals pursuing the American dream. We were in Asheville on a cold spring day on our way to Nashville, TN. After stopping in Asheville we were walking around the downtown area and we came across the Thirsty Monk Pub.

Now I have a weak spot for pubs so we walked and checked it out. You will find quite a selection of many locally crafted brews at this nice little no-frills pub. Not only will you find a wide assortment of craftsman beers you will find an eclectic group of locals who claim to be beer connoisseurs. You can watch them get a “flight of beer” (six glasses of 3-6 oz. of six different beers) and then they will sniff them, inhaling deeply, sip them and then swish the beer around much like the wine snobs do…

They claim to be the beer city of the USA but they are actually tied with Portland, Oregon for the title. I will admit however they have quite the assortment of craft beers on tap. Two beers I can recommend are the Green Man IPA (6.2% alcohol and quite tasty) and a Craggy Toubab Brew (a Bavarian style Zwickel beer at 4.2%) which was very mellow in flavor.

The following quote from an article in Xmountain Xpress… “Asheville’s craft-beer scene dates back to 1994, when Highland Brewing Co. set up shop in downtown Asheville. Since then, Asheville Pizza & Brewing, French Broad Brewing, Green Man Ales, Pisgah Brewing and Wedge Brewing have followed suit.” Besides these there is also the OysterHouse Brewery and two fairly new breweries - Craggie Brewing and Lexington Avenue Brewing.

If you are a “beer snob” or just like a well crafted beer then this is a Road Treat for you…