Kenny’s Country Restaurant–Pinebluff, NC

We were getting propane from a local dealer in Aberdeen, NC when my darling bride struck up a conversation with one of the local ladies who was on break. Well the result of that conversation was that she said we just had to go try out Kenny’s Country Restaurant in Pinebluff, NC. So a few days later we had a craving for a good old fashioned hamburger so we googled  Kenny’s and headed over to the town of Pinebluff, NC.

       Kenny’s is located at 110 N Walnut St, Pinebluff, NC, Coordinates to plug into your GPS are 35.0982 -79.4782. The place itself is an unassuming little country diner along the main road going through Pinebluff. Nothing would make you want to stop there except the parking lot is stuffed with cars… always a great sign. The first time we stopped in was for a to go order of one of their specials. We had decided we were hungry for a burger and thought we would split one for lunch. Instead of a regular burger we ordered one of the daily specials – a cheese steak hoagie. That sucker was way more than both of us could eat and it was smothered in grilled onions and mushrooms convincing  us we had found another road treat.

                                  

What makes this place even better are the people who work there. You can tell they love their jobs and have all the important facets of providing great customer service covered. We stopped by one more time for breakfast before we departed the area and all I can say is look at the picture of this omelet… can you say give a little hash browns with my small omelet… Yum Yum!!!

So I said there appeared to be no reason to stop there but let me tell you there are many reasons… the food, the service, the hospitality, and you just have to stop by and chat with the cook and the hard working and efficient waitress… Heyduke says check it out!!!

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…

Track Restaurant… Pinehurst, NC

                         

I mentioned this road treat in my blog On the Road to Retirement as one of those places that if you are in the vicinity of Pinehurst, NC that you must go to this place. Why? Two reasons…

1 – the food is really good and is very reasonably priced

2 – you can’t beat the location near Pinehurst and it is located on a harness training track

The restaurant is a short drive of only a few miles from Pinehurst. For the GPS the address is 180 Beulah Hill Rd, Pinehurst, NC 28374. You will turn on a small dirt road driveway, veer left and it will lead you around to the Track restaurant. It is located in one of the older track buildings that was likely a kitchen area for the workers of the track in the day. The breakfast here was delightful but maybe not the greatest food in the world. The place is packed with locals and despite its appearance as a bit of a dive the wait staff were efficient and friendly and the blueberry pancakes were both packed with blueberries and really tasty. The prices are very inexpensive especially considering how close to Pinehurst it is.  But it is the wonderful surrounding views of the harness track that makes this such a nice find which has qualified it as one of our Road Treats.

                

Check it out…