OUR LAST VISIT TO WEST JEFFERSON

Besides our return visit to Grayson Highlands State Park, we visited some other sights in western North Carolina.  We used a campground in Big Piney, NC as our base.  River Camp USA campground was located on the New River.  It is just a campground, meaning no golf cart rentals, no pool or lake for swimming, no mini golf, no game room, etc.  In the warmer months people rent tubes to float down the river which would be fun.  

Our campsite was not very level, as the photo below shows.  After Paul used the the auto jack system to level the motorhome, the front passenger side tire was off the ground several inches.  Yes, Paul's hand is completely under the wheel.  This was the first time in 7 years of owning two different motorhomes that this has happened to us.

We visited the Ashe County Cheese factory in West Jefferson.  We were able to view the interior of the cheese manufacturing plant.  It was amazing to see just how large the vats are that are used to make the various types of cheese.

The best part of this visit was going across the street to the factory store and sampling many of the different types of cheese that are made here.  Paul eagerly purchased a block of sharp cheddar cheese.  Next to chocolate, cheese is probably Paul's second most favorite treat.

We concluded our visit to West Jefferson by attending our 5th beer dinner at Boondocks.  We will miss these monthly dinners, planned and executed so well by the staff.

The place settings included four forks - what dishes were to come?  Our dinner's introductory beer was Straffe Hendrik, a Belgian style quadrupel beer that had a combination flavor of chocolate and coffee.  Most definitely a different way to start a meal.

Our first course was Pad Thai Chicken Pizza served with Hop Knife Harvest Ale, an IPA from Troegs Brewing Co. in Hershey, PA.  The pizza had a sriracha chili sauce drizzled on top.  This sauce was HOT and actually overpowered the taste of the pizza.  Paul ate the pizza, but Ann declined after 2 bites.

Here is a close-up of this pizza.  The other glasses are (left to right) from our pint in the tap room prior to the beer dinner, the introductory quad beer, and the IPA that accompanied this course.  All three beers are different in color as well as taste.

Our second course was Grecian Pizza, which included feta cheese, sliced tomato, spinach, and grilled onions.  The accompanying beer was Dark Hollow Bourbon Aged Stout from Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, VA.  The pizza was flavorful, and the beer had a little bit of chocolate flavor with a bourbon after taste on the palate.  Our friend John wanted to be part of our blog so he pointed to the pizza.

The main course was a Lobster White Truffle Pizza served with Dogfish Head Kvasir, a fruit/sour beer made with wild yeast.  This pizza was sweet and rich as you would expect from lobster meat.  However, even though this beer is in the top four sales for Dogfish Brewery located in Milton, Delaware, it was not to Paul's liking.  His glass was drained dry by Ann, who liked the tangy taste of this beer.

The dessert was a Beer Braised Pear Cinnabon Pizza, served with Boondocks own Strawberry Mint Saison (pronounced "sayson").  The pizza tasted like a warm fruit pie with a vanilla sauce on top.  The beer had a mint after taste.  Another beer that we can say we tasted but would not purchase.

We have enjoyed these beer dinners because the attention to detail that the Boondocks staff uses in pairing the various beers with the food items.  The food items are not your "run of the mill" bar food either.  Gary, the owner, has a good thing going in this small town in the North Carolina mountains.  If we ever return to this area of the country, we will be sure to visit Boondocks.