Friday's Top Choice Is Ribs

Food truck style cuisine has become popular and no style of cooking is more represented than barbecue. One such place is Top Choice BBQ in Greeneville. Located near the Asheville Highway on W. Main Street I ate here when it was in another location down the street. That is one of the advantages of a food truck you can move it when needed. On my first visit I got a pulled pork sandwich and it was very good. However on my most recent visit I went on a Friday because that is rib day. When it comes to barbecue there is nothing I like better than pork ribs. So I got a half-rack and they were very good. The flavor of the ribs and barbecue sauce was better than most. My only complaint would be the meat could be more "fall off the bone." I also got the baked beans, but be warned if you are vegetarian these are not an option as these have meat in them. Anyway, the were very good. While I got my food to go there is a sitting area at the new location. So, if your looking for ribs on a Friday this is a Top Choice.

From Roaring Forks To Porters Creek It Is A Mountain Laurel Hunt In The Smokies

Today I headed out on a Mountain Laurel Hunt and what better place than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is mid-May and I hadn't seen any yet, I usually would have seen some in April. However, I found plenty of Mountain Laurel on my travels on the Roaring Forks Motor Nature Trail, the Porters Creek Trail in Greenbier section of the park, on the side of the road and on the foothills parkway.

Right at start of Roaring Forks MNT...

...some on the Porters Creek Trail...

...the best batch I found was off...

...US 321 near Cosby...

...finally some on the Foothills Parkway.

Oh, I also did some hiking. I did almost a mile around the cabins on the Roaring Forks Motor and then 7.65 miles on the Porters Creek Trail. I will write more on this hike soon but there was a old cementary, an historical farm and a waterfall, the 40-foot Fern Branch Falls. All-in-all a nice day of hiking and plenty of Mountain Laurel.

Noah "Bud" Ogle Cabin....

...Place of a Thousand Drips on the Roaring Forks MNT.

Start of the trail.

Old Cemetery.

John Messer Barn.

Big footbridge.

Fern Branch Falls.

It is A May-Day For 20 Months The Beard Blog

It is mid-May and that means that spring is winding down and summer is around the corner and this is as good of a time as any to do a Beard Blog. It seems I having been doing the last couple of Beard Blogs in the middle of the month, so why not keep the tradition going. Since I last did one of these the Blackhawks were knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but I still kept my beard Also, I made it out a number of times. I hiked to Ramsey Cascades in the Smokies, down to Allen Gap, helped with some Trail Magic with the Greeneville Hiking Club and finally made it to Appalachian Trail Days in Damascus. In that time it has been warm, rained and we even had a slice of winter with some cold evenings. I trimmed my beard back a little more and Deb cut my hair this week.
Anyway, this is the 20 month of the Beard Blog...20 months. Oh, and that adds up to 626 days and 89 weeks.

Day 601: On the Gatlinburg Trail...

...in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP).

Day 603: On the way to...

...Ramsey Cascades in the GSMNP.

Day 607 on the AT to...

...Allen Gap.

The next week at Big Firescald Knob... 

...& Blackstack Cliffs (Day 614). 

Day 621: Under the AT enterence into Damacus...

...with AT US Geological Marker.

Day 625

Left

Right

Below

Hey Joe Where Are You Going With That Burrito In Your Hand

Saturday I was in Damascus for the 30th Appalachian Trail Fest. Besides hiking, music, vendor booths and the Hiker Parade Deb and I made a stop at a local eatery, Hey Joe’s. We happened upon it while we were headed to the Hiker Parade.We took the Creeper Trail parallel to downtown and turned up South Shady Avenue and there it was. So, after the parade we decided to check it out.

The Hiker Parade.

When we got there it was pretty busy and by the time we got our table sorted out it was slammed. At one point the guy at the door stopped people coming in...but it was Trail Days. To start I wasn’t sure how to order but the guy at the counter said someone would come by our table. It took a little time because of the crowd, but we finally got to order. Deb got two beef tacos and I got the Everything Burrito, which had beef, chicken and pork. Our order also came with salsa and chips.

Hey Joe's was packed.

The Everything Burrito.

The Most Interesting Man in the World stopped by.

Deb's two tacos.

The first thing that surprised me was that we got our food in a reasonable amount of time. As slammed as the kitchen looked it was quite fast. The other thing was it was really good. My burrito was excellent and Deb let me have half of her second taco and it was good too. While not as good as Neo it was better than the Chipotle that I had in Sevierville. Oh, and they knew how to roll a burrito. So, if you find yourself in Damacaus Hey Joe’s is worth a trip I know I will go back.

AT Thru-Hiker Festival In Damascus

Well, as readers of this blog know I am a fan of all things AT, so Saturday Deb and I ventured to Damascus for the 30th edition of Appalachian Trail Days.

Damascus: Trail Town USA.

I have been to AT festivals before. The first was the AT Kick-Off (ATKO) at Amicalola Falls State Park and the second was Dahlonega Trail Fest, both in Georgia. Even at these I had heard about the the trail bash in Damascus. What was said is Appalachian Trail Days is the granddaddy of all AT festivals and one of the highlights of the thru-hiking season. So, moving back to Tennessee gave us a great opportunity to attend one of the largest (if not largest) AT festivals because it is only an hour and half drive to Damascus from Rogersville. I will say I wasn't disappointed as it was obviously a much larger event that the ATKO or Dahlonega Trail Days, but it still had the quaintness of these two events.

The Owl Show at the ATKO.

Dahlonega Trail Fest.

When we got there we decided to start the day with a hike. Unlike the ones we did at the AT Kick-off this was a guided hike by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC). The hike was led by Kathryn, Kelly and Crumbsnatch, Who you ask is Crumbsnatcher? He is the AT Shelter-mouse and the mascot of the ATC. I will say that he and Pete had an unease understanding. The hike was about two miles out-and-back south on the AT from Damascus. Because of the threat of rain, the hike ended a little early, so continued on two more miles (one-way). We decided to head back for one we didn't plan for a six mile hike and two we wanted to enjoy Trail Fest.

Kathryn & Kelly get ready to lead the hike.

Kathryn points to to the famous white blaze...

...of.

One of the black trail signs.

Here are photos...

...from the hike.

Deb & the white blaze.

Headed back.

Trail sign.

Pete & Crumbsnatcher

One of the big differences from Trail Days and other AT festivals was the number of vendors at the event. From gear manufactures, to people selling ready to eat meals, to all kinds of crafts there were a lot of booths and they were set up right on the AT. There was also live music at the Gazebo.

The vedors at the ATKO...

...& Damascus (that path is the AT).

ATC booth (I joined today).

American Chesnut Assocation booth....

...AWOL AT Guide booth...

Katahdin model at Katahdin S.P. both.

TrailSigns booth.

Church Hill Music Company at the Gazebo.

That allows me to speak a little about Damascus. The town is like a bigger Hot Springs as the AT goes right through town just like in the North Carolina. Also there are AT logos in the sidewalk, just like in Hot Springs. However Damascus also has the Virginia Creeper Trail heading through town.

Hot Springs...

...& the AT logo on the sidewalk.

Damascus...

...& its AT logo as the path goes through town.

AT sign at the post office.

Mileage sign.

AN AT U.S. Geological Marker (a first)!

Old railroad bridge now part of the Virginia Creeper Trail.

More of the Creeper.

The town mural.

Another mural at Mt. Rogers Outfitter.

If you go to Trail Days the one thing you have to catch is the famous Hiker Parade. It is like any parade except it has hikers and water guns. The point of the water guns is to wash the "dirty hiker trash." Now both hikers and parade attendees engage in a water gun fight.

Mt. Rogers AT Club & the ATC.

Backpacker guy.

Pictures from the Hiker Parade.

He hit me in the chest.

Besides thru-hikers past and present, trail legend Gene Epsy was honored Saturday with a day in his honor. He was the second person to thru-hike the AT back in 1951. I spoke about my first meeting, with Gene, in Dahlonega, back in 2014, and I got to see him speak again last year at AT Trail Fest. So, it was great to see him honored he is a true legend of the AT.

Wood Booger with Gene in 2014....

...two years later he was honored at Trail Days.

At his table...

...in the Hiker Parade.

Deb and I thoroughly enjoyed our first visit to Trail Days and I will have to say it won't be our last.