Here we go again! Another North Carolina trip report...

About two weeks ago I got back from my annual spring roadtrip down to the Tarheel State to visit relatives, and, despite the will of the people, that means another trip report. Since my two previous NC reports have covered almost every aspect of my regular route from Chicagoland to Mount Airy, I'm going to spare myself any accusations of redundancy and limit the contents of this thread to restaurants, scenery and tourist attractions that I haven't posted on before. Time to put on our seatbelts and hit the road...     

   Here's a quaint little one lane bridge on a country road heading west from US 41. It's located just a few miles north of the old 41 cutoff to Morocco IN.






This tiny roadside chapel, which is about the size of a one-car garage, is located on US 52 between Fowler and Lafayette IN. It's been there since at least the early '60s, but this is the first time that I've ever stopped and went inside.

It appears that there were no food stops involved in this trip?

ChiTownDiner


It appears that there were no food stops involved in this trip?

Patience, my friend. As I said, I'll only be posting about eateries that I haven't before, and the first of those will be the place where I had dinner here on day one. Don't get your hopes up, though... it most definitely wasn't a meal to get excited about.

   As I posted about on another thread, the long-closed Shirley's Diner in Clarks Hill IN ( reviewed in the second edition of Roadfood in 1980 ) recently reopened as Flo's Roadside Diner. It's always good news when a defunct Roadfood restaurant comes back to life.




For several years I've been hoping to get a good photo of this Mail Pouch barn in Metamora IN, but the fact that it's located far from the highway with no apparent access road made that unlikely. However, thanks to Google maps, I found a short dirt road that took me close enough to get a decent picture.

   I really like this photo of the horse pasture located just behind Metamora's cluster of charming little shops.



Still another faded Mail Pouch barn; this one's on US 52 as you enter New Trenton IN.

Getting pretty hungry here...

ChiTownDiner


Getting pretty hungry here...

Then go grab a bag of Doritos. I'm buying... 

This is really great photography, Bob.

Thanks, Louis. It helped that I finally had blue skies and sunshine on a NC trip, rather than the usual cruddy weather. 

   I arrived in Harrison OH, where I had a room reserved, about 6 PM. After checking in, I headed out to dinner, and, hoping for something better than the usual Big Boy sandwich at Frisch's, I drove a short distance west to West Harrison IN where Zaraco's Family Restaurant is located. I've passed by this place dozens of times over the years, but hadn't gotten around to eating there until that evening.




I ordered what was supposed to be an open-face roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy, preceded by a salad. The salad was average, but when the sandwich arrived, I saw that it was topped with a slice of bread that didn't belong there ( not my idea of "open-faced". ) That was enough to set off my roadfood radar, which told me to approach this food with caution; my radar could not have been more correct. I don't enjoy trashing a small town indie restaurant like this one, but my dinner here was one of the worst dining-out meals that I've had in quite a while. The roast beef was tough, dry and stringy, and the so-called mashed potatoes were the instant crud out of a box. Worst of all, though, was the nasty stuff that passed for brown gravy; my guess is that it was one of those crappy powdered mixes that chain truckstops love so much. A bad, bad meal.



To make things worse, afterwards I discovered that the Harrison branch of Cincinnati's famed Graeter's ice cream chain was history. No fair!

   Here's two photos of the Cincinnati skyline ( no, not the chili chain ) that I took the next morning, which was day two. In the second shot, you can see the Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds.

I can't believe you passed on the tilapia hoagie!

Brad

Keep it coming!

That was my thought too Brad--two great tastes that might not taste great together.

Carolina Bob


   Here's two photos of the Cincinnati skyline ( no, not the chili chain ) that I took the next morning, which was day two. In the second shot, you can see the Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds.

 Carolina Bob, Is that TJ Jackson standing behind that dump truck?


Nice pics Bob.  What a poor excuse for an open face RB sandwich.

One of my favorite walks used to be parking on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River and hiking across the Roebling designed bridge to Riverfront(Cinergy) Stadium. Sorry to hear of your meal disaster.

joerogo


Nice pics Bob.  What a poor excuse for an open face RB sandwich.

Unless "RB" stands for "really bad".
 
It looks like the gravy could almost be peeled off in a sheet.  The word "congealed" comes to mind...
 
Brad

Brad_Olson



 
It looks like the gravy could almost be peeled off in a sheet.  The word "congealed" comes to mind...
 
Brad

Yeah, that gravy was something else. But just what that "something else" was, I don't wanna know!!

Carolina Bob, you should have stuck with the Big Boy sandwich at Frisch's!!!  Great pictures, I enjoy going on trips with you.

Thanks, Lisajo. After my very disappointing visit to Zaraco's, I passed by Frisch's on the way back to my hotel, and found myself gazing longingly at the Big Boy statue out in front. What does that tell you?

looking forward to more!

  Oh Jeeze Bob, Re: photo #12...You may want to consider a realistic,plastic cheeseburger that you can photograph whenever you are served anything that looks like THAT!   

You're right about that, Dawn. What really amazes me is that Zaraco's manages to stay in business year after year while serving up the sad excuse for food that they do. Harrison is located along I-74, so there's plenty of chain restaurant competition in town ( Frisch's, Cracker Barrel, Perkins, Waffle House and even White Castle. ) Zaraco's makes those outfits look like Peter Luger's by comparison, so how is it that the place continues to thrive?

   This beautiful roadside rest stop is on US 52 about a half hour west of Portsmouth OH. I always stop here enroute to NC to enjoy a few minutes of quiet and serenity.





I have no comment on this. You folks can put your dirty minds to work and make up your own captions...

Carolina Bob


   Here's two photos of the Cincinnati skyline ( no, not the chili chain ) that I took the next morning, which was day two. In the second shot, you can see the Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds.

 

A very fine photo of the Union Central Life Insurance Company Building.  CA 1912, it was the tallest building in the known universe outside of NYC.

   Breast milk IS Roadfood to millions of people!!!  

   This massive structure, located just east of Portsmouth, is the Sciotoville Bridge, which carries the tracks of the former Chesapeake & Ohio Railway ( now CSX ) over the Ohio River into Kentucky. It was built in 1917 and is over fifteen hundred feet long.





This footbridge leads to Marshall University's Cam Henderson Center in Huntington WV.

Amen on the breast milk, humans shouldn't be drinking cow's milk, it's for baby cows.   Escpecially with all the BGH injected into the cows, and lord only knows what else.   Newer studies show that calcium doesn't prevent osteoporosis and women get enough calcium from other foods in their diet, and is bad for men as it promotes prostate cancer.    Yes Vitamin D is good for both men and women, but there is only 40IU per serving and FDA recommends 400IU per day, but many doctors now recommend 1000IU per day.   

MiamiDon


A very fine photo of the Union Central Life Insurance Company Building.  CA 1912, it was the tallest building in the known universe outside of NYC.

Hey Don, would this happen to be inside that building? http://www.flickr.com/pho...ncypalooza/4640312627/  I remember touring a really beautiful old building downtown about ten years ago but not the name of it of course.  ;)