Mount Airy NC and the Mayberry Days Festival

Here's the Cannel City School, which my mother attended during the Depression years. Cannel is a grade of coal that at one time was abundant in the valley.

That's incredible! Awesome photo.

Golly Uncle Bob, The trip report just gets better, I look forward to seeing the latest updates :>)

This miniscule structure next to the school is the Cannel City post office. If it isn't the smallest one in the country, it's certainly in the top ten.

I love this hand-lettered sign...

Smallest Post Office in the U.S. (with picture): Ochopee, FL (It is 7' by 8'.)
 
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14154

6star


Smallest Post Office in the U.S. (with picture): Ochopee, FL (It is 7' by 8'.)
 
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14154

Haha, that's great.

Shannon Mitchell works in this tiny place as its clerk, and she says that she has the coolest job in the world. She has a phone, a computer, an air conditioner, a fluorescent tube for light, and a pair of tiny sliding screen doors to keep out the giant horseflies. Everything that she needs is obviously within reach. The job is quiet, as you might expect, although she does get occasional visits from people from all over the world who stop by to get something postmarked. Shannon has a stack of Ochopee Post Office post cards on the counter, pre-stamped both domestic and international, for when the tour busses pull up. If nature calls, there's a Subway about three miles west, and Skunk Ape Research Headquarters is a mile east.

Wow... that's amazing. I've seen phone booths that were bigger than the Ochopee post office. Cannel City, step aside! 

The next community along northbound KY 191 is Caney, where my late mother and her ten (!) siblings were born and raised. Just ahead is where KY 1000 branches off to the east.

It's a close one:

Note the Ale-8-One machine on this store's porch. In the Bluegrass State, Ale-8-One rules.  

Heading north on 191 through Caney...

This bridge carries KY 191 over Caney Creek, which meanders through the valley.

Just a few miles north of Malone is the junction of KY 191 and US 460 in the community of Index. I turned right onto eastbound 460 and drove the three or four miles into the town of West Liberty.

West Liberty is the county seat of Morgan County and the site of the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, a medium-security prison on a hilltop overlooking the town. One of my relatives in the area had told me about a roadfood-type restaurant on the east side of town, and since it was lunchtime, I headed in that direction.

Here's the place, specifically Pattie's Place on Prestonsburg Street. This restaurant definitely has a "roadfood" look to it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I don't really get the "Home Cooked Meals" thing with restaurants....isn't that the difference between an eatery and a house? I know what they mean but seems like there should be a better way to explain it...scratch made, homegrown recipes, I don't know....but a home is a home and a restaurant is a restaurant.

I ordered the meatloaf with corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cornbread.

EatingTheRoad


I don't really get the "Home Cooked Meals" thing with restaurants....isn't that the difference between an eatery and a house? I know what they mean but seems like there should be a better way to explain it...scratch made, homegrown recipes, I don't know....but a home is a home and a restaurant is a restaurant.

I always get a chuckle out of that as well, if I want "home cooked" food I'll simply eat at home:-)

nocarolina


I ordered the meatloaf with corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cornbread.

I wonder what Skillet Cabbage is? Sounds interesting.

The corn was obviously from a can, but everything else appeared to be freshly prepared ( the potatoes were nice n' lumpy. ) Overall, it was a pretty good meal, definitely better than anything that you'd get at Denny's/Perkin's/Applebee's etc.

Oops! I wuz mistaken... no gravy this time. 

My server mentioned that they made their own pies, so of course I had to try the chocolate cream pie ( my favorite. ) It was good but slightly disappointing as the chocolate flavor wasn't as intense as I expected it to be. In fairness to Pattie's, earlier in the month I had a slice of the terrific chocolate cream pie at Schmucker's in Toledo, and that's a tough act to follow.

With lunch out of the way, I headed back through town towards Index on 460.

Back in Index, on westbound 460, I noticed that the local Dairy Cheer had closed. Apparently I'm not the only one who wasn't thrilled with his Smashburger.

Driving west out of Morgan County, the verdant hills of eastern Kentucky give way to the gentle, rolling terrain of the central part of the state.