If you've read the "Trip Report - Baltimore, Md - Faidley's w/Pics" post, this post is from the drive to and from the Baltimore area from Virginia Beach, Va. This report was documented on June 9-10th, 2007.
Our first roadfood stop that day was a few hours north of Va Beach in a town called Occaquan, Va - this little town is home of the Garden Kitchen. The Garden Kitchen is especially know for their creme pies.
The front of the Garden Kitchen
In order to get into the actual buidling you need to go up there stairs on the side of the building (like a little alley) so just follow under this sign to find your way
This is the actual entrance into the building once you walk up the stairs
Now we know why they call it the Garden Kitchen. We found this very cozy little courtyard with lots of trees, shrubs, flowers along with a little fountain as well. There's even a row of benches located behind the white picket fence there - a great little setting!
We decided to sit inside due to the heat outside that day. It was also very nice inside as well.
A view of all of their pies - the top is all of their creme pies, the middle shelf is all of their fruit/nut pies and the bottom shelf has some odds and ends like breads, cookies, brownies, etc.
My girlfriend ordered the pecan pie which she enjoyed very much - I tasted it and it was very good!
I ordered the banana creme pie which was also very good - very refreshing on a hot day - I would definitely order both pies again
After we were both done our pies we decided to try a cookie as well. I thought it was one of the best cookies that I've ever had but my girlfriend disagreed - she didn't like it so much. It was a chocolate chip cookie but it had plenty of other additions as well. Some kind of small, chopped up nuts of some sort and I think a few raisins as well. It was very gooey, possible made with some molasses or honey?
After the Garden Kitchen is when we headed up to Baltimore, Md and ate at Faidley's - there is another post (refer back to the top of this post) if interested.
On our way back from Baltimore, we decided to try Dixie Bones BBQ in Woodbridge, Va. It was about 6-7pm on a Saturday night when we got there so there was a bit of a wait.
The outside of the building - with the smoker and all
I'm sure this comes in handy for the caterings/festivals
We were still waiting at this point but I figured I'd preview my desert and beverege. Pecan pie along with I think was Coconut custard along with their own bottled sweet tea.
It was at this point where everyone that was waiting for a table (including us) was told that they had ran out of pork BBQ for the evening? Well since that was what we had all planned on ordering we all left in dissapointment. My brother who was also with me at the time told me that he heard that the reason they ran out was due to a large catering party that they had earlier in the day. Don't know if it's true or not but either way I don't think that they can afford to make that kind of mistake - I was pretty dissapointed but do hope to make it back there someday soon to finish my report.
After we ate at the Crackerbarrel for diner that night I suggested that we stop at Carl's Custard in Fredericksburg, Va.
It was about 11pm buy the time we got there but the neon sign was still lite - they were still open!
Just a shot of the front, you can definitely tell that this place has been around for a while
The custard was delicious - it did not dissapoint
The next day we went to King's Dominion theme park in Doswell, Va. We did get some lunch in the park, it was actually pretty darn good, especially for theme park food.
We ate at the Country Kitchen, one of the older, possibly the oldest food establishment in the park.
I ordered the pork BBQ sandwich platter - sandwich and two sides only came to about $8 which really isn't too bad for a theme park.
The BBQ wasn't great by any means but definitely still pretty decent - I would stop and order it again considering some of the other garbage you could be served in theme parks. The sides were actually pretty tasty as well - mashed potatoes with gravy along with mac and cheese - both were surprising pretty good. Overall the meal was better than I expected, probably better than some indipendent BBQ establishments in some areas
After a long day in the park we decided to stop for some dinner before heading home. Only about 6 miles south of King's Dominion is the Smokey Pig in Ashland, Va.
I was excited to finally get to try this place as well - I had heard a lot about it - I was keeping my fingers crossed that they wouldn't be out of BBQ
Yep, the wood was stacked outside in the back
They started us out with a basket of hushpuppies which were really like just fried cornbread, not much of any other ingredients. Still very good though - we enjoyed them
I had ordered the two meat platter - I got the Carolina style BBQ (left) and the Virginia style BBQ (right)
After I had doctored up my Carolina style with some Carolina style sauce, Texas Pete and slaw along with my Virginia style with the Virginia style sauce - Both were awesome, I couldn't really decide which style was better - Both were done very well and I would order both again in a heartbeat. I would take a few bites of one, then back to the other and so on and so on.....a lot of meat as well.
I got two sides as well, I ordered mashed potatoes with gravy along with maccaroni salad. You can also see the Virginia style sauce (in the ketchup bottle), Texas Pete and Carolina style sauce
Well I was all finished but before I was on my way back home had to get a shot next to "Pig Lane", located just outside of the Smokey Pig!
