Friday: Tripps and DAVE'S

On Friday, Jana and I left Gatlinburg and headed to Ashville/Hendersonville, NC. We stopped in Ashville to eat at Tripps. Everything again was good - the atmosphere, service, the food. However, it wasn't something that I thought was a "gotta go back there" type of thing. They have locations in North and South Carolina as well as Virginia. 4 out of 5.

However, the next place we ate wasn't an eating establishment at all! However, it was probably the best place we ate on our entire trip. There was nothing formal about this place and we basically ate with our hands, but this is something that I really want to do again! Below are the 40 halves of chicken being prepared for the evening.

While getting our instructions from Kaye at Clear Creek Cabins, she informed us that her friend Dave had a pavilion just down the road and that he loves to feed, meet and entertain guests there. She also noted that he had been to Wal-Mart that day and she knew he had chicken for the evening and suggest we might want to go down for part of the evening. With a little coxing, we decided to go to "Dave's". Were we glad we did! Dave and the entire group was so inviting and gracious to both Jana and I. I had "pumpkin butter" for the first time in my life. Dave made 40 halves of chick for about 15 of us and two batches of biscuits - both of which were fabulous. They even had Diet Mt. Dew! We sat around the campfire and talked and listened to stories about WWII and so much more. We made new friends that we hope to visit again. Below, Jana and I pose for a picture which Dave took for us. 4.9999999999 out of 5 (remember, no one is perfect).