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Tio Wally Eats America: Exit 62 Restaurant & Truck Plaza

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Glencoe, Kentucky.

Greeting from Glencoe, Kentucky
N 38° 44.398′ W 084° 49.842’ Elev. 621 ft.

I got stuck for a day hereabouts and decided I would finally eat at the Exit 62 Restaurant & Truck Plaza. I’d slept here before because once you hit the I-71-75 split up the road a piece you won’t find anywhere to park after about 5 p.m. But for some reason I never ate here … and they’ve got grits and hash browns!

As soon as I sat down a guy came over and said “What can I get you to drink, boss?” I told him and then asked if those were that day’s specials on the chalkboard. I thought there would be breakfast specials on it. I get confused sometimes because I operate on Pacific Time and, unless I have to be somewhere, I don’t mess with inconsequential things like converting time zones. Needless to say it turned out to be three hours later later in Kentucky than it was in Zzyzx and those were indeed the day’s specials.

“We have a new item today,” he said. “It’s a meatball hoagie that’s really good. We also have pot roast that’s really, really good, with big chunks of meat in it.” Okay, I said, I’ll have that. “I’m not your waitress,” he replied, “she’ll be right here.”

The Exit 62 is a fairly old, funky place, with a host of friendly people working there. It’s got a broad porch in front with benches and rocking chairs, the perfect place for a doing a little jawing while you whittle. It’s kind of confusing though: Is the place called the Exit 62 Restaurant or the Yum-Yum Shop? According to the receipt it’s called the Exit 62 Restaurant. I have no explanation for the Yum-Yum.

After I ordered I was kind of sorry I hadn’t read the menu a little closer. It turned out they’ve got a breakfast sausage called Goetta. I asked the guy: What the heck is Go-etta? He said “It’s pronounced ‘Get-uh’.” He thought it was “a German sausage made with beef and pork and some other stuff” but wasn’t really sure. He assured me nevertheless that “It’s really good.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” said a lady sitting behind me, without missing a beat. So I asked her what it Goetta was. “Well,” she said, “I’m not really sure. It’s beef and pork and some sort of filler, and it’s really dry. I’ve tried for years to like it but I just can’t. But a lot of people do. They even have a Goetta Festival up in Covington every year. But I … I … I just ….” Hate it? “Yeah!”

According to the Wiki, the filler in Goetta is pin oats, it isn’t German, and is peculiar to the Cincinnati area, like Five Way Chili. And evidently some people positively loathe the stuff. So much so that now I’m afraid to even try it.

13 Exit 62_plate

My pot roast ($8.59) arrived, with two sides and corn bread, which was actually a griddle cake. Like the man said, the pot roast had “big chunks of meat in it” which were pretty tender. The meat, chunks of potato, baby carrots, and onion were bathed in a brown gravy that didn’t really work for me. I prefer pot roast in its natural juices “like Mom makes.” Still, it wasn’t bad by any means.

For sides I got mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. I don’t know what I was thinking. I should’ve gotten hash browns and beets. In toto the meal was pretty good but, still, it just wasn’t what I was really wanting.

Next to the cash register they had a really great looking homemade 4-layer coconut cake so I bought a slice ($2.99) to take with me. It turned out to be quite good. The frosting had a copious amount of coconut and tasted vaguely of marshmallow. I told my sister, a world-class baker in her own right, about it and she explained that it was Seven Minute Frosting.

As I was leaving I kept thinking I probably should’ve substituted the pot roast for two eggs and fried bologna — you can’t get fried bologna just anywhere, you know — and, what the hell, maybe a couple of slices of white bread and a side of grits. Oh wait, that’s the Fried Bologna breakfast ($5.49). Maybe next time.

And so we roll.

Exit 62 Restaurant & Truck Plaza, I-71 Exit 62, 3345 Highway 127 N, Glencoe, Kentucky

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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Tio Wally Eats America: Noble’s Truck Stop & Clock of Gaffney Restaurant

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Corinth, Kentucky and Gaffney, South Carolina.

Greetings from Corinth, Kentucky
N 38° 29.1166’ W 084° 35.7492’ Elev. 967 ft.
and Gaffney, South Carolina
N 35° 4.8053’ W 081° 42.2063’ Elev. 800 ft.

Occasionally things work out well for us here atop the endless asphalt seas. Like when we recently scored two great meals on two consecutive days! That’s such a rarity in boulevard boating that it’s destined to become enshrined in the Annals of Avenue Adventures or, at least, in the Daily Log Book at ISA (Interstate Absurdities) World Headquarters; Skippy sent a telegram.

The SS Me So Hungry had set sail from Indiana laden with 21 tons of 8 fl/oz bottles of Nesquik®. Why we were delivering the precious cargo of flavored milk to beer distributors in North Carolina seemed rather curious. But, hey, we’re not paid to come up with plausible explanations for life’s absurdities, just to drag crap around. Besides, we’ve seen ChocoVine.

On the first day of the cruise we stopped at Noble’s Truck Stop & Restaurant in Corinth, Kentucky. I don’t know how long this place has been here but it’s certainly been a long, long time and the place has seen better days. It was probably a busy truck stop at one time but is now reduced to about ten decrepit fuel islands, only two still equipped with pumps. I suspect that had I shown up in the dark of night I would’ve thought it was abandoned.

The restaurant is likewise old and funky, but it is clean and kind of cool. The waitresses wore old-school uniforms straight out of the ’60s and actually had matching teased-up platinum-blonde hair-dos. My waitress was really, really sweet and quickly described the special I wanted. They called it Glazed Chicken, and it came with two sides, a side salad and fried cornbread ($9.17 w/tax).

The Glazed Chicken was big chunks of breast meat in a kind of mushroom (not Cream of) sauce, served over white rice. Although it would’ve been more fun had it had more mushrooms, the stuff was really great. I just wish there had been a lot more of it.

For the sides I had fried zucchini in a light, greaseless batter, and white beans. Both of these were very good. The beans were really creamy and soulful though would have been better with some chunks of ham in them. The salad of iceberg lettuce and plenty of chunks of tomato was fresh and crispy.

The fried cornbread — properly it should be called johnnycakes or hoecakes — was particularly awesome. The two cakes were about the size of small- to average-sized pancakes and, with a little mock-butter and a drizzle of honey, were pure heaven. As I was eating them I kept thinking they have a lot in common with plain (unfilled) papusas.

Although the place isn’t visible from Interstate 75 — I found it only because it was listed on the exit information sign — there were trucks coming and going all day long, the drivers coming strictly for the food. I could see why. This place was a real find. In all it was quite a classic, satisfying Southern soul food meal.

The next day we landed in Gaffney, South Carolina, a port we’ve been to many times. You know you’ve arrived in Gaffney when you see the Peachoid, the giant, beautifully painted, somewhat erotic — don’t tell the South Carolinians lest they tear it down — peach-shaped water tower.

I’d seen the Clock of Gaffney Restaurant before but had never eaten there. I was always too tired or too lazy or it was too hot to walk to from the nearby Pilot truck stop. That day, however, we were able to ditch the box (trailer) and bobtail around. The specials they were flogging on the electronic readerboard that day were Lasagna and Salad for $8.50 and Meatloaf and Two Sides for $6.99. Meatloaf sounded pretty good and the parking lot was surprisingly empty at the time, so in we went.

I ordered the Meatloaf, with lima beans and mashed potatoes and gravy for the sides. It also came with a roll or cornbread, which I opted for.

The meatloaf was incredible. Flavorful and moist, the serving was two giant slices nearly an inch thick that filled the entrée section of the styrofoam to-go box. The mashed potatoes were also incredible, really creamy with a delightful buttery flavor, and topped with a pretty decent brown gravy. While the lima beans were really good, they naturally fell just a little short; every time I get lima beans I’m hoping they’ll be as good as the butter beans at Jackson’s Soul Food Kitchen, which ain’t gonna happen.

The cornbread was also really great. When I asked the waitress if I could get a couple of pieces she asked, “Is that going to be enough?” Throw another one in there, I said, and she did. Sadly, they had no honey, but the sweetness of the waitress kind of made up for it.

While I was waiting for my order I noticed that one of the soups of the day was Potato. Because I love good potato soup I ordered a bowl ($3.50?). The soup was really tasty though I thought it could’ve used more chunks of potato and some good bits of bacon. I also thought that with those additions they could’ve went ahead and thrown in a bunch of chopped clams, ending up with one hell of a great New England style clam chowder.

As they were packing up my booty I kept looking at all the incredibly tempting cakes they had rotating hypnotically in the merry-go-round dessert case. I couldn’t figure out one of them. It was some sort of ceramic container. I kept wondering: What could possibly be in it? Is it just for decoration, sort of a space filler or what? Regardless, I thought it was remarkably beautiful, a masterwork of clay and kiln.

It turned out it wasn’t a ceramic piece at all: It was a freakin’ New York style cheesecake about four inches high with a four-inch-high dome of chocolate mousse on top, frosted on the side with mousse, and decorated with a swirly design of chocolate! Oh. My. God. While everything in the dessert case looked incredible, this one was absolutely stunning.

The waitress told me they bake all of the desserts in-house every couple of days and that the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake ($4.15/slice plus tax) is so popular that it lasts barely a day before it’s gone. Okay, I said, I better have a slice.

I felt guilty as I watched the magnificent cake being cut into. It was like watching a priceless work of art being vandalized, me standing by cowardly without intervening. I was also bummed because I wasn’t smart enough to run out and grab the camera and get a picture before it was … Oh, the humanity!

The cheesecake was every bit as exquisite as it looked, and so rich and the slice so large that it took me four sittings to finish it.

I’ll definitely be returning to both of these restaurants when the opportunities arise. Especially the Clock of Gaffney. You see, Gaffney is a frequent port of call and they’ve finally finished building the QT directly across the street, a place where a guy can land a yacht. Yea!

And so we roll.

Noble’s Truck Stop & Restaurant, I-75 Exit 144, 1065 Owenton Road, Corinth, Kentucky
Clock of Gaffney Restaurant, I-85 Exit 90, 930 Hyatt Street, Gaffney, South Carolina

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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Tio Wally Eats America: 96 Truck Stop

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Winchester, Kentucky.

Greetings from Winchester, Kentucky
N 38° 00.829’  W 084° 10.646’  Elev. 1077 ft.

If you want funky in Kentucky, this is the place.

I first found the 96 Truck Stop in Winchester through the miracle of the Garmin GPS. I was looking for a place to park, one that I hoped had InterTube access. Sailing along, I called this place and, lo and behold, they had free Tubes. All I had to do then was find it.

This place is in kind of a weird location. It’s very old place that, I suspect, was originally located just off the highway long before the interstate was built, but who knows? To get here you have to go north up Hwy. 627 and then double back on Rolling Hills Lane. Being kind of hidden, it isn’t a place you would spot from the freeway and pop into.

I arrived just before lunch on my last visit, having sailed all night. I went in hoping they’d have some special that I couldn’t resist but all they were offering at the time was an Open-faced Roast Beef (see pic) and BBQ Pulled Pork, neither of which rocked my boat.

Instead I opted for a Egg and Bologna sandwich ($3.50), and one of the “New Items”, Fried Green Tomatoes ($2.99), along with a Sweet Tea ($1.99).

Whenever I’m in these kinds of places and presented with various choices, I always ask the server what they would get, and usually order that. The waitress suggested I get the sandwich on white bread with mayo and tomato. It came with two thick slices of fried bologna and it was awesome. Had it not been so filling I would’ve ordered another one. It was that good! (Just looking at the picture has me salivating!)

The six slices of Fried Green Tomatoes served with Ranch Dressing and were okay, I guess. They were prepared nicely but were kind of bland, with a slightly fishy taste. I suspect they use the same cornmeal that they use for the Catfish. They also seemed kind of overpriced. I mean, it’s a tomato — a green tomato! — for chris’sake. But then again, fried green tomatoes are always pricey for some unknown reason.

The Sweet Tea ($1.99) was everything it was billed as: Sweet! Too sweet, I thought.

Still, that sandwich was so good I’ll definitely be stopping back just for that. Hell, it was every bit as good if not better than Uncle Joe’s Famous Fried Bologna sandwich.

Total bill for this portion of my culinary adventure was $8.99. In retrospect, I should’ve just got the sandwich.

After a long nap I woke up hungry again and went back in to see if they had changed the specials. They still had the previous two offerings but had added Stuffed Bell Peppers ($6.99), which I ordered.

I love Stuffed Bell Peppers and thought I’d hit pay dirt. “Wow, two stuffed peppers and two sides for seven bucks!” I thought. So I ordered it with Cottage Cheese and Macaroni and Cheese as the sides. Then the plate came.

Now I don’t want to argue with anyone armed with a felt-tip marker and a dry-erase board but … if you put an “S” after the word pepper, it makes it plural. If I’m not mistaken, the meaning of “plural” is “more than one in number.” So where the hell is my other pepper. I need my other stuffed bell pepper, damn it! I want it. Now.

I was going to ask my waitress about this roadside restaurant robbery but she was busy. Knowing that she’s dealt with plenty of mildly disgruntled land-yacht skippers in the past, I knew I would get nowhere with my linguistic argument. Indeed, I suspected that even if I presented her with my First Place Award for Opinion Writing from the Northwest Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists I wasn’t going to get another pepper. I really hate it when my coveted SPJ Award fails to get me more stuff[ed bell peppers].

Despite my apparent trauma from being shorted, the Stuffed Bell Pepper, after a dash of salt, was really good. Instead of a green pepper, it was fairly large red one, generously stuffed with a rice and ground beef filling, topped with a tomato sauce.

The Macaroni and Cheese was homemade, but it too was kind of bland. But with the addition of salt and pepper it easily filled the bill.

In all it was a pretty decent deal for the price. Plus, I’d found a dollar bill in the parking lot on the way in. A whole dollar! Bonus.

If you’re still hungry after dining at the 96 Truck Stop there is a place right across the street called Alltech. It grows algae — actually it’s more akin to a brewing process — in giant vats before sending it through a dryer and packaging it up in 50-kilo bags. The dried algae is then shipped off and used as a high-protein additive to cattle feed. This could conceivably make for an organic, alternative “dessert” for the health-conscious, if you’re so inclined. Or, like me, you can just wander over and be mesmerized by the giant acrylic tubes of bubbling algae.

The 96 Truck Stop is open 24/7, located about 20 miles east of Lexington off I-64 at Exit 96 (Hwy. 627 North). They have free InterTubes but only one power strip if you need to plug in.

And so we roll.

96 Truck Stop, 510 Rolling Hills Lane, Winchester, Kentucky

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.