There’s no place like Home Place

19 April 2014 (Day 46) – The HomePlace Restaurant in Catawba, VA is another culinary institution along the Trail. After a 2 hour wait, 13 very hungry thru-hikers ate their share of all-you-can-eat, family style cooking: fried chicken (awesome), roast beef, country ham, mashed potatoes, country gravy, corn, biscuits with apple butter, cole slaw (fantastic), green beans, and blueberry cobbler with ice cream for dessert. To say we ate a lot of food would be a gross understatement. To their credit, our waitress didn’t blink when we kept asking for more and more food. The restaurant is closed Monday through Wednesday. I hiked two 25 mile days to ensure I arrived when it was open; others hitched or called for shuttles. The price? $15 per person includes meal, drink, dessert and tax. If you’re near Catawba, eat here!

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A big “Thank You” to my German friends Fred and Hiie-Mai Unger. Years ago, Fred had spent time at Virginia Tech and had fond memories of The Homeplace Restaurant. He wanted to spread some trail magic so he funded a few hiker’s meals. The fact that we ate there on the eve of Easter and a few of the younger hikers had not budgeted for a dinner out made it a special event. You are now a certified Trail Angel, Fred!

(Pictured: Spaghetti, Motor, Nails, Straight Ahead Bob, Flashlight, Ugly Coyote, Tiptoe, Jolly, Figgy, John, Cool Story, Papa Squats)