Jack's isn't exaclty a welcoming bar, but their fries are good. Upon walking in the door, the first sight past the two regulars is the bartender, who is wearing a shirt that reads, "SHOW ME YOUR TITS," and that is missing the sleeves. Appropriately, there was armpit hair working its way out. I was a little on edge from that first moment, but didn't want to wait outside, so I stayed. After about an hour, I was joined the rest of the group for a beer. The "date" didn't last long after Kirsten and Donnica saw a creepy poster in the women's room coupled with a creepy comment with the bartender. We left shortly afterwards.
I was the only one who had traveled this route because we typically come from DC, so I wasn't sure where we'd find dinner. And, the towns of Thomas and Davis, WV were pretty much our options, and it was late on a Saturday night, so we were skeptical that we'd find anything aside from a gas station convenience store. We would be dead wrong.
There was one place open in Thomas, and I was pretty sure that the entire town of Davis would be closed, which it was, as we later discovered. We passed the establishment, peered in and saw a crowd and what looked like menus in a bin by the door, and decided this would be the place. After the surprisingly difficult task of finding parking, we got to the door of The Purple Fiddle and at once realized we'd found a gem. It looks like they took an old general store, complete with built-in shelving everywhere, added a stage, put together a great green-ish menu, and
recruited the best bluegrass acts they could find to play every night. To randomly find a place like this is, to me, like stumbling upon Las Vegas while trekking through the Mojave desert, running out of water.We got to sit outside and hear The Steepcanyon Rangers, and the food was great. People danced, I actually bumped into an old friend, and we stayed awhile. The following weekend, Kirsten and I met there again to see The Speakeasy Boys and got front row seats. You should go there.
From Thomas, we drove about an hour into the Dolly Sods Wilderness to a cabin that our friends Mark and Margot own and let us use, which was the main event. But, that is a matter for another post. More to come . . .
Git 'r Dun.
