Before Floyd


The wine had warmed my belly and the sunny day warmed my entire body. We drove down a narrow road with a roaring river to our right and a cliff with small but impressive waterfalls to our left. We were on our way to¦ well we didn’t really know where. I think we were still looking for some sort of breakfast but it was almost 2:30 pm. We stopped for a bit to snap a few pics at the scenic overlook over the Maury River near Goshen, VA.

Our skittles led us to a small cafe in Goshen. The screen door slammed behind us as we walked in. A table of four hunters stopped eating and stared. Two older gentlemen sat in a booth to our left and stopped their conversation. This place was perfect.

We walked up to the counter, complete with milkshake machines from the 50s, a pie case from the 40s and eventually, a waitress from a decade before that.

She didn’t find us right away. One of the four hunters yelled into the kitchen, œMargie, someone’s here. She called us honey and recommended the day’s special of baked chicken served with two vegetables and a roll. We both got it. I had a side of greens and green beans, my friend got coleslaw and mashed potatoes with gravy on the side.

I think the thing I loved the most about the meal were the pats of butter that were served with the rolls. I’ve only ever experienced them at old-fashioned chicken-dinner fundraisers in my hometown. A perfectly proportioned slice of butter is sandwiched between a firm white square of paper and a thin sheet of wax paper. The heat from your fingertips help to melt the butter right away and make it ideal for spreading. I love this.

For dessert we had the apple pie a la mode and a small chocolate milkshake. Both were made from scratch and served with love from Margie. Good ole Margie.

A few skittles later and we were headed to Floyd. A very small dot on our map off of route 81 S.

Quote of the day: From Tony, an 89-year-old hearing-impaired WW I vet who joined us at the counter. “Look right there, that’s my birthday, born July 4th, 1918. Now you can tell your friends you met a real Patriot.”

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