20 minutes North of Jefferson

 Our second stop as nomads was the town of Jefferson in Tennessee. We very quickly learned that Jefferson has nothing and Morristown, 20 minutes north, is actually where it's at. "It" being civilization, that is.

[Redacted] North Carolina

After the holidays, we drove my sister back to her home in [Redacted], NC and hung out there for a while. On our first night, we were greeted by a massive bonfire outside our hotel room that burned all night. I was concerned if we should call someone, but apparently in [Redacted] random bonfires are a regular occurrence and the locals don't even bat an eye.

 

 

A few days later we got the warning, the storm of the century was coming! It was all over the news: 1-2 feet of snow overnight, roads impassable, prepare people! ...And we're in a hotel with nothing, not even a single bag of chips. We went and got 6 bags of groceries, prepped to live off of ice cream for the next 72 hours.... want to know how much snow we got? This much:

 None. Not even a spritz of rain. And yes, that is the same bonfire from a few nights ago. Observant of you. But the true kicker? We didn't have a freezer so we left the ice cream on the porch to stay frozen. In the morning it was a soupy melted mess. Thanks snow storm, thanks.

Why am I not disclosing where we were? Because it makes [Redacted] a cool and mysterious place you now want to visit. Come on, it's a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, how else am I supposed to sell this? ;)

Honestly this place is so small I thought we'd be lucky to have two restaurants, let alone two good restaurants. This place killed it though. Best bbq, fried onions, and seafood I've ever had. Also they had a Clyde's, which the hotel staff recommended we go to. I made the mistake of trusting the staff, seeing as they are in the tourist industry and all. Which is how we ended up at Clyde's, the worst restaurant of all the ones we went to in [Redacted]. I mentioned that we went there to my sister and she burst out laughing, asking how we even found that place. Apparently, Clyde's is for the locals and filled with local charm. Truly a restaurant only a mother local could love.

*not pictured at Clyde's

 

Oh yeah, one of the places has a resident cat! It sat on my lap almost the entire meal after Evan buttered it up.

 

My sister told us about an awesome coffee shop, definitely one of my favorite on the trip so far. Spent many days there, rain or shine. Didn't hurt that their mugs are my favorite color, definitely didn't bias my opinion.

 

My sister's boyfriend came up to visit too and we did some great walks around the local lakes. Between the food and the scenery and the tiny-town-ness I would definitely recommend [Redacted]. Joyful little place.

 

Except for that one bush that ate me 🤪

 

Favorite places:

Orchard Coffee - great coffee, even better atmosphere, subpar parking

Haywood smokehouse - great bbq, the place made me love brisket and has made every brisket since a huge disappointment

Beach Mountain - best breakfast place in town! Actually got to introduce my sister to this place since she didn't know about it. The pandemic closed down a lot of old places, but this place is proof that sometimes something better rises from the ashes. They should name this place Phoenix Eggs instead of [Redacted]

 Sweet Onion - best fried onion appetizers ever. Glorious. Words can't even. Hope my sister figures out how to make these at home cause I want more!