Potlikker: we wash our lemons and our hands

Sunday Ian and I took a ride. He suggested Greeneville, Tn. but I preferred going across the mountain to North Carolina. Our destination was Blowing Rock, NC. The ride was lovely. We kept the windows down the entire time. It noticeably cooled at least ten degrees as we climbed in elevation.

Our first stop was Mast General store annex in Valle Crucis. They have clothing on the first floor (Ruff Hewn, Woolrich, Royal Robbins, etc.) outfitting on the second (backpacks, footwear, etc.), and candy on the right side of the first floor. After a brief look of their clothes, I headed directly towards the candy aisles.

Haven't much of a sweet tooth. I just like looking. Most candies are displayed in barrels. The store provides wooden buckets for you to fill and then at the end your loot is weighed and assigned a price.

Most of my childhood candy indulgences veered toward the sour, though once Whatchamacallit's hit the market I was hooked on those. I loved smarties, nerds, gobsotppers. And these sour powdery lollipops. In the case of these lollipops, the reality now is better than before. The ones I bought straight from the huge plastic pickle-jar-like-tub were a third the size of these.

They also had fun dip, but not the same size that I bought from my local convenience market a few blocks from my house. There was only one pocket of sugary dipping dust instead of the three that came with sticks in the old days. I bought them for the sticks, of course. The dust was incidental. We left the store with a bag filled with candy and diet Cheerwine in a glass bottle for me. Thought I'd add it to my bottle collection rather than recycle it like a good person.

Hoisting our candy sack into the car, we drove on toward Blowing Rock. Walked around a bit and decided where to dine. There's an English pub on main street, and shepherd's pie appealed to me, but Ian wasn't convinced the menu would suit him. Another place we stopped was closed. And that led us to Highlands in the former Tijuana Fats building.

It was surprisingly good. The menu was interesting, appealing. We sat on the patio. The service was fast, friendly, and informative. The server told us that the guy who owned the place used to own Vidalia (in Boone, we thought it was in BR, show's what we know) and when TF closed in December, he sold Vidalia to friends and bought this building and opened up. She said the menu was up for revision soon and would feature more dinner entrees.

Ian's buffalo burger was tasty. It wasn't the first time either of us had buffalo meat. But I didn't remember the gamey taste being quite so gamey. I found it almost sour-mash like. Ian didn't have words to describe it.

The sweet potato fries? Heavenly. I couldn't stop myself from digging in to the basket.

I opted for a healthier choice, their stuffed portobello. It came on a bed of greens. It was grilled an stuffed with cheese, tomatoes, onions, and black olives, and topped with corn relish. I was tickled with it. Their desserts were minimal: milkshakes and NY Style cheesecake.

A very pleasant experience, for sure. I was hesitant about Highlands because it's former occupant, Tijuana Fats, bored me beyond belief. And I thought, surely if one restaurant is bad, then maybe its predecessor will be too. So glad that wasn't the case. Can't wait to see what new creations are on their Autumn menu.

I overheard another server tell her lemon lusting table, "We wash our lemons, and our hands." I found it worth repeating.

We opted to finish off with scoops of ice cream from Kilwin's. I ate peanut butter and chocolate in a waffle cone while Ian ate the cake batter. He didn't love it, but ate it anyway after somehow the sample piqued his interest.