Best Pizza in East Tennessee!?

Laurie and I have been living here in East Tennessee for over 2 years now and there are a few food items and/or restaurant offerings that we were used to that have been very hard to find in this area. 
 

In no particular order, the hard to find food items are: a really great grilled cheeseburger (Ruby Tuesday’s Prime Burger is the best so far but it’s not cooked on a flat top grill); gyros; a good hot pastrami (Jason’s Deli is the best to date); a great basic breakfast (bacon or sausage and eggs over easy with hash browns and toast); blade cut lamb chops, (Once in a while, Food Lion offers something resembling what we’re used to), and; good thin crust pizza.  

When friends suggested that we pile into an SUV and head over to Oak Ridge to sample what is reputed to be the best thin crust pizza in East Tennessee, we were more than ready to go!  Maybe we could cross one food ‘need’ off our list…

This is Big Ed’s Pizza in Oak Ridge Tennessee.  This pizza joint was opened by Big Ed Neusel back in 1970 and although Big Ed himself passed on in 1998, the operation carries on under Ed’s son David’s leadership.

I like the front of this place…the 50’s look with the painted picture of “Big Ed” in the front window and the State Farm Insurance Agent’s office that’s stuck in the corner of the building…literally surrounded by Big Ed’s.

This is a glimpse of the pizza assembly line at Big Ed’s.  They were pumping out the pizzas…one after another!  Big Ed’s is a big time food landmark for the locals in and around Oak Ridge.

 

Here we are...thanks to a member of our little group, for once Laurie is in a photo! 

 

This photo also gives the reader a view of the inside of Big Ed’s.  We arrived early but everyone we’ve talked to about this pizza joint, has told us that the lines during the evening prime time can be intimidating.

 

This was our exploratory dining party.  It was Charlie's birthday and you get "a free" Big Ed's T-shirt if you celebrate your birthday there!  From the left we have Karen, Charlie, Holly, Joel (in front) and yours truly. 

 

So here’s what we came for…what’s really important.  The table ordered 3 different pizzas.  This was the large cheese pizza…

 

This is the large cheese, sausage and olives pizza.  Pizzas are offered in the 10”, 12” and 14” versions.  Prices seemed reasonable to us… A 14” with cheese and one topping cost $14.03.  A 14” with cheese and two toppings cost $15.76.  A 14” with cheese and three toppings cost $17.49.

 

Laurie and I ordered our usual…a large pizza with cheese, sausage and pepperoni.  While I would have liked a little more flavor in the sausage, this was indeed the best pizza we’ve had in East Tennessee!  Everyone in our group liked their pizzas…a lot! 

 

There were only 2 ‘negative’ issues, which we knew about in advance, but which based on some on-line reviews, seem to bother a number of people.  See that tiny cheap flimsy paper plate?  Well it comes with equally cheap and flimsy plastic forks…all the better to eat your pizza with!  Many regular customers consider these little quirks as part of what makes Big Ed’s the special joint that it is!  We planned ahead and packed our own sturdy paper plates and some flatware.  No big deal...

Big Ed’s is open from 11 AM to 11:30 PM, Monday through Saturday.  They do serve beer…$2.20 per mug or $11.00 for a pitcher.  Big Ed’s is located at 101 Broadway Avenue in Oakridge Tennessee.  Phone: 865-482-4885.  While Big Ed’s does not have a website per se, they can be found on the Internet at http://www.facebook.com/BigEdsTN.

If anyone knows of a better pizza place in East Tennessee, just let me know!

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Lunch on Lake George

As Laurie and I headed south from the Adirondacks, we enjoyed the scenery along Lake Champlain and then, Lake George.  I always spend a lot of time researching our trips and I had a plan for a special lunch overlooking the lake.

This is the front entrance for The Sagamore Hotel & Resort on Lake George in New York. 

This grand old hotel and resort was built on Green Island in 1883.  It was restored after fires in 1893 and 1914; reconstructed in 1930; fell into disrepair and closed in 1981; was purchased by a Philadephia builder and developer, then restored for $75 million in 1983; was updated at a cost of $20 million in 2002, and; it was purchased by Florida based Ocean Properties, Ltd. in 2008.

This is the lake side or back of the Sagamore Hotel.  It was a rainy day when we visited but it was still an impressive place.

 

Laurie and many others would find this hotel especially interesting as its considered to be one of the most haunted hotels in the USA.  Haunted American Tours ranks it 7^th among America’s haunted hotels and resorts.  There is a couple who shows up in the Trillium Dining Room, a tall dark haired woman who appears in Mrs. Brown’s Restaurant and a little boy from the 1950’s who used to retrieve errant golf balls and sell them to the resort’s golfers…only to be hit and killed by a car one day. 

For more on this topic, go to http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/toptenhaunted/toptenhauntedhotels/.  However, there are many other sites focused on the supernatural to be found on the Internet that rank the Sagamore Hotel quite high on their ‘spooky’ listings…

As I mentioned, it was a rainy day when we stopped by for lunch.  Still, the views were impressive and one can imagine the action here on a warm summer day. 

The Today Show was broadcasted from here back in 2009.  Richard Nixon and Thomas Dewey presided over a National Governor’s Conference at The Sagamore back in 1954.  The hotel itself is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.

This is a view of the Pavilion Dining Area for the resort.  This restaurant is located right down on the shore of Lake George and it is one of the most popular places to gather and have a meal at The Sagamore.  As it turned out, this was the last day of the season for service at the Pavilion!  Talk about cutting it close…

This is one of the reasons…perhaps the number 1 reason…why I’d planned on lunch at this resort.  This is Laurie’s “Classic New England Roll.  It came with cole slaw and French fries on the side.  She was a happy camper, even with the rainy day!

I decided to go with the Fried Clam Roll…accompanied by the slaw and fries.  While it looks OK, it was just ok… Not much flavor and a bit disappointing.  Still, given that lobster roll, it can once again be said that a happy wife equals a happy life! (Note: Lunch with drinks, tax and tip totalled $41.31)

When I did a little research, I learned that the Pavilion is now being totally reworked.  It is so popular that it will now have 2 levels and all of the food service will be moved to one end so the diners will all have the best view possible.

The Sagamore Resort is located at 110 Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing New York.  Phone: 866-385-6221.  Website: www.thesagamore.com/.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

2011 Road Trip – Railroad Depots (#8) NY

Continuing our late summer adventures…

After leaving the Adirondacks and nearing the shores of Lake Champlain, our route took us to Westport New York and then south on NY Rte. 9N and NY Rte. 22 toward the Albany area.  First, we had to stop to check out a very old and classy railroad depot at Westport.

This Depot was built in 1876 by the Delaware & Hudson Railroad.  It was expanded in 1891 and then again in 1908.  Note all of the authentic hand carts… The best news is that this is still an active railroad station and, with the allowance for a 3-year break in service before Amtrak took over the route, this station has been in business for 132 years!

The Amtrak ‘Adirondack Line’ serves Westport twice daily…with one train south at 1:40 PM to New York City, and again at 2:08 PM with a train to Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  In Fiscal 2011, a total of 4,520 passengers used Amtrak from this depot.

For a great photo of the Westport Depot and the Canadian National Holiday Train, just go to http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=262095.

This is an old stove that was once used to heat the depot… The depot was restored by the Westport Historical Society in conjunction with the Depot Theatre.  The Depot Theatre is a professional Actor’s Equity theatre with a number of plays, performances and events being staged in the depot each year.  For more information on the Theatre, go to http://depottheatre.org/.

This stone Romanesque revival railway depot is just a bit south of Westport in Port Henry New York.  The depot was built in 1898 by the Delaware & Hudson Railroad and, as with the Westport depot, it’s still an active Amtrak passenger terminal.  The southbound Adirondack train to New York City stops here, (if needed), at 2:09 PM and the northbound train to Montreal stops here at 1:39 PM.  A total of 2,160 passengers utilized Amtrak via this depot in fiscal 2011.  The building is also used as the Port Henry Senior Citizen’s Center…

This is a Montreal Locomotive Works RS-18 Diesel Engine that was built in 1958 for the Canadian Pacific Railroad.  A total of 381 of these 1,800 HP locomotives were built.  This locomotive as well as the coal car and the caboose were donated to the town of Port Henry by CP for display adjacent to the depot. 

The rolling stock has all been painted to commemorate the Lake Champlain & Moriah Railroad, an old 7 mile short line built in 1869 that eventually connected with the D&H line in Port Clinton from an early iron mine owned first by the Witherbee-Sherman Company…later by Republic Steel.

For some really terrific scenic photos of the Port Henry Depot in the winter with diesel trains passing by, just click on http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?location=Port%20Henry%20Station

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

A Late Summer Drive in The Adirondacks…

Continuing with our upper New York State late summer adventure…

As we cruised through the Adirondacks, we kept our eyes open for the usual…local attractions, railroad depots and rolling stock, and of course, places to grab a bite to eat!

This is the old Eagle Bay New York railway station.  It was operational from 1898 until 1933.  It was served by the old Raquette Lake Railway spur that ran from Old Forge to Raquette Lake.  All of the track has been pulled up and the railroad right-of-way is now the main line snowmobile route in the area.  As there were a couple of vehicles parked in front of the old depot, it appeared to be in use for some purpose. 

I found a statistic regarding the community of Raquette Lake that was fairly interesting… Only about 100 housing units in the community are occupied year around.  The remaining 838 units are only used during the summer season.

This is the Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake New York.  It was built in 1904.  It replaced an earlier hotel named Kellogg’s Lake House that had burned to the ground in 1901.  By 1923, this hotel was touted as offering “excellent rooms, light, airy and attractively furnished.”  Meals were pronounced to be “universally good, with first class service."  There were "modern accommodations for 75 persons starting at $25.00 per week.”  Today, a room with a queen bed and a private bath would cost $120.00 per night…

This is the Victorian Dining Room in the hotel.  Laurie and I decided to have lunch here.  The hotel also offers the more casual Lake Street Café as well as the Taproom. 

Albert Einstein stopped at the hotel in the 40’s while seeking a vacation area. It is alleged that he ate lunch in this dining room…

I have read a few web reviews about the hotel and the dining facilities.  In the spring of 2011, the reviews were generally pretty negative…especially as regards the rooms and the condition of the facility.  Of the 4 more recent reviews that I found, only one was a bit negative, the other 3 were fairly positive.

This is the view across the street from the front porch and from the dining room of the Adirondack Hotel.  There is a beach area and float planes are available for sightseeing tours.

We chose a pretty basic lunch, with both of us ordering the cheeseburger and chips.  The burger was juicy, the bun was buttered and toasted…and they didn’t skimp on the cheese! 

Just to see if we could stop our hearts, we decided to try an order of the cheddar cheese fries as well.  Again, lots of cheese…browned nicely on top.  While our doctor would stroke out if he saw this little gem, what the heck, we were on ‘vacation’…

This is a photo of the lobby of the Adirondack Hotel…a little shabby and run down but still busy. 

We learned that the river next to the hotel and Long Lake itself had flooded in April. (The proverbial 100 year flood!) The basement of the hotel was underwater.  Unfortunately, the boilers were ruined as were the coolers and the food on hand.  In addition, damage to the driveway, kitchen floor, front porch and the loss of business weren’t covered by insurance.  Apparently, the financial need has been at least partially met through community fund raising efforts…but another fund raiser was scheduled for the end of September.

She may be old and a little beat up but the hotel has been in business for 107 years.  Guests have included Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, Alfred E. Smith, (Democratic Candidate for President in 1928), and, in the 1980’s, Mickey Mantle.

The Adirondack Hotel is located at 1245 Main Street, NY Route 30, in Long Lake New York.  Phone: 518-624-4700.  Website: www.adirondackhotel.com.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave   

An Historic Adirondack “Camp”!

One of the goals that I hoped to accomplish during our trip to upper New York State and the Adirondacks, was a visit to one of the ‘great camps’ that were built back in the latter half of the 1800’s.  The term “Great Camps”, refers to the upscale luxurious family compounds that were built by the wealthy in the Adirondacks to serve as summer homes and a place for guests to visit.

Sagamore is one of the more accessible of the surviving camps…and they offer walking tours of this extensive facility. 

The Sagamore Camp was built on Sagamore Lake by William West Durant between 1895 and 1897.  This was his third camp…he’d already built Camp Pine Knot, (later owned by Collis P. Huntington – railroad developer), and Camp Unicas. (Once owned by J. P. Morgan – financier and banker) Durant was the son of a railroad promoter and financier and William became a property developer who specialized in building the great camps. 

Laurie was very busy taking photos of the many structures that comprise the Sagamore Camp’s compound.  Many of them are fairly spectacular!  The building shown above is in the ‘upper camp’ or worker’s complex.  Part of the buildings purpose was to serve as a dormitory for the single men working at the Camp.

Durant got into financial troubles in 1901 and he sold the camp to Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt.  Vanderbilt expanded the compound, adding flush toilets, a sewer system plus hot and cold running water.  Later he added a tennis court, a hydroelectric plant, an outdoor bowling alley, a 100,000 gallon reservoir and a working farm… Vanderbilt died nobly in 1915, saving the lives of others before he perished in the sinking of the Lusitania.

This large building is ‘sided’ with bark… These camps were all located on lakes in remote locations and the larger structures were mostly built using logs and locally quarried stone with shingled roofs, overhanging roof lines and large porches.  This unique American architectural style was obviously influenced by the Arts & Crafts Movement and by the Swiss chalet design.

When Alfred Vanderbilt died, Camp Sagamore passed on to his widow, Margaret Emerson.  She was an avid sportswoman, (and heiress to the Bromo-Seltzer fortune), who continued to use the camp for many years.  Eventually, in 1954, she transferred the camp  and its 1,526 acres to Syracuse University. 

The University operated a conference center here until the State of New York offered to buy it.  Since the property was located within the boundaries of the Adirondack Park, and since it would have fallen within the ‘Forever Wild’ provision of the State Constitution, the Preservation League of New York took over the title and the property is now run as a not-for-profit institution.

Unfortunately, Syracuse University had let the camp run down…this is an expensive place to maintain.  They logged the land and then sold it all off except for the 7.7 acres occupied by the compound.  Worse yet, the University sold off all of the original furnishings…

This was Alfred’s cottage on the property.  Like most of the ‘cottages’ in the compound, this was used as a guest cottage and it still is…

To quote from a short history written by Alfred G. Vanderbilt, the original Alfred G. Vanderbilt’s grandson… “I was a small child when I came to camp.  What I remember best are the deer walking through the compound to eat from our hands like pets, the sunlight on the main lodge, the mists every morning on the lake, and the atmosphere of fun and enthusiasm that pervaded Sagamore at all times…”

This is the main lodge at Camp Sagamore.  During the years that Margaret Emerson was in summer residence, visitors to the camp included such famous names and luminaries as: General George Marshall, Richard Rogers, Howard Hughes, Gary Cooper, Gene Tierney and Madame Chiang Kai-Chek. (‘Madame’ brought 25 personal maids with her on that visit!)  

The largest camps were built on very large landholdings.  The land was cheap and the buyers were very wealthy.  Many of the early camps were built by Jewish families who were excluded from the traditional Adirondack resorts.  Such wealthy Jews as Otto Kahn, (financier/railroads), Daniel Guggenheim, (industrialist), and the daughters of the founders of Lehman Brothers purchased land and built Great Camps when they weren’t allowed to join established clubs.

Obviously, the fire escape on the right of this cottage has been added to meet today’s fire safety codes.  All of the structures on the property have been very well maintained.  This photo and the one before, was where laundry was done.

The use of rustic, native materials and local craftsmen was consistent throughout the era of these Great Camps.  Another common feature was the use of separate buildings for separate functions.  From dining to sleeping cabins, from bowling alleys to dance pavillions…they were connected by walkways, many of them covered to protect family and guests from the elements.

This is the outdoor bowling alley at Sagamore Camp.  Those wealthy folks certainly knew how to spend their money!  The return feature for the bowling balls was automated and unique but I can’t recall what the tour guide told us.

Then there was and is the view…the setting for Camp Sagamore.  Not too shabby…

The only negative is that this National Historic Landmark is like an empty pinata.  The buildings are pretty to look at from the outside but, absent at least of some of their original funishings, one cannot really grasp or appreciate what living in a Great Camp must have been like.  Almost all of the charm is on the outside of these great buildings…its like looking at a 4 sided façade. 

Despite the lack of furnishings, this was a decent tour with a lot of history to absorb.  I don’t really have a ‘bucket list’, but I’d always been curious about these Great Camps.  Camp Sagamore is definitely worth a stop if you’re touring the Adirondacks.

The camp is now operated by Sagamore Institute of the Adirondacks, Inc.  In addition to the tours, accommodations are offered from May through October.  The camp is home to several retreats each year as well as Grands Camps Sundays to Fridays in July and August.  These ‘camps’ are designed for grandparents and their grandchildren.  Great idea!

Address: Great Camp Sagamore, P.O. Box 40, Sagamore Road, Raquette Lake, New York 13436.  Phone: 315-354-5311.  For more information to to their Website at: http://www.greatcampsagamore.org/great-camp-sagamore.html.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

A Simple Breakfast & A Drive…

Most of the time when we’re on a roadtrip, we do try to take advantage of the breakfast ‘free offerings’ provided by whatever hotel we’re staying at… But, if you’ve been following our journey into upper New York State, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve frequently strayed from the ‘freebies’ and tried out a local restaurant.  We do love a nice breakfast!

This is McKenzie’s Grille in Saranac Lake New York.  From what I can determine it’s associated with or belongs to the Best Western just across the parking lot where we were staying.  I’m basing this theory on the fact that the restaurant is referred to in the possessive on the hotel’s website.

As you can see, the dining room was pleasant and bright.  Service was pleasant and prompt with coffee arriving quickly after we sat down.

When it comes down to it…we really like the basic breakfasts the best.  Laurie had her eggs over easy with good fried potatoes, nice toast, plus 3 slices of thick top quality bacon.  

I had basically the same breakfast…except that I prefer sausage patties.  The price was right too!  With coffee and orange juice plus tax and an 18% tip, our bill came to just under $20.00… A solid start to a day of exploration in the Adirondacks!

McKenzie’s Grille is located at 477 Lake Flower Avenue in Saranac Lake New York.  They serve breakfast and lunch every day.  Meals range between $5.00 and $9.00 per person plus tax and tip.  Phone: 518-891-2574.  McKenzie’s apparently doesn’t have a website…

Laurie took a few scenery photos along the way.  Our ‘little’ exploratory drives usually stretch from early morning until dark and we cover quite a bit of countryside, trying to tie in an attraction and a nice meal where possible.

The Adirondacks are beautiful!  This state park was first established in 1892.  While it encompasses about 6 million acres, only about half of that land is actually state owned and managed.  The other half is privately owned but, as time has passed, additional parcels of private land have been donated to the state.

1,000,000 acres have been designated as wilderness.  There are 3,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of streams and rivers and over 2,000 miles of hiking trails.

Note the beaver dam in the photo above… We noted a small breach in the left side of this water conservation structure and adjoining abode.  Doesn’t it always seem like there are a bunch of projects to finish around the house!

About 130,000 people live in the area encompassed by the park.  The area totals 9,375 square miles.  Just slightly smaller than the state of Vermont, the designated park area is larger than Conneticut, Delaware and Rhode Island combined!

Between 7 and 10 million people visit the park each year.  There are no gates or entrance fees.  Counting the public and private lands, the Adirondack Park is the largest park in the USA, certainly the largest state-level protected park in the USA and it’s also the largest National Historic Landmark.

We drove over 200 miles on this little one day exploratory excursion…and as you can see, the scenery was terrific.  Along the way, we explored a man-made National Historic Site and we had a meal in a historic hotel.  But these experiences will be the subject of another blog…

For more information on the Adirondacks, just go to http://visitadirondacks.com/.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Yacht Club Dining in East Tennessee

A few weeks ago, after a round of golf, our friends Karen and Charlie invited us to join them for dinner.  They were taking a nephew and his wife to the Tellico Village Yacht Club.  Laurie and I hadn’t eaten there in quite a while and this was an opportunity to see how the Blue Heron Restaurant was doing under new management.

The setting is hard to beat!  This is a summertime aerial view that I ‘borrowed’ from the Internet.  The restaurant is on the second floor of the Yacht Club and from the dining room the view is great in any direction…

Here’s a view from the restaurant the day we were there in the late fall season… Not too bad!!

 The Blue Heron Restaurant at the Tellico Village Yacht Club is operated by The Compass Group LLC, which is based in Charlotte North Carolina.  The Compass Group is a worldwide food service company doing billions of dollars in business and employing over 160,000 people.

Here we are at our table…with Karen, Charlie and I facing both the camera plus Karen’s nephew and his wife.  Of course, my wife and best friend Laurie is absent from the photo, because as usual, she was the photographer.

This is a general view of the dining room as taken from our vantage point.  It’s a large room with lots of light and plenty of room between the tables.

Laurie started out with a side Caesar Salad and she gave it a solid review… Note: All entrees at the Blue Heron come with one side.

I went with the Tellico Village Signature Salad to start…a wedge of lettuce with tomatoes, blue cheese, plenty of smoked bacon and more blue cheese dressing then I needed.  It was very good!

Charlie ordered the Fettuccini with shrimp in a sun dried tomato and portabella cream sauce. ($16.00) He thought that it was great!

A cloud must have passed over me when I ordered the Fish Fry… It was described as the fresh catch of the day, hand breaded and crisp fried.  In an effort to make up for the big salad, I ordered the mixed vegetables as my side.  The veggies were cooked just right… Then there was the fish.  First of all, for $13.00, I felt that I’d just been robbed.  Others at the table also remarked on the ‘fish shortage’ and the overall appearance of my entrée…

An even bigger problem was the fact that this ‘fresh catch of the day’ must have gone ‘fresh’ from the freezer to the fryer.  If they were really hand breaded, I wondered where and when that had been done… When I cut into these fish ‘nuggets’, a bit of water drained out of them and they just didn’t taste like they’d been completely cooked.  Definitely not a great entrée!

On the other hand, there was this handsome entrée with 3 large Tilapia filets sided with sweet potato fries… ($14.00) I can’t recall what the sauce was but, in any case, this member of our party gave this fish dish 2 thumbs up!

Another multiple winner was the Chicken Cordon Bleu! ($13.00) Three diners at our table indulged in this classic…a chicken breast stuffed with country ham and Swiss cheese, then lightly breaded, baked and served with a brown mushroom sauce.

In summary, with the exception of myself, everyone enjoyed their entrees.  The prices were reasonable, the setting is terrific and the service was solid.  Laurie and I will return again to sample the menu and to see if I can erase my negative experience with a more positive one.

The Tellico Village Yacht Club with the Blue Heron Restaurant is located at 100 Sequoyah Road in Loudon Tennessee.  Phone: 865-657-9624. 

Curiously, this outpost of the giant Compass Group does not have its own website.  One has to search under Tellico Village ‘Amenities’ at http://www.tellicovillage.org/amenities/yacht-club-and-clubhouses to find the restaurant.  To save time, here is the website within the website for the Blue Heron/Yacht Club Restaurant: http://go.compass-usa.com/tellicovillageyc/content/home.asp.  Apparently, they could use a little help with their marketing efforts… It’s hard to ‘sell’ an nice restaurant in a private development to the public if you can’t 'see it' on or find it on the Internet!

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave