"Dueling Dining-Car Chefs" Weekend with James Porterfield!

This post should also be called "When Guests Become Friends", as it truly was that kind of a weekend at the Elkhorn Inn & Theatre!

James D. Porterfield, historian and author of "From The Dining Car" and "Dining By Rail", and "On The Menu" columnist for Railfan & Railroad Magazine, joined us at the Inn as Guest Chef for our May 28-30  "Dueling Dining-Car Chefs" Weekend, and instead of "dueling" (LOL), he and Chef Dan created two delicious, multi-course dinners for our guests from the finest of historic dining car recipes!

Gene Bowker's Photo of the Elkhorn Inn & "Pocahontas" Railroad

See Gene's therailroadblog.com  for a great slide show of the weekend, his photos on www.genebowker.com and his articles in the Train Travel Examiner

Chef Jim prepared his feast on Friday evening, centered around the Pennsylvania Railroad's "Deviled Slice of Roast Beef with Mustard Sauce", and Chef Dan created his dinner on Saturday, with "Coast Starlight Chicken Breast with Pinot Noir and Dried Cherries" from the Amtrak West SBU as the focal point. Our gourmet railfan guests enjoyed both dinners accompanied by wine, period music, Andrew Fletcher's great illustrated railroad magnets (NS, of course!) from CustomTrains.org as favors, Jim's excellent commentary on each course, and more Pocahontas railroad trains sailing past the Inn than I think we've Ever had! Our guests enjoyed touring the area, as well as "railfanning" on the Inn's track-view balcony and patio, and Elisse & several of the Inn's guests even wound up in in the Inn's "railfan hot tub" in the moonlight, and one even got to go ATVing with Dan!

James Porterfield's first article on the Inn, "Almost Heaven?" in Railfan & Railroad, with his famous quote about the Elkhorn Inn being "the best legal train-watching location in the USA", together with his friendship, enabled us to create with him what we believe is the "ultimate" Railfan Foodie weekend! The dinner weekend was such a success, in fact- and Jim enjoyed playing chef so much- that the Elkhorn Inn will host another "Dueling Dining-Car Chefs" Weekend, Sept. 3-5, 2010 over Labor Day Weekend, with a totally new menu! Only 4 guest rooms remain available for this special weekend, so call us at 1-800-708-2040 or 304-862-2031 as soon as possible, if you'd like to join us!

James Porterfield & Dan, Not dueling in the kitchen at the Elkhorn Inn!

Fly-Fishin' Elkhorn Creek! (When Guests Become Friends, Part I)

This has been quite a week- in the very best way! As Inn-Keepers, it's a wonderful thing when guests truly become friends, and that is what these last few weeks have been about! I'll start with this weekend, when Tony "The Trout" Wheeler gave us a day's fly-fishing lesson on Elkhorn Creek - the great little trout stream right behind the Elkhorn Inn - and my next post will be on last weekend's "Dueling Dining-Car Chefs" event with James Porterfield, author of "From The Dining Car" and "Dining By Rail". 

Readers of this blog know that after 8 years of living at the Elkhorn Inn on one of The best trout streams in the USA, in April we finally found the time to take a great "Fly-Fishing 101" class with Bobby Bower of Pro River Outfitters www.profishwv.com at Glade Springs, and go fishing with him on Glade Creek-on-the-New (where Elisse caught her Very First Trout On A Dry Fly!). But what we REALLY needed to learn was how to fish 'our' creek, and Tony Wheeler, fly-fisherman extraordinaire and a frequent guest of the Inn, offered to teach us! The puppies & I ordered Dan & I fly rods, chest waders, and boots from Cabela's as a late DogMother's Day & early DogFather's Day prezzie, and Tony helped us set it all up and then spent a morning and afternoon with us in Elkhorn Creek, teaching us a TON of stuff! We now know just enough to be Really dangerous! LOL

T showed the patience of a saint with a couple of newbies, with the result that Dan got several great bites, and Elisse (me) actually hooked a number of fish (that, yes, got away!) The only problem with Tony is that he is a REALLY great fisherman, and can instinctively read the water like a book, and so when he casts, (unlike us, mere mortals that we are), he hooks a fish- almost all the time! I know (from the sound of his furiously gnashing teeth when a 20" trout escaped his clutches, and the fact that he almost grabbed the rod out of my hands several times) that it had to be Incredibly frustrating for him to have a couple of neophytes let fish after fish get away! For me (since we're doing catch-and-release & not my usual fishing-for-dinner), the catching & netting of a fish wasn't as important as just hooking them- & learning how to watch for them- because unlike with other fishing I've done (such as bang-the spinner on-the-salmon's-head fishing in Kodiak, AK, or drop-reel-&-puke for yellow fin off Mexico, or Dan's Special Ops Survival Course Army fishing), you really Don't feel these guys bite! Tony hooked us both up with a double-fly combination of a wet nymph and a floating grasshopper thingee that even "Ms. Eagle-Eye NOT" could see, and while HE saw the fish take the fly, I saw & felt nothing the first three times- but I Finally saw the bobbing grasshopper go down, and so then tried to hook the fish- and the 5th time I actually did it! All by myself! And then I fought it and watched its silver back break the water, thought I had it, and finally lost it! All by myself! LOL  It truly IS a magical sensation- and to do it in our very own creek was a rush!
In addition to being so sure-footed that he can literally run the rocky creek through thigh-high water (a feat which amazes me, as I am 4'9 1/2" tall and of the make-sure-one-foot-is-firmly-planted-before-you-lift-the-other-one school of creek-wading), T has eagle-eyes, topped with polarized glasses, and so can see trout where I see naught but churning water! He taught us the rudiments of reading the water and how to figure out the places where trout like to play, as well as the fly-fishing version of what is known in the military as "situational awareness" (as in "Gee, I wonder what's coming out of that pipe..."), and I even learned to tie that cool "figure-8" knot (spitting on it, as opposed to sticking it in my mouth), that now enables me to tie on a fly! By the end of the day Dan & I had truly got our fly-fishing feet wet (figuratively, not literally, as that is Not something one wants to do in the creek T fondly refers to as "the dirty little sister")!  I've now a list of things (Woolly Buggers, Copper John nymphs, leaders, tippets, nail clippers, polarized fishing glasses, and yes, gold-beaded, size 14, olive soft hackles...) to buy, so we can get back out there ASAP! T's knowledge of Things Trout is truly encyclopedic, and the flies he hand-ties are fairly amazing; like me, our other Inn guest was delighted by the variety and beauty of the flies and nymphs and other small creatures T's crafted from feathers & fur, beads & thread... I cherish the Black Woolly Bugger I tied at our dining table with T & his friends, & this time he bestowed upon us his hand-tied Copper Tony nymphs (with which I caught the fish that got away). While I desperately want to keep fishing with it, as it's definitely my Lucky Fly, part of me wants to frame it... Or pin it on the cool Col. Blake-esque fishing hat I intend to get myself!
(Being a Native NYC Girl, many folks assume that I'm the Green Acres' Eva Gabor of McDowell County, & I do like to have a bit of fun with that- as you can see from the glitter-encrusted
Nawlins sunglasses I am wearing as we fish. But I pride myself on having grown up fishing with both my Oklahoma-chicken farm-born WWII WAC soldier momma & Ukrainian-born theatre actress grandmother, having been an Aggie & FFA, having worked on Kibbutz in Israel packing live fish & shoveling turkey manure, and having been an Israeli Army soldier myself! So do not judge a person solely by her penchant for high-heeled shoes! LOL)

One of the things we learned  this weekend from Tony, who is a Chemical Engineer as well as native West Virginian with a passion for fishing and hunting and his home state, is the definitive answer as to why, despite all the coal mining, Elkhorn Creek isn't poisoned, and is, instead, one of the best trout streams in the USA: Our McDowell County Coal is only 1% sulphur; 60% is organic sulfur which doesn't create acid water! (By comparison, northern WV & PA coal is 4% sulphur & 40% organic, and so does create the polluting acid water). Elkhorn Creek, as we know, runs fast & cold, & couple all that with the fact that trout like poo, and now you know why we have a creek teeming with 24"-30" trout, & a county chock-full of otters, beavers, wild turkey, ducks, birds, deer, bears, etc!
I also (finally) learned what poison ivy looks like, a Very Good Thing, as Martha Stewart would say, as for the last 8 years, (even after winding up in Bellevue Hospital in NYC from a case of it so bad that I looked like the Elephant Woman and had to get early release from a FEMA deployment), I thought it was something else. Live & learn... and then get Tony Wheeler to teach you what poison ivy looks like...

Another thing I learned is the secret of rapid weight loss: wear Neoprene chest waders in the broiling West Virginia sunshine. While I (smartly) got Dan lightweight waders, I bought chocolate brown neoprene ones for myself- a fisherwoman's fashion statement if ever there was one, if you're into looking like a brown sausage or Really into rubber- knowing "intellectually" that they might be a tad, uh, Warm. But unlike the lightweight women's waders, these had 5-star reviews from Real Fisherwomen, & that swayed me. "A tad warm" was an understatement, but if I ever get to go icefishing in Minnesota or back to Barrow, Alaska, I'll be Well prepared. Hiking up rocky Elkhorn Creek thigh-high in water in the spring sunshine I think I lost 10 lbs. inside a day- all sweat... Which I then put back on drinking Beach Grog, a Tony-&-Company concoction that he and his friends have shared with us & guests of the Inn. A smoothly, sweetly deceptive, & stunningly powerful ambrosia of rums, fresh fruit, and Coca Cola, Beach Grog constantly acquires new converts at the Inn, whacking them over the head with a velvet hammer. Trust me, kids: this stuff puts 'Long Island Ice Tea' to shame... Tony also shared his pack of jerky with us at lunch, (we love & respect folks who travel Prepared: jerky, brie, rum...), and as I am definitely a Jerky Girl & this was Truly Great Jerky, I was happily transported to my weird, gas-station-store version of foodie nirvanah... At the end of a truly super Saturday, we peeled off our waders (mine now known as "Elisse's Sauna Suit"), Chef Dan made us all a wonderful dinner of grilled salmon with a sweet-spicy fruit jerk sauce and (my fave) stir-fried Bok Choy over sweet potatoes in the Vietnamese style, and we sat outside yakking and laughing and drinking Beach Grog until the wee hours...

Elisse in her neoprene sauna suit, & Dapper Dan the Fly-Fishing Man, fishing in Elkhorn Creek...

Still life with Beach Grog Fixin's...

(Tony LOVES this photo, as my fashionably brown neoprene butt is coated with Elkhorn Crick mud, acquired by going down the 75-degree bank on my backside. Everyone has a "comfort level", and this is mine: when in doubt, sit. LOL  (We won't even Talk about my itchy arms from scaling the Other 75-degree river bank thru the jungle brush ("Was that poison ivy? No? Oh, good..."), fly-rod in hand... while Mr. T watched in comfort from the bridge). Do note the obsessive-compulsive look of Total Fly-Fishing Concentration...

Thank you, Tony! We had a total blast! We love having you as both a guest of the Inn and our good friend (you Truly crossed the line to "friend" after getting to see me both in a bathing suit (uck) & with my hair frizzed from the damp, looking like I'd stuck my finger in a light socket!) We hope & trust you and your wonderful fly-fishin' friends will come back to the Inn to enjoy both the fishing and our hospitality- & that someday soon you'll deign to go fishing with us again!!!

Green Acres is the place to be, dahlinks!

The other day I found this on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbk81X6WHA4 the 1966 opening to Green Acres! Born in 1959 and a true product of my (Boomer) generation, I literally grew up on Green Acres (along with Laugh-In, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters, & I Dream of Jeannie); Grandma Tanya letting me stay up and watch them on my mother's bowling league nights! The Green Acres theme song was my "party piece" when I was a kid- I WAS Eva, & I twirled around our (LeFrak City, Queens) NYC apartment singing that song in my very best Hungarian accent, and I can still sing it in my sleep, dahlink! (I also held my elbows and blinked hard a lot, hoping I'd wind up somewhere else, and twitched my nose incessantly; in the 3rd grade decided I WAS a witch and even wrote a book of spells. And I thought Jethro was handsome and had Elly Mae paper dolls. And I loved Lily Munster's outfits. My mom & I used to sit on the Castro Convertible fold-out sofa bed and watch Laugh-In with tears rolling down our faces, and, like anyone else who was alive then, I can still recite tons of Laugh-In routines. She let me stay up late for the Tom Jones Show, too. We both loved the lingerie tossing! TJ was quite a honey! :-)
And today, in a perfect Life Imitating Art scenario, my very own Tom Jones, a.k.a. Chef Dan, put on his Beverly Hillbillies "Farmer Dan" hat and built us a Raised Bed "garden box" in which Green Acres Goldstein planted tomatoes, peppers, & basil! And I still am Eva, dancing around the Elkhorn Inn in my high-heeled, marabou-feather-bedecked satin mules! (Yes, I own a pair of Frederick's of Hollywood marabou mules, and yes, they are fire-engine red, and yes, Dan got them for me, along with several other Extremely Cool & Embarrassing Things, and yes, I truly believe that Every woman needs to own at least one pair of marabou mules (they are only $29 for goodness' sakes!), so even if she only has one (or two or three) husbands and not-so-many diamonds, she can still dance around the house crooning "do you vant a gin-and-tonic dahlink? like Eva Gabor!
Today was a Green Acres day, and while Dan was building the Garden Box, Iceman cut back the grass & Elisse-tall weeds, and lo and behold, the climbing roses were all in bloom- with no help from us at all, LOL! My two silly little Columnar Apple Trees actually survived our nutty winter, and one even has a little apple on it! The peach trees are full of tiny, little peaches, and the grape vines (which had to be drastically cut back) even have a few tiny little bunches of grapes! I put the windowsill herb boxes outside, and have two little Hardy Chicago Fig tree saplings on the windowsill, waiting for Farmer Dan to dig holes for them, too! And tomorrow, (assuming it doesn't pour), FFA Aggie Goldstein shall go out there (and not in heels this time) & plant the rest of the veggie & herb plants, and my tiny carrots and red "watermelon" radishes, and the corn, sunflowers, squash, & beans (on my cool, new Gardener's Supply Cucumber Trellis) in an "Indian garden"!  I doused my new seedlings with Root Shield, to hopefully ward off the stuff that so often kills 'em, and I have my QVC RootBlast to put in with them and  TerraSorb to hold in water & a shpritz bottle of Sevin to hopefully whack the damn Japanese Beetles... I am DETERMINED to get my garden back to what it was the year before last!
I actually spent the better part of the day on the computer, in my continuing vain & fruitless quest for replacement cushions for our balcony's outdoor furniture, discovering beyond the shadow of a doubt that it's cheaper to buy entirely new sets of patio furniture than to just buy cushions, and that NO ONE makes chair cushions for last year's short-backed chairs any longer. You can now ONLY buy high backed cushions, which are a good foot too high for last year's chairs. This is 'planned obsolescence' at its most disgusting, especially during an undeniable economic collapse, and it literally has us buying entirely new sets of (made-in-China, of course, because there isn't anything else that's even Possibly affordable) furniture. I was on dozens of websites, sent dozens of emails, and finally called the manufacturers of the chair cushions we want to replace: short backed seat cushions are simply not being made any longer, so if that's what you have, you have no choice but to throw them out and buy new furniture. Lowes wants $600+ for cushions (which won't fit our chairs, anyway, and for which we'd have to wait 2 weeks!), which I find rather obscene, but Pottery Barn wants $1200 for a single chaise, and chairs are $300-$700 a pop, and that totally blew my mind. I guess I'm 'out of it', but that during a depression of epic proportions I literally can't fix up our balcony properly- and we're not talking fancy-shmancy, either) for under $6000 (which is not happening in life) left me with my jaw around my knees. But BigLots may have just come to the rescue! Again! :-) More tomorrow!

Days of Wine and... Birds! And Trains!

The Elkhorn Inn's first "West Virginia Wine Dinner Weekend" was a grand (and delicious) success! Chef Dan's Kirkwood Winery ramp-wine-marinated, herb-crusted roast leg of lamb was delectable, and So good with the Watt's Roost Winery Chambourcin! The dry Martin's Mist Dry Creek Blueberry Wine was perfect with the prosciutto & melon appetizer. And the Kakawa chili chocolate caramels  (shown) were AMAZING with the Jones Cabin Run Vineyards Port!  We will happily do another one, so if you and your friends would like to have a "WV Wine Dinner Weekend" at the Inn, send us a message or call us at 1-800-708-2040 or 304-862-2031!
The other exciting thing we had happen this weekend, was that a journalist, visiting the Inn for another story,  came up with a list of some 30 birds he saw at the Inn without even trying! This is REALLY exciting because for 8 years we've woken up and gone to sleep to 100s of different bird calls and song, but neither Dan & I have any real knowledge of birds, nor any fabulous camera equipment, and so besides the really obvious ones like cardinals and finches and swallows, we truly had no clue what they all were! Every once in a while someone will say (or post on a website) something ignorant and snide like "there are no birds in McDowell County- coal mining chased 'em all away!" and while this is laughable and so obviously not true, without some documentation from a "real birder" it's hard to refute. So here's our naturalist journalist's "Quick List" of the birds he saw in one day:
Veery, Cardinal, Tufted Titmous, Chicadee, Wild Turkey, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Crow, Ovenbird, Sparrow, Black-and-White Warbler, American Redstart, Hooded Warbler, Mallard, Wood Thrush, Robin, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Scarlet Tanager, Phoebe, Red-Eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting, Barn Swallow, Parula Warbler, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Worm-Eating Warbler, Cowbird, Carolina Wren, and Goldfinch!
He explained that the "best" bird he saw was the Veery, that prime spring birding season here is from late April to early June, as well as in the fall, and that "one could probably hear/see 50 to 60 birds over a weekend"! So, all you birders, come on down to the Elkhorn Inn & Theatre, & bring your binoculars & cameras! :-)

We're now getting ready for our second "foodie" event of May, the Elkhorn Inn's May 28-30 (Memorial Day Weekend) "Railfan Gourmet Weekend" with James Porterfield, the railroad historian, author of "From the Dining Car" and "Dining By Rail", and "On The Menu" columnist for Railfan & Railroad, who will be the Inn's Guest Chef that weekend. James Porterfield will be preparing a "Dining Car Dinner" on Friday evening, and Chef Dan will be preparing one on Saturday, and both chefs will be utilizing recipes from James Porterfield's books- and Jim will be signing his books at the Elkhorn Inn, too!


Friday (Chef James Porterfield):
Chicken Mulligatawny Soup - Atlantic Coast Line
Tossed Salad with Special Dressing - Great Northern Railway
Deviled Slice of Roast Beef with Mustard Sauce - Pennsylvania Railroad
Potatoes Romanoff - Illinois Central
Carrots in Mint Sauce - New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
Hot Strawberry Sundae - Fred Harvey


Saturday (Chef Dan Clark):
Shrimp Gumbo New Orleans Style - Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Cucumber & Red Onion Salad with Mandarin Orange & Toasted Caraway Seeds - American Orient Express
Coast Starlight Chicken Breast Pinot Noir with Dried Cherries - Amtrak West SBU
Steamed Asparagus with sautéed Garlic Cherry Tomatoes - Royal Canadian Pacific
Red Potatoes with Rosemary - Amtrak West SBU
Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce - My Old Kentucky Dinner Train

The special "Dueling Dining-Car Chefs" weekend package is only $499 + tax per couple ($380 + tax for single), and includes two nights at the Elkhorn Inn with Continental Breakfast each morning, the two special "Dining Car Dinners" on Friday and Saturday evenings, and a late check-out on Sunday. Call us at 304-862-2031 or 1-800-708-2040 to book as soon as possible if you wish to join us for this Very special weekend at the Inn!

Menus for the Elkhorn Inn's May Gourmand Events!

Here are the menus for the Elkhorn Inn's "West Virginia Wine Dinner Weekend" May 14-16, and our May 28-30 (Memorial Day Weekend) Gourmet Railfan Weekend: "Dueling Dining-Car Chefs" with historian, author, and Railfan & Railroad columnist James Porterfield! (And if these menus don't make you drool, there's just no hope!):
May 14-16 "WV Wine Dinner Weekend":
Friday, May 14:
Appetizer: Proscuitto & Melon, served with Martin's Mist Dry Creek Blueberry Wine
Entree: Roast Lamb marinated in Kirkwood Winery Ramp Wine, served with Watts Roost Vineyard 2008 Chambourcin
Desert: Jones Cabin Run Vineyard Port, served with Chili Chocolates & Caramels from Kakawa Chocolate House in New Mexico- the ultimate!- and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream! And Coffee! OMG!
Saturday, May 15:
Appetizer: Vietnamese "Claypot" Ginger Chicken, served with Kirkwood Winery Ginseng Wine
Entree: Salmon Poached on Herbs, served with WineTree Vineyards 2008 Traminette
Desert: Flan with Caramel Sauce, served with Kenko Farms Mead Honey Wine

May 28-30 "Railfan Gourmet Weekend" with James Porterfield, chef, historian, author of "From the Dining Car" and "Dining By Rail", and "On The Menu" columnist for Railfan & Railroad. James Porterfield will be preparing a "Dining Car Dinner" on Friday evening, and Chef Dan of the Elkhorn Inn will be preparing one on Saturday! Both chefs will be utilizing recipes from James Porterfield's books!

Friday (Chef James Porterfield):
Chicken Mulligatawny Soup - Atlantic Coast Line
Tossed Salad with Special Dressing - Great Northern Railway
Deviled Slice of Roast Beef with Mustard Sauce - Pennsylvania Railroad
Potatoes Romanoff - Illinois Central
Carrots in Mint Sauce - New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
Hot Strawberry Sundae - Fred Harvey
Saturday (Chef Dan Clark):
Shrimp Gumbo New Orleans Style - Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Cucumber & Red Onion Salad with Mandarin Orange & Toasted Caraway Seeds - American Orient Express
Coast Starlight Chicken Breast Pinot Noir with Dried Cherries - Amtrak West SBU
Steamed Asparagus with sautéed Garlic Cherry Tomatoes - Royal Canadian Pacific
Red Potatoes with Rosemary - Amtrak West SBU
Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce - My Old Kentucky Dinner Train

Each special weekend package is only $499 + tax per couple ($380 + tax for single), and includes two nights at the Elkhorn Inn with Continental Breakfast each morning, the two special dinners (Friday and Saturday evenings), and a late check-out Sunday.
Call us at 304-862-2031 or 1-800-708-2040 to book as soon as possible if you wish to join us for these Very special events at the Inn!

Zippin' & Fly Fishin'! (and FEMA)

It's fun to play "tourist" at home!

This past week Dan and I had a rather amazing little getaway- right here in southern WV! We got to go Ziplining through the WV forests at TreeTops Canopy Tours , learn to fly fish for trout with Bobby Bower of ProFishWV, have a couple of Great gourmet Chef Burgess dinners at Glade's at Glade Springs, and I even got to treat myself to a wonderful facial and an Amazing massage at Glade Spring's Orange Spa! Dan is 63 & I'm 51, and yes, we went Zipping through the mountains 120' above the rivers hooked to a metal rope, and if we can do (and love every minute of) it, ANYONE can do it! You do NOT have to be in great shape, nor do you have to have any skills, physical ability, or strength- I am living proof of that! The feeling of "zipping" is a "rush" like Nothing I've ever done, and it is, in a word, AMAZING! The set up & equipment is new and state-of-the-art, and the smart and professional guides were GREAT- we heartily recommend Keith Kinsey, as he knows Everything about the trees (TreeTops is part of a project to save the Hemlock forest from going the way of the American Chestnut), mushrooms, and edible plants, and his love and enthusiasm for it all is infectious! We walked over rope bridges (whistling the theme song from Bridge Over the River Kwai !), and hiked a bit between our 10 zips, and it was a Magical afternoon in the spring sunshine! It went by WAY too fast (I badly wanted to do at least 3 more "zips"!), and we can't WAIT to do it again!

Elisse, Zipping!

Dan, Zipping!

Yes, I had a few "take a deep breath through your nose and out through your mouth" moments, but then I stepped off the platform & zipped! I REALLY DID IT- zoomed across the forest 120' above the water- and I am SO glad I did!!!!!! 

(And not to worry: before they take you up there into the tree tops and let you "zip", you practice on the ground first!)

Before we went "zipping" we had a lovely lunch of crab cakes & seafood chowder (made by a Louisiana chef who knows his way around a remoulade sauce!) at "Chetty's Pub" at ClassVI (where TreeTops is located), and after our grand Ziplining adventure we went back there & treated ourselves to Gin & Tonics overlooking the Gorge- and watched the eagles play!

The view from behind "Chetty's Pub" at Class VI- the "Best Seats in the House"!
Rhododendrons in the West Virginia Mountains

Eagles at play...

The next day we (finally!) learned to fly-fish, something I've been aching to do for Years- ever since those pricey LL Bean catalogs would turn up in my NYC mailbox and tantalize me with incredibly expensive trips... I did it once back in 1981 in Ireland, and it was pretty magical to see a trout leap into the air and take a fly (not mine, I hasten to add). I always thought the hand-tied flies, made with feathers and beads and such, were, well... Pretty, and I've secretly coveted one of those cool fly-bedecked hats like Col. Blake wore in M*A*S*H for years, and even considered buying some to turn into earrings... I found it fascinating to look closely at all the different kinds of flies and see the work that goes into creating 100s of different kinds of fake bugs in all their stages of life...

Plus, for the last 8 years we've lived on one of THE best trout streams- the Elkhorn Inn is right on Elkhorn Creek, famous for its 24"-32" trout- and many of our guests are Trout Unlimited members and avid fly fishermen- but although they taught me to hand-tie a fly at our dining table, not having the gear or the knowledge, we'd never done any fly fishing! But now we have! And we'll be able to  do it at home! YAY!
We booked a full day with Bobby Bower of www.profishwv.com at Glade Springs, (for a fraction of those LL Bean trips!) and had THE best day! After getting our WV fishing licenses, we spent the morning learning the rudiments of the sport on a lake at Glade Springs, practicing our casts & learning about the equipment, and the difference between "woolly buggers" and dry flies...

Bobby then drove us out- WAY out!- to Glade Creek-on-the-New, and dressed in our spiffy new waders & boots, we hiked out into the middle of the white water, and really did it! And Elisse caught her first brown trout on a dry fly!!!!

Dan & Bobby Bower, on Glade Creek-on-the-New

Though Dan didn't land himself a trout, he did get some good nibbles, and we truly had a GREAT day! We learned just enough to be dangerous- and got well and truly bitten by the fly fishing bug! So we now have to get all the cool stuff so we can do it at home on Elkhorn Creek! No, fly fishing isn't exactly an inexpensive sport, but we learned enough from Bobby to know that it doesn't have to be insanely expensive, either! And since we've already paid for our fishing licenses for the whole year, and we live right on a great trout stream, we now have high hopes that if we get the Stuff, maybe some of our Trout Unlimited guests will take us out behind the Inn and teach us some more!

Our days of playing tourist came after I spent a month working for FEMA on the disaster response operation following the March floods in southern WV. This was the first time I've worked for FEMA here at home in WV, and, as I discovered as a New Yorker while working in NYC after 9/11, when it's "your" disaster it's different- much more intense and much more personal...  I was working in Beaver, WV, about 1 1/2 hours from the Elkhorn Inn, and so when Dan wasn't busy with guests, he was able to come visit me, and on my few days off we were able to spend some "quality time" playing tourist in our own state- like we did 8 years ago when we first came to West Virginia while Dan was working on a FEMA operation- after which we decided to buy the flooded, slated-for-demolition building that Dan restored into our home and the Elkhorn Inn and stay in West Virginia! Back in 2002, Dan & I spent more than 5 months living in a room at the Sleep Inn in Beaver with Trapper, our old Yellow Lab, while he ran Logistics for the disaster response operation, and so being back in Beaver was kind of "deja vu all over again" for us! We got to have dinner at some of our favorite "old haunts" like Young Chow's (the best Chinese food in the region), Logan's Steak House, and Pasquale's, have drinks with Dick at Dick's Yacht Club, enjoy some Amazing gourmet dinners at Glade's (such as a whole, crispy Red Snapper with roasted red pepper sauce, followed by creme brulee and Frangelico!), and find some terrific new places like the excellent Aangan Indian Cuisine in Beckley that just opened. (Dan actually proposed to me in Oct. 2002 at the Texas Steak House in Beckley, after buying my diamond engagement ring at the Beckley WalMart!)  

As you may know, the March floods did quite a bit of damage to southern WV; roads and bridges were washed out, homes were damaged, and people were stranded; the five counties of Raleigh, Greenbrier, Fayette, Mercer, and Kanawha were designated for Individual Assistance in this declaration. I'm a Community Relations Field Specialist, and during this operation I was the Community Relations Reports Manager, and worked with a grand team of folks from my own Region- the first time I've worked "at home" in West Virginia! As you undoubtedly know, West Virginia also suffered a terrible loss in the recent mine disaster that killed 29 coal miners; the genuine expressions of concern and care that came from all over the USA were deeply appreciated.

As a West Virginian I say: thank you.

OMG! A "Journey"... to Israel!

The Hubby of the Sweepstakes Queen really did it this time- he made my dream of taking him home to Israel a reality! He just won us 2 tickets to Israel from American Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev! I have spent years telling friends, and not in jest, that I'd only be able to take Dan back to Israel when I won a sweepstakes- and then HE won the sweepstakes! A dear friend in California- who once owned the Jerusalem pub where I tended bar while I was serving in the Israeli Army in the mid '80s- sent me an email link to a sweepstakes from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the amazing school in the Negev Desert in Israel. And since the Negev- with the marvelous Ein Gedi Spa and Herodion National Park Nature Preserve, Nature Preserve and Antiquities Park with Canaanite, Israelite, and Roman ruins-and the waterfalls I hiked thru with archaeologist friends and with my mom when she visited me while I was in the Army; Massada, with the 37 BCA ruins of King Herod's mountaintop fortress, which I first visited with my father in 1973 at dawn, and where IDF soldiers are sworn in; Qumran of Dead Sea Scrolls fame, the extraordinary Kibbutz Ein Gedi, that proves the desert can truly bloom, Arad, the pollen-free city (a haven for those with asthma) & home to the Arad Festival where I first did the Macarena in public (LOL), and (my Absolutely Favorite Place), the Dead Sea of mineral mud Ahava beauty-product fame that clears Psoriasis and heals IDF soldier's broken bones and all sorts of illnesses from Rheumatoid Arthritis to the Leishmonaisis wounds I got from the Jericho Rose Fly (as well as  my Psoriasis)- is basically my favorite place on earth, I simply Had to enter! And then, naturally, I sent it to a bunch of friends, and got Dan to enter, too! And last week he got the call- he'd won! To say I'm "over the moon" would be an understatement- I've basically been dancing around the room for days! This is Truly a dream come true- and the opportunity of a lifetime for Chef Dan & his Foodie Wife to have wonderful new adventures together in the land of my heart! The wineries of the Golan! Meurav Yerushalmi al ha aysh (Mixed Grill) in Jerusalem! Yummy meat-filled Syrian "Kubeh" dumplings in lemony chicken soup! Cigarim Morocaiim (Moroccan "cigar"-shaped meat filled pastries)! The fabulous Crusader-era market in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall! Cafe Hafouch ("upside-down coffee",
a.k.a. cappuchino) in a cafe on the Midrochov in Jerusalem! The wondrous medieval city of Safed! The fiords of Rosh Hanikra! Eating fish in Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee and in the gorgeous cafes of Old Jaffa! Playing golf in Caesarea! Snorkling in the Red Sea off Eilat! And hopefully visiting my old Kibbutz & seeing friends...

I was still in a state of shock when Dan handed me a lovely while box tied up with a green satin ribbon the other night... within which was a tiny box of Godiva chocolates & a gorgeous rosewood box... within which was... a DiamondNexus 7-stone "Emotions Journey" pendant!

Life is a "Journey", all right- and B"H it will be a marvelous journey for us to Israel!

The funny thing is that Dan and I were in Israel- and in almost the same place- ca. 1985, but didn't meet! (And if we had, we probably wouldn't be married now! LOL) But now, some 25 years later, I have the chance to do what I've wanted to do since we met in 2001: take the love of my life home to show him "my" Israel! As readers of this blog know, Dan took me home to Vietnam, (and Korea & Japan), on our honeymoon in 2008, and showed me his love- countries I promptly fell in love with, too! And now, thanks to Ben-Gurion University, I get to share my "before we met" life with him! Woot! Shiga'on! Here's to "Journeys"- and a belief that life will take you wonderful places- if you let it...

The days of (West Virginia) Wine and... Ramps!

Through no fault of our own, heaven knows, we missed the 71st Ramp Fest of Richwood, West Virginia. :-( And we were Seriously bummed, because the "Feast of the Ramson", in THE Ramp Capital of the World, is something Chef Dan and his Foodie Wife have been aching to attend for 8 years!
As readers of this blog know, Dan and I are planning two very special events at the Elkhorn Inn in May: our "WV Wine-Tasting Dinner Weekend" May 14-16, and our "Dueling Dining-Car Chefs" Weekend May 28-30, with Guest Chef, James Porterfield, railroad historian and author of "From the Dining Car" & "Dining By Rail"! We've spent months working on both events, having a Ball "researching" a bevy of WV wines (our WV Wine Shortlist will be my next post), and sourcing fabulous WV specialty foods, and asking our "fans" on Facebook and Twitter (Tweet us @elkhorninn) for suggestions! (A desert of West Virginia Jones Cabin Run Vineyard Port Wine & Holl's WV "Aztec" chili-chocolate truffles was the lastest & greatest suggestion, and yes, we're planning to include that!) Dan and Jim have crafted their menus for our "Railfan Gourmet Throwdown", and we've posted them under "Events" on the Elkhorn Inn's Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eckman-WV/Elkhorn-Inn-Theatre/53453051478?ref=s
And now: Back to the Saga of the Ramps! Ramps are a wild leek, an allium of the onion-garlic family, and while made fun of in West Virginia (as are a lot of things...), they are a gourmet delicacy in France, Japan, Canada, and other countries, and are both rare and endangered- and they grow wild here in our West Virginia mountains! Kirkwood Winery in Summerville, WV even makes a fabulous Ramp Wine (pictured above in our selection of wines for our May 14-16 WV Wine-Tasting Dinners Event) that Chef Dan uses for marinating meats and in reduction sauces! Because the Elkhorn Inn & Theatre is located in an (oddly for WV) Ramp-Free Zone, for some time Dan & I have wanted to plant ramps on our property, in the hopes that they'd go wild, live long, and prosper. And so, after phone calls and basically a solid week of planning, come Sunday, April 18 (the day printed in West Virginia South magazine), we drove 2 hours up and down the winding mountain roads of southern WV all the way to Richwood High School, practically Drooling with anticipation... only to find that the Ramp Feast had been on SATURDAY, April 17! AAAAUGH! Sounds silly, but we were SO mouthwateringly ready for a Feast O' Ramps, that I was nearly in tears! Driving back out of town, Totally down-in-the-mouth, we pulled into the Gateway Cafe to get a bite (of Anything), & I spied "Rampburgers" on the menu... Full of hope, I poured out our Sad Saga of Missing The Ramps Of Spring to the owner, and she offered to make us the Classic WV Ramp Breakfast they serve during the few short weeks of WV's spring ramp season! Delicate spring ramps sauteed in butter, accompanied by hashbrowns, perfectly scrambled eggs, crispy, meaty bacon, red pinto beans, & cornbread! TOTALLY YUM-O!

And Then she told us we could buy ramps- to cook or plant in our garden- just up the road a-piece at Donaldson's Greenhouse!

So we trundled up the road & got us a bushel & a peck (and a hug around the neck) of ramps, and a copy of THE Ramp Bible: "Having Your Ramps... And Eating Them, Too" by Glen Facemire, Jr.! (And yes, he is related to the late Rodney Facemire, who started Kirkwood Winery in Summerville, WV that makes the AbFab Ramp Wine- as well as wonderful Ginseng & fruit wines- AND Real (legal) WV Whisky!) And so Chef Dan now has a whole Mess of Ramps to plant tomorrow behind the Inn, in a Nice Shady Spot that will hopefully appeal to the tres tempremental little bulbs! I read Facemire's book in the car while we tooled thru the mountains, and learned an Awful lot- including that they Are tricky little devils to raise- the seeds can take 18 months to germinate! :-O

Happily sated by our excellent ramp brunch, we drove the 12 minutes to Lewisburg, and took in the ultimate moments of the the "Extreme Horsemaship" events at the Horse Show at the WV Fairgrounds, watching some Seriously talented men and women display some pretty damn fine horsemaship, steering untrained horses through an obstacle course ranging from barrel jumping to bridges, to pulling 350 lb. haybales and filled water cans, to turning in perfect circles and walking backwards... fine stuff! We also stopped to read the historic markers along the way, and to see the Miner's Memorial in Quinwood, WV, especially important this week, given that 29 miners just lost their lives in (yet another) West Virginia Mine Disaster... The memorial, simple and tasteful, has granite memorials engraved with the names of hundreds of our miners who have given their lives to keep the lights on all over America, and the flags were at half-mast, as they are all over West Virginia now...

And then, at the end of a Wonderful West Virginia Day, we got to drive home along the roads cut thru our frankly amazing mountains, in their various spring stages of turning green and pink, loving all of it: the red bud trees in bloom, the geese crossing the road oblivious to it all, the deer grazing and the cattle chowing down in the valleys between the mountains, the log cabins that have been here since the 1700s...

C'mon down and have a peek! :-)