Black Saturday - Golden Breakfast

Black Saturday in Boone, NC means gridlock on streets, at motels and in restaurants. It means Appalachian State University Mountaineer Football! Parking lots throughout town as well as on campus begin filling with tailgaters early in the day.

Compared to App State, football at my Alma mater was a sand-lot pick-up game. I haven't had so much fun in I don't know how long - yelling at the top of my lungs, helping the Halfback run by leaning toward the goal line. My only complaint was having to balance while standing on the aluminum bleacher seat throughout the entire game. Kinda like being at a concert. Guess the players are a little like rock stars.

Our Saturday morning began with a fabulous breakfast at Melanie's Food Fantasy. They're located right in the middle of old town at 664 West King St., Boone, NC 28607 (828) 263-0300.

Would it be worth a two hour drive from Hendersonville to Boone just for a meal at Melanie's? Surprisingly, I'm not sure how I'd answer that question.

We stood, enjoying (enduring) a light mist and pretty steady breeze during the game, but until about an hour before game time, the weather was Autumn-beautiful. The deck at Melanie's was heaven.


As soon as your meal arrives, you know this place is special. I immediately recognized a little cup of real maple syrup on my plate of French Toast ($5.95) made with Melanie's homemade bread. Actually, the bread used to be made at Melanie's, but they got too busy to do their own baking. Their recipe is now made exclusively for them by nearby Stick Boy Bread Company, 345 Hardin St., Boone, NC 2860 (828) 268-9900.

Everything on my plate was delicious, including the fruit. The toast had been comfort-food seasoned to French Toast aficionado standards and it's texture was perfect.


PIC's Western Omelet ($6.95) was chock full of Canadian bacon, onion, green pepper, tomato and cheddar cheese. It was served with choice of homefries or grits and homemade toast w/jelly or apple butter. As you can see, PIC went with the homefries.

Funny, but many breakfast places around Hendersonville don't offer omelets. This one was moist inside, not underdone and cooked perfectly on the outside.




While driving around Boone, we spotted a few interesting things I'd like to share with you just for the heck of it.

These stone sculptures/creations and more, were in someone's front yard. Someone that's obviously creative!




This cemetery looked so peaceful. Those interred there have a great view, too.


Another local built this old-west replica on their property. These people have way too much time on their hands. I'm not complaining, mind you - I love stumbling onto things like this.





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