My Culinary Odyssey: Coal Run, Part 2

    It is time to finish off the Coal Run area with a special bonus post this Saturday.  This shouldn't take too long, as most of these places aren't open. Click here for an explanation of how this series is organized. Now, onto the places.

• [Murphy's Mart, TO:  I can't remember is Murphy's had a lunch counter, but I do remember the ICEE machine.  I had at least one when I was a kid, but I don't know how many more than that.  My mom wouldn't get them that often for me.  Murphy's became Ames.  When Ames went out, the space was taken over by JC Penny's and Dawahare's, whose space got taken over by Ace Hardware when they went out of business.  The recent flooding hit both places very hard, but it is still unknown if either will return. (I have seen reports that the Ames brand might be making a comeback though.)]
• Dairy Cheer, TO/maybe DI:  I think we may have eaten here at least once as part of my rotation in the 90s, but I am unsure.  I know we stopped here at least once after Booknotes opened.  I liked this restaurant the best of the three local ones, as it had the largest seating area.  It didn't have the customers though, so it was closed over a decade ago, and the building torn down. It has since been replaced by the entry two spots down on this list.
• Burger King, DI/probably TO:  Once I started eating at BK in the 90s, this place was a frequent stop in my rotation.  I would try and alternate a Whopper and onion rings with a grilled chicken sandwich and fries.  It was also around this time that I started having ketchup and mayonnaise with my fries, Belgian style. With rings as well. Once Booknotes opened, I rarely ate TO from here, but I'm sure it happened at least once.  Then, they closed the place for some reason, and they put a branch bank in its place.  With a possible slight exception, (see a later post) I wasn't eating from BK until the Lee Avenue location opened up years later.
• Dairy Queen, TO:  This is what replaced the Dairy Cheer.  My first time here, I had a balsamic-glazed chicken sandwich, which was on the limited-time menu.  I'd had balsamic before, but this sandwich simply didn't have enough of the flavor. It was very messy though.  I would stop here a few more times, as this DQ had an easier parking lot to get to, as well as not having to backtrack to get to my store.  It also has a flavor dispenser fountain drink station, so I can get a cherry-vanilla flavored Dr Pepper.  Strangely enough, the floods didn't affect here much, as they were far enough away from the river and they had a small wall surrounding the parking lot.  In fact, all of the restaurants at Weddington opened back up soon afterwards.  The branch bank that was BK is still not fully open, as it had some damage.
• [Taco Bell, never ate at:  Okay.  We were supposed to eat at Pizza Hut that day, but they were closed at the time for a private party.  I suggested we try somewhere new, Taco Bell. As soon as we walked in, my mom said that the food would be too crunchy for her, and we immediately had to leave.  We ultimately went to BK, even though we had just been there the last time.  She never apologized for this.  We never tried to go back.  This Taco Bell burned down years ago, and they replaced it with another Taco Bell.  Still haven't been either to this or the downtown Pikeville location.]
• Au Bon Pain, maybe TO?:  The name translates to something along the lines of 'to the good bread.'  It was a French-styled restaurant chain.  I had been to another one (see a later post), and I was surprised that one opened at Coal Run.  It was a combination bistro and bakery.  I don't think we dined in, but I believe I tried some of the pastries.  The place didn't last long.  Pizza Hut Express might have taken over this spot decades later.
• TCBY, The Country's Best Yogurt, TO:  When I first saw their marque from a distance, I thought it said 'TOBY.' I had to go there just for that.  It was a frozen yogurt shop.  For a time in the early 90s, this would be one of  my last spots while shopping.  I would get strawberry, with fresh strawberries as topping.  This spot made me try frozen yogurt at home as well.  For a while anyway.  I got bored with it after a time. TCBY would stay in business for many years, before closing fairly recently.  I think an actual ice cream shop has now opened there. [TCBY has changed their logo to a different style, as well as going lowercase, so it no longer quite looks like my name from a distance.  It would be in the late 2000s before I started eating regular yogurt on a semi-regular basis.]
• Shoney's, DI;  We never ate here that much, as it was so far away from everywhere else.  Still, it was a special stop when we did go here.  I usually had the grilled chicken sandwich.  (I ate a lot of them in the 90s.) The last time we stopped here was after the Taco Bell debacle.  We first tried to stop here.  We had been seated at a table, reading the menus, when my mom decided she didn't want to eat here after all. I was so embarrassed when she told the server that we were leaving. Especially since that meant we were going to BK.  We never went back before it closed in the 2000s.  After a number of years vacant, it became an Asian restaurant, before a controversy closed it.  It is currently another Mexican restaurant.

    That is it for today's bonus post.  Come back Wednesday for the regular post as I cover both  Williamson, West Virginia and the Norton, Virginia areas.  I'll also explain why I'm combining the two spots.  See you then.