Whitesburg: While we frequently went here, we never did eat out here that often. Usually, it was just a quick shopping trip after seeing relatives in Letcher county with no time to eat. This was very true when there were so few places. While there are more options now, there are not as many other reasons to go there. Still, here are two spots I've been to.
- Long John Silver's, DI: One of my earliest memories of eating at an LJS happened here, possibly soon after the restaurant opened. In fact, it could be one of the oldest and first in eastern Kentucky. I was about four or so, maybe a little younger. We went here, and there was a very long line. My mom and I last other relatives to wait in line and order for us, while we maybe walked up the road to a department store to see some things. The food was waiting for us by the time we got back. I don't remember anything about what I ate that day. Flash forward to the late 2010s. After spending the morning shopping in Norton, we stopped here on the way to Isom for shoe-shopping. I couldn't believe the place was so small. Even smaller than the one at Prestonsburg. They didn't even have a real drive-through, just a window behind our table where a server walked over from the kitchen to hand out. The food was the same as everywhere else. A random post on Facebook said that this location was recently remodeled. I'm hoping it included an expansion, as such a special place in my memories deserves it.
- [Dairy Queen, TO, ⭐️: I don't think I ever went into here. It was more so that my mom to use the restroom and get coffee while traveling to somewhere else. I stayed out in the car, but I got to see the ducks. There was a whole flock nesting in the nearby creek. That would sometimes quack at the costumers who got too close. It was here where I saw my first drake with a purple band on its neck, instead of the usual teal. It was breath-taking. The last time we stopped, in early 2022 or so, we found out that they were closing the location and moving to a new one on US 23, out of the flood plain fortunately. We haven't been back to Whitesburg since, definitely not after the flooding, but I hope the ducks are doing well. I'll miss them.]
Hazard: Most of my earliest trip to Hazard involve taking one of my great-aunts here to drop her off with her daughters who would take her down to Florida for the winter. After we stopped doing this, trips to Hazard dropped off considerably. In fact, my most recent trips involving my new car around 2020 were so short, that we didn't need to eat out. Still, there were a lot of other times before then.
- Jerry's, DI; This was the primary drop-off site for my great-aunt. We would get a table here and just have a meal before they set off for Florida. We would exchange Christmas gifts, weeks early. I would frequently sneak a peek at mine, knowing even before the tree was put up. Jerry's would close, but I never found out when until well after the fact. I don't know what went in its place. I couldn't even tell you where it was located, as we don't seem to drive that way into town anymore, probably due to the newer roads. [This great-aunt died in the 90s; her daughters died in the last five years.]
- [Long John Silver's, DI maybe?: Here's the thing. I don't clearly remember eating here. Maybe, but it is faint. I do remember walking here from Jerry's one time to pick up some promotional matter. (Like in P-burg, the two were close together. They were part of the same company at the time.) My mom says we also ate there at least once, but I can barely recall it. Like the one in Whitesburg, this one has recently been remodeled. I'm guessing it is still in the same location.]
- Rax, DI: I have three memories of eating here. The first was when I was very young. We made a weekend, maybe Sunday, trip to look for a Christmas tree. This place was one of the few open, although it may have been another restaurant. I just had some fries. (It was also the last time I got the original run of Disney comics.) The next time was in high school, summer after my sophomore year, probably. We were shopping with some relatives at Norton, when they talked into going onto Hazard to check out a new center. My mom had us eat at Rax, while the rest went somewhere else. I had a bake potato for the first time eating out. It had cheese sauce and broccoli. The first time I had that eating out as well. I didn't eat the potato skin, but I pretty much ate everything else. It was the first big step conquering my picky eating phase when dining out. (Strangely enough, broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables from when I was a kid. I even grew to like it without cheese. That is weird even for me.) My final time eating here was in the early 90s. I was helping my mom out with her shopping for a new car. I was in the middle of my chicken sandwich craze when she wanted to stop here for lunch. By the 2000s, this spot had closed as part of the dying of the chain. From what I can figure out from WYMT outdoor cameras, the building was torn down and a Dollar General was put in its space.
- Burger King, DI: Around 2010, we were semi-seriously considering moving the store to Hazard. We had an appointment to look at one spot, but I managed to talk my mom into checking out a second location the realtor recommended. I had found out there was a comic book shop nearby, and I wanted to find it. Never did. Anyway, a storm was coming in by then, and my mom suggested we stop and eat here. I wanted to wait and get something in Pikeville. Specifically, one of the new dipping strip pizzas from Pizza Hut. She was so insistent, that I didn't tell her my plans, so we ate here to wait out the rain a little. I think it was the last time I had one of BK's grilled chicken sandwiches. (I rarely ate one when on longer shopping trips or when I ate out in Pikeville.) I didn't tell this until we got back to the store. [While Pizza Hut has brought back this promotion a few times, I still haven't had it. This included the current promotion, but I am not interested at this time due to the ranch sauces. Don't think I'd like any of them.]
- Unknown higher-end restaurant, DI: I don't know this place's name. It was in the shopping center where Kmart and Kroger were. We went here for the great-aunt exchange once. I was a little pickier than normal that day, and I wasn't having the crunchy chicken strips my mom ordered for me. The texture was all wrong, not like those form LJS at all. At one point, she took me into the ladies' restroom, made sure no one was there, and spanked me hard. I couldn't help not liking food, but she still punished me. I barely ate anything else. I think this made my picky eating even worse. I don't know what happened to the restaurant. By my 90s trip, the center was already dying, even before Kmart and Kroger closed, so I'm guessing it was gone by then. The center was torn down years ago, and a housing development recently took its place.
- Unknown restaurant downtown, DI: This is weird. I remember stopping at this place, but I'm not sure where it was located. All I know is that we were here for a relative's party and that we stayed in one dining area and not allowed into the other until after we were done. I think there was a cousin around my age also here, but that's all. I couldn't find the place again if I tried. it might not even been in Hazard, but somewhere else such as Pound, Virginia or Paintsville. I guess it could still be around, but I'm listing it as closed.
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