“Nothing warms the heart like Southern Cooking.”
Martha
White
On
our trip to the north Georgia mountains in November, we were close
enough to say, lets stop at the Dillard House Restaurant again since
we have always enjoyed their food, the atmosphere, and that it is a great family restaurant.
Since we were meeting our daughter, Jeannine, her husband Darren, and
their eight children, I asked if we could make reservations.
Normally there has to be a group of 15 or more to make a reservation,
but they were slow tonight after the huge crowds on Thanksgiving and made an exception. They kindly
agreed so we were able to have a nice meal before heading to our
hotel in Franklin, North Carolina for the night.
The
Dillard House is located in Little Tennessee River Valley in Rabun
county, Georgia near the state line. It is nestled in the Blue
Ridge Mountains in the quaint town of Dillard, Georgia which is home
to only 200 people. Dillard is only 1 ½ hours from Atlanta and
about the same from Greenville, South Carolina but for us was about a
three hour ride from Augusta. This beautiful stone inn has large
glass windows that overlooks a pasture with the lovely Blue Ridge
Mountains in the distance. There is also a large fireplace to take
the chill out of the air. The had a beautiful nativity scene on display set up next to the front of the restaurant which they lit up at night.
The
Dillard Family first came here back when a land grant of 1,000 acres
was given as compensation, to Captain John Dillard for his service
during the American Revolution. During this time in history, this
part of the Blue Ridge Mountains had so many Cherokee Indians living
here, they referred to mountains here as the Cherokee Mountains.
John grew butter beans and wheat and later added corn to the produce
he planted on his farm. He also was blessed with lots of wild game
to live on. John lived here till he died in 1842, at the age of
82.
Two
of John’s descendants, Carrie and Arthur Dillard opened their home
to boarders in 1917. They gave them a nice place to stay and had
food for them to eat. They served their patrons produce that was
grown right here on their farm just as John had done in much earlier times.
Business was good and continued to grow until the depression. Then
it picked up again in the late 1940’s when US 441 got paved and
they added a revitalized inn and dinning room. Now there was an
easy way to drive from the Smoky Mountains to south Florida and right
by Dillard. Their business has continued to grow and grow.
We
got to the Dillard House before dark and walked around their
magnificent property. We walked back to see the animals at the
petting zoo and enjoyed watching the goats, chickens, pig, and
miniature ponies. They all seemed to get along and it reminded me
of the book “Charlotte’s Web” by E. B. White. I could just
imagine Charlotte, the barn spider writing “Some Pig” in her web
for Wilbur. I looked but I didn’t see Charlotte or her web
anywhere. But maybe, just maybe the pig in the petty zoo was Wilbur
and he was “Some Pig”.
Then
we walked to the stables and watched the horses out in the meadow
enjoying the beautiful fall day. What a stunning setting with the
mountains in the background and the sun setting. You can rent horses
here or go on group trail rides. We walked past one of the barns
that was lit up with Christmas lights for the holidays. The
Christmas spirit was in the air.
We
loved how the beautiful stone restaurant was decorated up with lights
for the holidays. What an ideal setting and we could imagine how it
must look when the fields are snow covered. Jeannine, Darren, and
children arrived so we went to great them. Joe took the kids back
to see the petting zoo before going in to dinner. They loved the
animals and talked excitedly about them when they returned.
When
we entered the restaurant and they promptly got us seated. All the
children followed Jeannine in a single line to the table. This is a
family style restaurant so all the things that are on the menu are
served for dinner that night on platters. The wait staff promptly took our
order for drinks and when they came back with our drinks, they
brought out many varieties of rolls.
It
didn’t take long till they started bringing out the food. It
seemed they brought trays and trays of food. We had fried chicken,
fried fish, pork chops, gravy, fried shrimp, beans, squash
casserole, corn, and potatoes. They brought out good portions of
everything and when we finished what was brought out, we just asked
for more. They kept on bringing food out. Then was dessert time
which was an apple cobbler with ice cream. We had lots of food left
when we were done. They gave us to go boxes to carry out
whatever food we wanted to take with us. There was enough food left
to last for days. We packed it up and took it with us and left
feeling totally satiated.
It
was an amazing feast and quite the culinary delight. They only serve
the freshest foods using ingredients from the local and surrounding
farms. I guess that is why everything tasted so good. The Dillard
House has received two Readers Choice awards in the Southern Living
Magazine. That is quite an honor. They serve breakfast, lunch, and
dinner here.
They
have a gift shop inside the restaurant where you can buy country
hams, jams, jellies, candles, apple butter, relish, pickles, and cook
books amongst other things. It was fun looking at all the unique
items.
We
read there have been many famous people who have ate at the Dillard
House including, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, Walt
Disney, and Jimmy Carter.
If
you want to stay for more than a meal, they have many options for
staying including cabins, cottages, Inn, and motel. There is even a
stocked trout pond on site. There is also an event hall that can be rented with a huge outside fire pit. It seems like it would be the perfect
place to come and stay to get renewed. You couldn’t ask for a more
beautiful setting.
I
would highly recommend the Dillard House. It is a little pricey but
you get so much food, it is worth it. It is not just a meal it is
a memory in the making. Go and Enjoy. This is a must stop if you
are near Dillard. Check them out at: www.DillardHouse.com.
Bye for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment