Today, my wife Candice and I had Thanksgiving Dinner with ten other members of our extended family at the Jenny Wiley State Park Lodge which has recently been refurbished after a major fire. There were twelve of us at the dinner which had at least a couple of hundred diners during the time we were there. Apparently, nobody wants to cook a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner anymore. We represented three generations of our maternal grandparents' descendants. There were four of us first cousins there from the seven which were raised by our mothers, sisters Mellie Hicks Hicks and Ellen Hicks Terry. Two of that original seven are now dead. There were three spouses or significant others of that group, one daughter of my cousin Jack Terry, one daughter of my cousin Greg Terry, and several of Jack's grandchildren. This was the first time many of us in the family had met Greg's daughter, Shay, who suddenly appeared in his life not long ago after finally learning who he biological father is. Neither of them had known of the identity or existence of the other until very recently. That, in and of itself, made it an interesting meal.
The buffet was served in a large dining room, one of two, which must have seated at least a hundred people. The staff worked constantly and kept drinks refilled, dirty plates bused, and minor requests for information answered. I am certain they never received, in that kind of setting, anywhere near what they deserved in tips. The standard 18% for large groups would be in order in that setting. I tried my best to be reasonable with my tip and so did at least one other in our party. The setting, twelve people spread along the length of a long table, did not do a lot to benefit conversations. The tables were a bit too close together and the overall layout of the room made traffic to and from the buffet a bit congested. Salads, vegetables, and meats were on a steam table along the left side of the room with both sides open for self service. Desserts were on two tables along the perpendicular wall on two tables with only one side open for self service. A staff member was on the right side of the room slicing and serving ham and roast beef from another table with heat lamps. This setup caused too much traffic across the room, back and forth, and sideways.
The food was generally acceptable but not outstanding by any measure. When I got to the turkey to serve for my wife Candice, I found a wet mess of shredded turkey in the bottom of a hotel pan. There were a couple or three dishes on that steam table which kept eliciting questions among strangers to the tune of "do you know what that is". The salad makings were a bit too few to make a good salad for the person with vegetarian leanings. The coleslaw was good and made along a traditional Eastern Kentucky recipe. The green beans came straight out of an institutional can. The pies, pecan, peanut butter, and pumpkin, were straight out of a box. The baked Alaska was good and made on the spot. The roast beef was far overcooked for my taste without a wink of pink in sight. The ham was minimally acceptable. Overall, this was a large restaurant buffet designed to minimally please diners who did not have high expectations without minimizing the potential profit from the occasion. Nearly every time I have eaten at Jenny Wiley State Park Lodge, which is a frequent choice of some of my relatives who live close to it, I have left once again convinced that most of the other state park lodges in which I have eaten do the job better, especially Natural Bridge State Park Lodge. I nearly always prefer Natural Bridge to other parks and the setting is usually far more picturesque.
After the dinner, we hung out for a short time in the lodge lobby talking and split up until this coming Saturday when we will get together for a second dinner at the home of a cousin in Prestonsburg which is a much better idea. I had told a friend in an e-mail today that I would rather eat bologna sandwiches in a genuine family setting with family than a high class buffet in a restaurant setting anytime. This dinner convinced me I was correct in that statement. A home cooked meal with shucked beans, hog jaw, ground hog, squirrels, pinto beans, corn bread, cushaw, and hominy would be far better anytime.
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