Buffalo Night At Jenny Wiley State Park, January 25, 2025

Yesterday, January 25, 2025, my wife Candice and I went to Buffalo Night at Jenny Wiley State Park. Historically, these events have always been held in the lodge dining room. In fact, we had the Thanksgiving Dinner there this past November. When we arrived at the park, we found that the event was being held in the convention center near the now abandoned amphitheater. I had been in that facility once or twice before including once, not long before the long running Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theater had been abandoned along with the amphitheater. At that event, we had gone to see the Jimmy Dean written musical "Big River". It got rained out and instead of offering rain checks the theater gave the performance in the convention center which had been a total bust. There is actually a large commercial kitchen in the convention center. But the room where this Buffalo Night was held is simply a large, windowless convention room set up with tables, all of which are designed for eight people doing work sessions in which they must face each other. That was a bit of surprise to be seated at a table for eight when, at brief times, the dining room door was left open and others, waiting to be seated for as much as half an hour, were able to look through the door and see two people seated at a table for eight. A windowless room is never a good site for anything other than a jail. Despite some bad weather in the last three weeks, the turnout was predictably large and the place was reasonably well staffed. But for these events, all of the state parks seem to schedule employees in the park system who have nothing to do with food service to work on event night and many of them have no experience in the areas in which they are working. We spoke to one woman who said she was working as a housekeeper in the lodge. We were seated at that large table conveniently in the front row near the buffet line which makes it a lot easier on Candice if she serves herself, or if I serve her and make two trips to the buffet for each of us to get a plate. The room was probably 40 feet wide and buffet was set up with the salad bar against one wall, the dessert table across the opposite wall forty feet away, and the main buffet line across the end wall at least fifteen or twenty feet away from the other two sections of the buffet. Thankfully, we had a young male waiter serving our drinks, napkins, etc. who was excellent, highly attentive, and robustly working the room all the time we were there. Ethan was a blessing in the middle of much that wasn't in other areas. In general, all of the staff, despite their sometimes being forced to work well outside their expertixe, are friendly, congenial, and nice. But it would be far better if other food service staff could be shifted from within the state park system for these high volume special events. The buffalo was served three ways, roasted and sliced on the line, presliced and cooked in deep hotel pans in boiling water, and as meat loaf. The roast was excellent and the female employee who served it was gracious, friendly, attentive, and experienced. The meat loaf was excellent, self service on the line, and made in the Eastern Kentucky style with catsup on top. The presliced and boiled was unappetizing looking and I niether of us even tried it. The vegetables were short sections of corn on the cob (over cooked but tasty); good, well made scalloped potatoes; green beans;greens with ham hocks sliced in them; and, there was also buffalo chili and fried catfish which Jenny Wiley usally serves as an alternative to the main meats at any special dinner. There were only two deserts, banana pudding in which I never saw a banana, and a berry cobbler. I happened to reach the dessert table after a cobbler had been demolished and left with only a thin skim of berries in the hotel pan. But I had manfully picked up one of their overly small, plastic (I assume disposable but maybe not) dessert dishes and was ready to settle for berries only (they appeared to have been mixed berries.) when a servers stepped up beside me and said, "I'm getting ready to set another cobbler down, would you like to wait." I had the pleasure of taking the first piece of that cobbler out of the pan to my table. I enjoyed some parts of the meal and the trip, was very appreciative of the waiter Ethan, and won't totally slam the event. But it did have some things lacking and could definitely be improved on before the next event. It is usually done far better at Natural Bridge State Park in Slade, Kentucky, where we also go regularly. Yes, I will probably be at the next special event dinner at Jenny Wiley, but I must insist that it be held in the lodge dining room.

Elk Night And Hiking At Jenny Wiley State Park, Saturday, September 16, 2023

The flyer for Elk Night at Jenny Wiley State Park, 2023 

On the afternoon of Saturday, September 16, 2023, my wife Candice and I traveled to Jenny Wiley State Park to engage in their annual Elk Night at the lodge restaurant and for me to hike on my favorite trail among those in the park which begins and ends just at the upper end of the lodge parking lot.  We have been there for Elk Night on several occasions and I have written about both Elk Night and Jenny Wiley State Park on other occasions.  One other of my blog posts detailed a previous hike on the Jenny Wiley Trail at the park which follows the ridge across the lake from the lodge.  On another occasion, I reviewed a short biography of Jenny Wiley by Floyd County author Henry P. Scalf who is, perhaps better known for his numerous genealogical works and his career as a reporter for the Floyd County Times in Prestonsburg, Kentucky.  Both Candice and I like the park a lot and it has been a part of my life nearly as long as I can remember.

My hike went well and shortly after I returned to our van to meet Candice we entered the lodge for the feast.  We got there about 3:30pm at a time when the dining room was not crowded which makes life much simpler in most cases.  We found elk roast actually being carved on the serving line, fresh fired catfish, hunter's stew, elk chili, and elk meatloaf.  The first elk roast we got servings from must have been on the line a bit longer than usual and was a bit dry but very nice in flavor and appearance.  But the return trip for seconds was great because a new roast had just arrived on the line and it was hot, juicy, tender, and everything  a good elk roast should be.  The elk meatloaf was great with the traditional Eastern Kentucky topping of ketchup and made from finely ground elk with just the right amount of spiciness.  The elk chili was robust, sufficiently meaty, and well flavored.  We did not try the hunter's stew but probably should have.  The most ordinary part of the entire all you can eat buffet was the salad and vegetable bar which was comprised of the usual suspects, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, etc. with nothing unusual or outstanding added to the bar.  The vegetables were fresh, crisp, clean, etc. but nothing about them was a cut above average at a good restaurant buffet.  

But the best was yet to come!  The flyer above, and more than one other I have seen from state park elk nights, advertised "Assorted Appalachian Deserts".  It has usually been my experience when I see that line in a flyer that the deserts will be some very ordinary, traditional offerings which you might find in any restaurant from Maine to California.  I have lived nearly my entire life in Central and Southern Appalachia and can make an argument, based on my education and publishing history, for being an expert on Appalachian Culture.  I have rarely, if ever, seen deserts in a state park lodge that I would say are "Appalachian Deserts".  I would also not say that the deserts that I saw on this particular evening were "Appalachian Deserts" but they were definitely among the best deserts I have ever eaten in any restaurant I have ever been in among the thirty-one US states I have visited or in which I have lived.  There was a fairly common looking chocolate pie which I did not try.  There was also a deep dish lemon pie with actual lemon slices garnishing the top and a genuine lemon flavor, without any disagreeable sourness, and a meringue which was quite deep, pretty to look at and tasty.  It was an excellent deep dish lemon pie.  But the best dish of the evening was yet to come, something of which I had never heard, and with a primary ingredient which I have eaten in several other presentations all my life.  That desert was Pinto Bean Pie, Yes!, Pinto Bean Pie!  And I don't mean some joke presented under the title Pinto Bean Pie in order to monopolize on the fact that pinto beans have been a part of life in the area of the lodge for the last one hundred years at least.  It was a real pie with a filling comprised of canned (presumably) pinto beans and with a top of crushed nuts of some kind or other. The entire offering was sweet, juicy, incredibly tasty, and clearly comprised in large part of pinto beans. I made a point of complementing the two staff members on the serving line for the entire meal after I finished eating and they told me that a chef in another state park lodge had sent them the recipe for Pinto Bean Pie and they loved it also.  I am attaching a recipe for the desert which I found on the internet but I cannot guarantee that it is the same recipe which was being used at Jenny Wiley.  I can only suggest that if you are interested in trying it that you should find one or two recipes which appeal to you and try them at different times before settling on your favorite.  But I can assure that if you have never had Pinto Bean Pie you should as soon as possible.  I can't wait to see what comes up next year at the Jenny Wiley State Park Lodge Elk Night.