Mountain Momma's

“youre right. you dont. it involves a bad word. and as we all know, god kills a kitten every time you say a bad word.”

“please, think of the kittens.”

“Is Mountain Momma's closed for good?”

“Well, if it is closed, it is for good.”

“passing thru in 04, i just wanted to do laundry, but not spend the night. i had only just come from the last shelter a couple of miles away, so it was too early to stop for the night. and i HAD to do laundry. every single thing i owned, including my sleeping bag, was soaked. i even said i would PAY for the cost of staying the night, and then move on, but she didnt want to do that, either

but the burgers were delicious”

“Standing Bear put them out of biz?”

“Well, there is one way to solve this mystery. I will drive over there this week and do an "investigative story" and publish a trip report here on TT.”

“i doubt that. they didnt rely just on hikers for their business. they got a lot of hunter business, too. taking care of hikers seemed almost an afterthought”

“standing bear does have a better rep amongst hikers, especially the thrus”

“They (Mountain Mommas) get more river rafter business in the summer than anything. Folks who come off the river or are waiting on a raft go down there for a burger.
last edited: 2/05/07 10:23:37 AM”

“I wouldn't be surprised - we didn't stop at Mountain Moma's this year - kept on going to Standing Bear. Curtis & his wife are great people and SB was one of my favorite stops...even w/out cheeseburgers. The decision at the time to go to SB was because we didn't have cash on us and knew Curtis would shuttle us.

Fellow hikers had commented that they wish they'd skipped Mountain Moma's altogether. Don't remember why though...”

“They close every winter from Nov to early March anyway.”

“Other than the cheeseburger, there isn't much there, lol.”

“I thought cigs were there main moneymakers.”

“The Bean Tree Cafe at the Hartford Road exit is the best place to eat. They close during the winter, but you can grab a cold beer and some damn good eats there in the summer.”

“probably, stove”

“where is the hartford road exit?”

“Man, you smell like an ashtray when you walk out of that place.”

“Yep, they are smoker friendly for sure.




last edited: 2/05/07 10:35:14 AM”

“The Hartford Road exit is back to the west from Mountain Momma's on I-40. It's where NOC and the other rafting outfitters have their places.”

“look us is got firewud

something tells me that sign is not being ironic”

“It is funny, CB.”

“Moma is from Florida. The building is the old Waterville school. I doctored Moma's mamma and she gave me a blaze orange cap. Moma's cheeseburger is the king daddy.”

“I was over there in November and it looked closed then.

Chili I"m going over there Saturday you want to join us. I'm going with my photog group from church. We are going up Big Creek Trail.”

“Contrary to the above, most of their income is from the horseback riders. Some ride all year and the number of riders is high.

I believe NC raised their tobacco taxes a few years ago. This, I believe, killed most of their trade from the Newport area. The site is actually in NC, although the mail service is from Newport, TN.”

“All I know for sure was their big burgers really hit the spot after coming out of the woods.”

“those burgers are made from the meat of thru-hikers who were ground up in the smokies”

“:-(”

“Sorry to hear it. They have been good friends since the day they opened.

Too bad there were no more details. I guess that one of them has become too ill to continue easily, or their income has dropped too far to make it worth while to continue. About two or three years ago or so, N. Carolina increased their cigarette taxes. Much of their income was from selling cigarettes to Tennessee folks from their N. Carolina location. So they lost this tax advantage. I have noticed fewer and fewer cigarettes on their shelves. Also, high volumn sales provided rebates and/or better prices from their tobacco suppliers. It's too bad, since any sale price for the business will be related to current or recent income.

They added living quarters to the old school house. So, if the place is mostly paid for, they may be able to continue living there.”

“sign at the fontana marina was telling thru hikers where to find their drop boxes that had been sent to mtn mommas---i forget which post office.”

“Hartford, Tn Post office”

“Good to see 'em go. They suck.”

“friendly wasn't always a constant there, but they did have good burgers. actaully, i dont know if they really did, a medioocre burger would have been heaven at the end of a smokies AT traverse.

that'll suck for the thru hikers - hartford, tn post office isn't exactly on the AT”

“That giant burger I had there a couple of years ago was great.”

“There is a new hostel, well its a couple years old now, just past 50 supposedly 400 yards off the trail. Supposedly has a enough groceries for resupply.”

“hyway, are you talking about Standing Bear farm? It is on the other side of I-40 right off the gravel road by the AT.
http://standingbearfarm.tripod.com/”

“yeah, I meant 40 not 50 lol. Standing Bear Farm is teh one I was thinking of.”

“I loved the burger at Moma's but the 'hostel' area looked like a real hole.”

“I would imagine one of the outfitters running shuttles for the white water down at the power plant will pick up some slack in getting hikers to Hartford.”

““hyway, are you talking about Standing Bear farm? It is on the other side of I-40 right off the gravel road by the AT.
http://standingbearfarm.tripod.com/”
Ewker
11:13:03 PM
3/28/07

Stayed there. Nice place ~ Curtis & Maria were very hospitable. They also shuttle you in to town, free of charge, if you are staying there. They have a pantry loaded with plenty of stuff that will do for a resupply to get you to Hot Springs. Nothing fancy, but the essentials. Fairly priced given the convenience of it.

I just liked the Little House on the Prairie feel of the place. :)”