Damn Good Jerky-Damn Poor Wifi

Just back from a few days in Lake George, which is about a 3 hour drive from Binghamton in the northern part of NY State.  I have so much to blog about - I wish it was "on the spot" but the wi fi at my motel (otherwise very nice and a great location) was-like Lake George in the off season-mellow and slow.  Especially slow.

I realize a lot of people don't go to Lake George to use wi fi and blog so it was a small inconvenience (except when it interfered with my ability to play FarmVille).

We went for the scenery (not leaf turning time yet, but close) and the history.  We weren't disappointed.

We had two major surprises in our trip, both food related.

Going through the small hamlet of Stillwater on the way to the Saratoga battlefield (more on that battle in another post) we passed a small, unassuming storefront with a sign:  "Damn Good Jerky".  We decided not to stop, but went back a couple of days later.

In the store were a couple of young women, busting their "butts" packaging jerky.  Stacks of boxes filled one corner with addresses ranging from Connecticut to various towns in NY.   A small display asked customers to buy jerky for the troops, and contained various photos and letters from troops serving overseas.  (as I work with two women with brothers serving in Afghanistan, I'll definitely tell them about this store.). 

And then there was the wall of jerky.  One pound bags for $10 caught our eyes (note, they are a lot more expensive on the web site).  We ended up buying several bags as my son and my spouse both love hot and spicy jerky.  For me, a smaller bag of teriyaki.  I passed on the discounted jerky, which I assumed was older or somehow "off".

I am no jerky connoisseur, so I was surprised to find several websites rating jerky.  One gave it a rating of "good", rating it better for sucking than for chewing.  The other site had a more favorable rating.

Jerky was the last thing we would have thought of as "local food" but it was a surprising find.  Again, I don't know if it is a good value buying it mail order but the prices were certainly right in the tiny storefront.

This jerky company was started by someone who felt he could make the "better jerky".  From the busyness of the packing day we stumbled into, I think he succeeded.