Our Story
Lisa and I met on campus at Marshall University, and I invited her to go whitewater rafting with me on the New River where I was working as a guide. Soon, Lisa also became a guide. We were inseparable! We graduated from Marshall, Lisa as a nurse practitioner and I with a degree in Business Management, and we landed in Georgia.
Both our families have a long history of entrepreneurship. Lisa’s father was a mason and builder in Huntington, and my family’s roots run deep in Fayette County, from Caperton, Cunard, and Dunloop through McDunn, Alloy and even Matewan.
But after the birth of our first child, we began to feel a little homesick for the mountains of West Virginia. Though we would be giving up financial security, we decided to come home. My father had been running a lunch joint in Charleston, and he generously offered to turn ownership over to us. We agreed, and in 2003, Swiftwater Café was born. Soon, we added Swiftwater Catering and Swiftwater General Store Charleston.
Over time, our family grew to include both kids and dogs. And now we also have Swiftwater General Store New River, just a mile-point-5 north of the NRG Bridge on Ames-Heights Rd.—and some land on Beauty Mountain, where we plan to settle this year for our happily ever after.
We offer house-cooked comfort food, grab-n-go backpack meals, the closest groceries to the New River Gorge Bridge, camping supplies, ice, beer, wine, souvenirs and so much more—all with a friendly smile and the highest level of customer service.
-Teddy & Lisa Queen
