Contents from the landmark Cozy Restaurant, including souvenirs from nearby Camp David (such as a bearskin rug made from a bear reputedly killed by President Hoover on an Alaskan hunting trip), are being auctioned off today at 1 p.m.
The Thurmont-based restaurant was once a favorite stop for politicians, diplomats, and reporters en route to the presidential retreat.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, members of the Eisenhower cabinet, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and journalist Walter Cronkite all stopped by back in the day.
(The story goes that Churchill, with Eisenhower at the time, wanted to stop by to see the restaurant’s jukebox. According to owner Jay Freeze, whose father started the restaurant, Roosevelt waited in the car while Churchill went in for a look.)
The venerable spot (dating back to 1929) had been struggling for some time. Freeze decided to close the place in June.
The Cozy Restaurant is thought to be the oldest restaurant in Maryland continuously owned by the same family.