540 Miles today
Woke up in Sweetwater, TN (Cost of Living Index .7), not very far from Knoxville. Seems I had some difficulty getting away from that place.
The weather forecast for the entire day was raining if one took the southerly route back to Texas. This led to a more westerly direction out of Sweetwater. It wasn't all new road, I'd come down US64 when I went to Gettysburg last year, but it's good road and not slab. Plus, there was some pretty good (and pretty) road to be had in getting there.
Plugged the following into the Garmin and took off: Dayton, Gruetli-Laager, Belvidere, and Memphis. That got me the roads I wanted. And, one has to see a place named Gruetli-Laager, doesn't one?
Evidently, Gruetli was settled by Swiss colonists shortly after the civil war. The majority didn't stay long because of the rocky, poor soil, but enough held on, at least until 1880, to enable Grundy county (home to Gruetli) to have the largest Swiss population in the state in that august year. (Perhaps it was August of that year). Laager was a railroad stopover, initially known as Henley's Switch in 1918, and the two merged in 1980 not missing the opportunity to hyphenate a name that's both unique and useless. Okay...we all now know more about this place than we need. But, in its defense, it is certainly a pretty area.
Countryside near Gruetli-Laager
Pulled through to Lawrenceburg just afternoon and wanted some pie and coffee to tide me over. As stated above, I'd already decided I was going to eat ribs in Memphis and I didn't want to not be hungry for that. I pulled into a little restaurant with a lot of cars, including police vehicles, parked outside. I have found the latter to be an absolute guarantee of good food and low prices.
I found further
corroboration of an old thesis of mine: Tennesseans are among the nicest people in this country.
It was very busy; theirs obviously being one of the favorites of the town. But, when I explained I was only looking for pie and coffee she was on it right away, coming up with a surprise: Blackberry Cobbler. How often do you see that on a menu? For those who want to know why it is rather rare, just talk to people who have picked blackberries. First, you're going to get stuck. They have thousands of nettles and they irritate like hell. But, for me, the big reason they deserve to be rare is how much rattlesnakes like to hang out in blackberry patches. If the world's supply is waiting on me to wade into a big briar patch they will be short a lot of blackberry cobbler. "Please don't throw me in that briar patch" is not reverse psychology to me. It's a fervent wish.
Anyway, after getting me the pie she was worried that the coffee might be a little old and asked if I'd like to wait on a fresh pot. I checked it out and it was fine. After the examples of lack-of-service I'd seen over the past two days trying to get the *&(**% GPS installed on this bike, I had forgotten what it was like. In any event, she was a very nice lady and provided excellent service so I left a very good tip, a kindness that came back to me a minute or so later.
When I went up to pay, this very nice lady was talking to the customer in front of me. She seemed very upbeat, positive, and friendly, just as I've found Tennesseans over the years. The lady who served me had told me to tell her what I'd had and she'd ring it up. After the guy walked away I said, "Hi, I had the great Blackberry Cobbler with ice cream (I failed to mention that, didn't I?) and coffee." And she said, "That's nice...it's on me." When I looked at her in disbelief she repeated it. I protested, saying thank you, but you're in business to make money and my experience there said I would want you to, but she wouldn't hear of it, so I met a couple of great, friendly Tennesseans. Not the first time either.
So, if you're in Lawrenceburg, TN, and want a good buffet meal at good prices and with absolutely wonderful people in there to meet and serve you, go to the Taste of the Town Restaurant.
Just short of Memphis it started drizzling rain again so I decided to see if there was a Kawasaki dealer nearby who could change the oil in Betsy (yeah...we've bonded). I was sitting at about 550 and there is a checkup at 600 miles. Another friendly Tennessian working in an ice house told me there was one back down the road about five miles on US18 out of Bolivar, TN. She then called them to confirm they serviced Kawasakis and would be happy to have a drive-in customer (see, I told you there are people who understand incremental revenue). I pulled in and talked with another bunch of friendly people while the mechanic went over the bike and changed the oil and filter. Unlike some people we know he didn't leave the oil filler cap off when he
finished.
Got back on Betsy and made it to Beale street. I was looking for a BBQ called the Rendevous but couldn't find it, not even on the Garmin, so I went into B.B.King's Blues Club for some ribs and music, and got plenty of both. The food was good and the harmonica-player cum lead singer was really good.
I'm currently in Little Rock considering a 7:00am tee time Saturday morning at Jersey Meadows.
540 Miles today
Woke up in Sweetwater, TN (Cost of Living Index .7), not very far from Knoxville. Seems I had some difficulty getting away from that place.
The weather forecast for the entire day was raining if one took the southerly route back to Texas. This led to a more westerly direction out of Sweetwater. It wasn't all new road, I'd come down US64 when I went to Gettysburg last year, but it's good road and not slab. Plus, there was some pretty good (and pretty) road to be had in getting there.
Plugged the following into the Garmin and took off: Dayton, Gruetli-Laager, Belvidere, and Memphis. That got me the roads I wanted. And, one has to see a place named Gruetli-Laager, doesn't one?
Evidently, Gruetli was settled by Swiss colonists shortly after the civil war. The majority didn't stay long because of the rocky, poor soil, but enough held on, at least until 1880, to enable Grundy county (home to Gruetli) to have the largest Swiss population in the state in that august year. (Perhaps it was August of that year). Laager was a railroad stopover, initially known as Henley's Switch in 1918, and the two merged in 1980 not missing the opportunity to hyphenate a name that's both unique and useless. Okay...we all now know more about this place than we need. But, in its defense, it is certainly a pretty area.
Countryside near Gruetli-Laager
Pulled through to Lawrenceburg just afternoon and wanted some pie and coffee to tide me over. As stated above, I'd already decided I was going to eat ribs in Memphis and I didn't want to not be hungry for that. I pulled into a little restaurant with a lot of cars, including police vehicles, parked outside. I have found the latter to be an absolute guarantee of good food and low prices.
I found further corroboration of an old thesis of mine: Tennesseans are among the nicest people in this country.
It was very busy; theirs obviously being one of the favorites of the town. But, when I explained I was only looking for pie and coffee she was on it right away, coming up with a surprise: Blackberry Cobbler. How often do you see that on a menu? For those who want to know why it is rather rare, just talk to people who have picked blackberries. First, you're going to get stuck. They have thousands of nettles and they irritate like hell. But, for me, the big reason they deserve to be rare is how much rattlesnakes like to hang out in blackberry patches. If the world's supply is waiting on me to wade into a big briar patch they will be short a lot of blackberry cobbler. "Please don't throw me in that briar patch" is not reverse psychology to me. It's a fervent wish.
Anyway, after getting me the pie she was worried that the coffee might be a little old and asked if I'd like to wait on a fresh pot. I checked it out and it was fine. After the examples of lack-of-service I'd seen over the past two days trying to get the *&(**% GPS installed on this bike, I had forgotten what it was like. In any event, she was a very nice lady and provided excellent service so I left a very good tip, a kindness that came back to me a minute or so later.
When I went up to pay, this very nice lady was talking to the customer in front of me. She seemed very upbeat, positive, and friendly, just as I've found Tennesseans over the years. The lady who served me had told me to tell her what I'd had and she'd ring it up. After the guy walked away I said, "Hi, I had the great Blackberry Cobbler with ice cream (I failed to mention that, didn't I?) and coffee." And she said, "That's nice...it's on me." When I looked at her in disbelief she repeated it. I protested, saying thank you, but you're in business to make money and my experience there said I would want you to, but she wouldn't hear of it, so I met a couple of great, friendly Tennesseans. Not the first time either.
So, if you're in Lawrenceburg, TN, and want a good buffet meal at good prices and with absolutely wonderful people in there to meet and serve you, go to the Taste of the Town Restaurant.
Just short of Memphis it started drizzling rain again so I decided to see if there was a Kawasaki dealer nearby who could change the oil in Betsy (yeah...we've bonded). I was sitting at about 550 and there is a checkup at 600 miles. Another friendly Tennessian working in an ice house told me there was one back down the road about five miles on US18 out of Bolivar, TN. She then called them to confirm they serviced Kawasakis and would be happy to have a drive-in customer (see, I told you there are people who understand incremental revenue). I pulled in and talked with another bunch of friendly people while the mechanic went over the bike and changed the oil and filter. Unlike some people we know he didn't leave the oil filler cap off when he
finished.
Got back on Betsy and made it to Beale street. I was looking for a BBQ called the Rendevous but couldn't find it, not even on the Garmin, so I went into B.B.King's Blues Club for some ribs and music, and got plenty of both. The food was good and the harmonica-player cum lead singer was really good.
I'm currently in Little Rock considering a 7:00am tee time Saturday morning at Jersey Meadows.
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