HUNTING WILDFLOWERS AND EATING AT THE “GOOD OL’ DAYS DINER”

Judy went and worked out at Curves this past Monday morning and then brought us breakfast back from Hardees. I had the coffee made when she arrived and “MAN” was it tasty!

We then hopped in the truck, cooler in the back, and headed for the grocery store. She knew I would not feel like shopping after our hike, so we put the perishables (milk, etc.) in the cooler and headed for Black Mountain.

The area we hike on Black Mountain is at the Trailhead for the Cumberland Trail, near the Grassy Cove Overlook. The woods there are full of sprouting, budding, and blooming Pink Lady’s Slippers. We’ve never seen so many of them in one location in our lives!

If you know the area, head up there next week…it should be a carpet of pink everywhere you look.

We walked the full 1.7 miles of the Loop Trail and saw many new flowers and some old familiar ones. It’s always a treasure hunt for us when we go. It is just so relaxing walking done the paths scanning the sides of the trail for something we’ve never seen before. Since wildflowers bloom at many different times of the year, you can always be assured the odds are you are going to see something different and more beautiful than the last trip, or even the last time you were on the same trail.

Back at the truck, we both chugged on some ice water we had brought and cooled down. It was in the 80’s today, so the trail was hot, but at that elevation it was somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees cooler than back home in the valley.

We made it to Midtown, a community central to Roane County, Tennessee, and pulled into the “Good Ol’ Days Diner”! We had just eaten there on Saturday, and the burgers, fries, and onion rings were terrific! It was all so good we didn’t have room for one of their old fashion desserts. The ice cream is hand dipped…no custard there!

We decided to half a “club sandwich” and some corn nuggets (remember those from the 60’s and 70’s)? They went perfectly with the tomato on the sandwich! Later, we decided to split a “Brownie”! Naturally, men usually wind up with the larger portion, as I did Monday, and it tasted so good after being on the hike.

If you ever find yourself in Midtown, Tennessee, stop in and say “howdy” to Shannon Crawley. She’ll really make you feel at home and treat you real fine! Tell her Mushy sent ya!