Breakfast Out and a Farmer’s Market – Family Visit (VII)

FYI…July 4^th marked my 10^th anniversary as a blogger.  Given the pandemic and our inability to get out and explore, safely check out restaurants that we haven’t dined at previously, etc., I’ll be reducing the number of posts I publish each week, moving from three (M-W-F) to no more than two.  This change will continue for the foreseeable future.

Statistics: 773,684 page views; 63 dedicated followers; visitors from 157 countries and political entitees including such diverse places as Anguilla, The Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Brunei, Macao, Palestine (both the West Bank and Gaza), Djibouti, British Indian Ocean Territories and Moldova.

…continuing with our time spent with our visitor’s from St. Louis Missouri, Laurie’s sister and her sister’s husband.

Out and about again!  Time to eat and time to shop…again.

We were out and about a bit earlier than usual on this morning and Bonnie’s husband Bill wanted to go out for breakfast.  Off we went to Fatstack’s in Madisonville Tennessee.  This was the first time we’ve been to this local diner since the pandemic and the lockdown began.

Since we knew the layout of the restaurant and since we were eating breakfast after the early morning rush, we knew we could socially distance ourselves from others.  The staff were all wearing facemasks…

Bill went all out, ordering scrambled eggs, hash brown potatoes, a sausage patty, a couple slices of bacon and pancakes.  Fatstack’s was operating with a handwritten abbreviated menu and I didn’t write down the prices…but their pricing is generally below most other places.

Bonnie went a bit simpler and more modestly, French toast with bacon.  Both Bonnie and Bill enjoyed their breakfast. 

Laurie went even simpler… She had a split biscuit with white pepper gravy, an over-easy fried egg and 3 slices of bacon.  I didn’t take a picture of my breakfast as it’s been covered before, but I had 2 over-easy eggs, with sausage patties, toast and hash brown potatoes.  Good!

The only minor issue I experienced was when a pleasant and friendly young patron in a wheelchair pulled up next to our table to chat…without wearing a face mask.

Fatstack’s Restaurant apparently reopened for business on May 20^th.  They are located at 4915 New Highway 68 in Madisonville Tennessee.  Phone: 423-545-9540.  They can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/American-Restaurant/Fat-Stacks-Madisonville-107326060770564/.

This was our next stop.  This is the Tellico Plains Old Order Mennonite Farmers Market near Tellico Plains Tennessee.  There are 3 such markets all within about 50 minutes of our home, and 2 of them are exactly 33 minute away. 

FYI, the address for the Tellico Plains Mennoite Farmer's Market is 1472 Fairview Road.  The Englewood Market actually has an Athens Tennessee address.  It's at 126 County Road 423.  The Delano Tennessee Market is at 163-285 Needle Ey Lane.

The Old Order Mennonite’s don’t like to be photographed so I didn’t take my camera inside although if I was careful, I could have photographed the plethora of farm fresh produce available to shoppers.  Instead I focused on the bucolic scenes and sights surrounding the market.  What a beautiful valley!

The local Mennonite communities don’t use electricity or have other modern conveniences.  This avoidance of technologies isn’t based on a belief that such devices are evil, but rather over a concern for the nature of their communities.  Since community is all important to them, technologies or practices that might adversely impact it are rejected.

I liked the look of this lone dairy cow grazing on a grassy strip between the different crops…

FYI, Old Order Mennonites are usually of Swiss German and south German descent who practice a lifestyle without some elements of modern technology, who dress plainly and who have retained the old forms of worship, baptism and communion.  At first glance, the Mennonites who live in our area and who operate these farm markets look like what we think of as Amish folks.

In addition to produce, this market, as well as the others in the area, also sell plants.  I didn’t take a photo inside the adjacent greenhouse as it was late in the season and there wasn’t much to see.  We loved these beautiful flowers.

 

The first photo shows a variety of mixed zinnias.  These plants are part of the sunflower tribe within the daisy family.  They have actually traveled in space as an experiment on the International Space Station showed their ability to grow and blossom in a weightless environment.

We were told that the flowers in the second photo were calla lilies but after looking them up on the Internet, I believe that they are actually canna lilies.  They are also known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot and Sierra Leone arrowroot.  In some areas of the world local indigenous peoples use this plant (mostly the tuberous roots) as food.   

My better half loves horses. (And donkeys, cats, dogs, goats, etc.) I decided that I should end this post with a photo of two of the Mennonite farmer’s horses and wagons at the hitching post under a nearby tree.  FYI, while a large minority (est. 10,000 members) of Old Order Mennonites do use cars, the majority (est. 17,000 members) have retained horses and buggies as they mode of transportation. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave