Friends Survive! Plus a Miscellaneous Conglomeration…

This is one of those posts that I publish now and then that takes advantage of various photos from different experiences or scenes and then recap what it’s all about… One item in this posting should be considered a miracle by any standard!

Don’t you just love spring!   Looking down from our back deck we were greeted by the blooms from our Pieris Mountain Fire and our White Azalea.     

Laurie and a few other ladies went to Cielito Lindo in Vonore Tennessee to celebrate Bev’s birthday!  Bev loves Mexican cuisine but I think that she’ll thank me for not publishing the photo Laurie took of her with a big sombrero perched on her head!  Bev is the other half of Larry and Bev… FYI, Larry is the author of https://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com/.

Note: Cielito Lindo probably our favorite Mexican restaurant here in East Tennessee.  They are located on US Hwy. 411 in Vonore and they’re on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cielito-Lindo-Mexican-Grill/183495238334025.

Following the fun enjoyed by all at Cielito Lindo, the ladies regrouped for an outing that featured shopping at some local specialty shops and lunch at Le Noir, a Belgian Bistro cleverly located on US Hwy. 11 in the nearby town of Lenoir Tennessee.  Everyone managed to make some purchases during their outing and lunch was a hit as well!

This storefront restaurant in downtown Lenoir City provides some dining opportunities that you can’t find just anywhere in East Tennessee.  Feel like Sausage and Stoemp or Witloof met Ham?  This is the place to go!

Note: To learn more about Le Noir, “a southern Belgian bistro”, you can go to their website at http://www.abelgianbistro.com/.

On another occasion we took our friends Norm and Linda to Pero’s on the Hill in Knoxville.  While we’ve been there several times, our friends hadn’t eaten here.  I’d skip writing about it again but we did take photos of a couple items that we hadn’t published before…

This was Laurie’s Shrimp and Grits, “A Southern Tradition Done Mediterranean Style”. ($13.35) She loved the seasoning and the shrimp but she thought that she’d prefer grits presented in the ‘usual’ style.  The grit polenta cakes were nice but they didn’t strike her fancy.  I thought that they were tasty but I agreed that the dish would be better served with creamy grits… FYI, those ‘garlic knots’ on her plate need some garlic!

As for my entrée, I decided to completely ignore my health… This was Pero’s small 10 inch Carnivore Pizza. ($14.00) It was loaded with pepperoni, Italian sausage, house made sausage, ham, ground beef and bacon…all on top of Pero’s excellent marinara meat sauce.  I was a very happy camper! (I took a couple slices home so I didn’t fall totally off the wagon)

Laurie and I had never had dessert at Pero’s so we decided to share a slice of their Coconut Cream Pie with Whipped Cream. ($5.70) It wasn’t the best we’ve ever had but it was very good…

Note: Pero’s on the Hill is located in Knoxville Tennessee on North Lakeshore Drive.  Website: http://www.perosonthehill.com/rocky-hill/.

Another day, another restaurant.  Tellico Grains Bakery is a top notch bakery but it's more than a bakery.  They also serve great sandwiches and they make the best pizza (our opinion) we have found anywhere in East Tennessee.  They are located in Tellico Plains Tennessee and they’re open daily Tuesday through Saturday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Regarding Tellico Grains, I’m starting out with the desserts or ‘sides’ that we bought to accompany our sandwiches.  I don’t even know what Tellico Grains calls this creation.  It’s kind of like a cinnamon roll and a muffin got married…its actually a cinnamon brioche and we’d wished we’d bought a couple to take home!

We also like the cookies at Tellico Grains.  On this occasion Laurie decided to try a peanut butter cookie.  It was excellent and we were actually glad that they had already run out of their oatmeal raisin and coconut cookies…forcing us to try this cookie!

I usually get the Waucheesi Club but I decided to expand my horizon and order Stu’s Reuben instead.  This sandwich consisted of freshly sliced pastrami and corned beef on sliced pumpernickel rye bread.  It normally comes with Tellico Grains’ homemade 1001 dressing but I had them apply spicy mustard instead.  It was excellent!

My better half went for her favorite…Joe’s Italian.  This masterpiece involves Genoa salami, pepperoni, Benton’s prosciutto, provolone, pesto mayonnaise, pepperoncini’s, black olives, red onion, Dijon mustard, lettuce and tomato on herb flatbread.  Another great lunch!

Tellico Grains Bakery is located in the center of the small historic town of Tellico Plains Tennessee.  The town is the gateway to The Cherohala Skyway, a National Scenic Byway through the Smoky Mountains. 
(See http://www.cherohala.org/) 

Many travelers stop by the Tellico Grains Bakery either at the beginning of their drive or at the end on the Skyway.  For more about this popular bakery/restaurant, go to http://tellico-grains-bakery.com/.

In this planter, Laurie has grouped a number of different herbs, a colorful bush and some marigolds.  This has a Mediterranean theme.  In addition to the marigolds, we have a cuphea hybrid, lavender and germander.  

This is one of the 2 large flowering oak leaf hydrangeas in our backyard off our deck.  They are especially beautiful at dusk.  

The white glows... 

…and finally, how about a miracle!

How many people do you know who have survived a plane crash of any type?  Survivors are even rarer when a high speed jet aircraft is involved.  This was the chartered Grumman 2 jet that was in the news a few weeks back.  It crashed on landing at Toncontin International Airport, the airport that serves Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras.  This airport is considered by many to be one of the most dangerous airports in the world.

In any case, all 6 persons aboard survived!  Laurie and I know and have kept in touch with 2 of them, executives that I worked with in the 1990s when I was with Montgomery Ward.  Joe Rotunda Sr. was injured and had to undergo surgery but he’ll fully recover.  Bob Kasenter, (who I still owe for bailing me out at MW on more than one occasion), walked away with just bumps and bruises.  Talk about charmed or blessed lives…wow!

(That photo of the plane was ‘borrowed’ from an Austin Texas TV station)

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave