This post
is all about catching up with recent various happenings and local East
Tennessee scenes…
We’ll
start out with far and away the biggest news item as regards our immediate
family! This is our grandson, David III,
wearing the colors of NYU (New York University). He graduates from high school in a week or
two and he’s been accepted at NYU where he’ll start the
next phase of his life in August! He’s
happy and excited and we’re happy and proud of him! This will be a big adventure and a heck of a
learning experience…
New York
University was founded in 1831. It is a
private, global, sectarian and not for profit university. Its historical campus is centered in New York
City’s Greenwich Village. In 2018 the
university had 51,948 students, 26,733 of whom were undergraduates.
…now onto
a more mundane happening.
If the
inside of this car looks like it’s been taken apart, it’s because it was
taken apart! First we had the high priced
squirrels under the roof of our house that had to be removed and then we had mice
or a snake decide that my 2005 Avalon would be a good place to live…and
die. The battery was dead as well so I
had to have AAA come and jump-start the car.
The smell of death was strong.
In any
case, our local mechanic took the car apart looking for the corpse. The seats, carpet and air ducts were
examined. At his suggestion, I stopped
short of the $1,000 expense of taking the dash apart. Time should take care of the problem…but
right now the car has a faint odor of something a bit ‘off’, plus mothballs,
plus the strong scent of Febreze. Enough
with the critter problems already!
Next item...big local news!
There was a sad and significant happening in Loudon Tennessee, the Loudon
County Seat. A fire in the center of
Loudon was headline news in the Knoxville area for a couple of days. An estimated 55 firefighters responded with up
to 20 additional first responders…police and EMT’s also on the scene. Several local fire and police departments
took part in fighting the fire and insuring public safety. In addition to Loudon City and the County,
responding departments included Lenoir City, Tellico Village, Greenback, and
Monroe County.
The alarm
came in at about 6:30 PM on April 23. The
tin roof on the courthouse partially collapsed at 10:20 PM. Shortly after that, at around 10:30 PM, firefighters
were able to enter the building. They
spent most of the night looking for and extinguishing hot spots.
Our
photos of the scene were all taken just before noon on the day after the
fire. Traffic was still blocked on all
the side streets and there was still a heavy police and fire department
presence. The Dixie Lee Highway (US Hwy.
11) had been reopened…
Laurie
took this photo of the courthouse from across US Hwy. 11. It really shows the destruction. The cupola is barely hanging on. The entire second floor and the roof
are destroyed but the first floor is relatively intact. However the basement and storage repository
for stacks and stacks of historical records was completely flooded by the
firefighting effort. Whether or not the
building can be repaired/rebuilt is to be determined. While that is the stated goal of local
government, if it can be repaired, it will cost millions of dollars.
The
Loudon County Courthouse was one of the oldest in the state of Tennessee that
was still in use. The building was
constructed in 1872. It is a more formal
version of the popular late nineteenth century ‘Italian Villa’ style of
architecture. We’re all hopeful that
this important focal point for the community can be restored…
What! Another critter! Laurie took this photo of a little frog
clinging to the laundry room door that leads out to our driveway. Cute little fellow isn’t it? Laurie refers to these little frogs by the
scientific name of “Peepers”.
Hooray! After being closed for about 3 months, one of
our favorite breakfast restaurants has reopened! Fat Stacks Restaurant in Madisonville Tennessee had good
food at great prices… This is just the first page...but there is a new and expanded menu too. I'll have to try that 18 oz. burger and monster breakfast bowl but I'll really have to be hungry.
The
inside of the restaurant has been expanded with more seating, fresh paint, and
an improved overall ‘look’. We were told
that the kitchen has also been updated.
The big
question… Is breakfast just as good as before the remodeling effort?
Yes
indeed! Fat Stacks knows breakfast! The first photo shows Laurie’s 2 over-medium
eggs with bacon, crispy hash brown potatoes and 2 slices of toasted sourdough
bread. My breakfast was exactly the same…except
I had 4 sausage links and rye toast. It
was all excellent…for only $6.25 each! (Note: They still have Tabasco for the discerning diner)
Fat
Stacks has a new owner and new expanded hours.
The best news is that they still serve breakfast all day long! Fat Stacks Restaurant is located at 4915 New
Highway 68 in Madisonville Tennessee.
Phone: 423-545-9540. They are on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Fatstacks-Madisonville-2183364905246984/.
That’s if
for now. Just click on any of the photos
to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
It is a shame about the courthouse. We had gone down to Fat Stacks before our trip to find it closed and happy to hear it's reopened.
ReplyDeleteI forgot - congratulations to David III.
ReplyDeleteDear Dave, Congrats! to your grandson.
ReplyDeleteThe car situation sounds frightening!! Too much for me!
I love breakfast and so glad that you favorite place reopened.
Glad it is still as good as it was.
Happy Mothers day to Laurie.
Good grief! A squirrel had her nest in our roof and destroyed it too, I commiserate with you on that. And the car too. Never in all the years we've lived here, has an animal bothered a car, but twice in 3 weeks time, a squirrel hid nuts under the hood of Bill's car and chewed a couple of wires. He bought a "squirrel alarm/detector" so far it has worked but then the car is the garage more of the time too. We'll see. Those critters can do a lot of damage and it doesn't help when woods are by our house!
ReplyDeleteThe breakfast looks delicious, Laurie's is my fave breakfast, yum!
Congratulations to your grandson for getting accepted into NYU.I hope that he fully enjoys the experience. Glad Fat Stacks reopened and that the breakfast is as good as ever.
ReplyDelete