I wanted to tell you all about the wonderful time we had in Tennessee over New Years. I was going to start with a picture of us together – our loving selves. But, I don’t have one. Seriously! How hysterical is that? What I do have is lots of pictures of food. This was seriously a trip about eating good food and just being together. Two of our favorite things.

Let me start by saying that My Sweetie planned this whole thing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE him for that. As the CEO of the House of Hills, I do most of the planning, organizing, thinking it through, troubleshooting – you know all that stuff. It works ’cause I’m a Type A. However, even us Type A’s love to be just taken care of every once in awhile, and that’s what My Sweetie did for me. It was Heavenly. And because he was planning with me in mind, he made a big list of places I might like to eat. Love that man.

My Sweetie figuring out what we're going to do next on that handy computer he calls a phone.

We arrived in Franklin around noon on New Year’s Eve. We checked in to the hotel and then went to beautiful downtown Franklin – you know one of those fun downtowns with lots of shops and restaurants. We had heard from several people of places to try and ended up at Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant. It was a fabulous, fun place. You could tell lots of locals loved it because people kept running into friends and saying “Happy New Year!” The people watching was awesome. We waited (this will be a theme) for a table and finally sat down. I was STARVING by then. I had the Tennessee Philly Sandwich. It was SO SO good. Here’s a picture so you can want one too.

The Tennessee Philly - divine

After lunch, we walked around downtown Franklin. We held hands, went into shops, pretended we were going to spend crazy money on things we didn’t need and then put them back on the shelf. It brought back memories of when we were dating. When we just wanted to be together so we would walk around somewhere, talking and just hanging out. So wonderful. It got to be a bit chilly walking around – this would be the beginning of the massive cold front that is hovering over the south right now. So, we drove around a bit, grabbed some sandwiches to eat later and headed back to the hotel to watch football on the massive HD screen in our hotel.

Oh! And we bought cupcakes – lots of cupcakes. You can read about that here.

The next morning, My Sweetie drove me into Nashville to eat at the Pancake Pantry. It is apparently a Nashville tradition (says so on the menu) and there is ALWAYS a line. Keep in mind, this is New Year’s Day. It is literally freezing outside. There is a line. We wait. Outside. In the cold. For pancakes. Did I mention that I love My Sweetie. He twittered this picture and said the wait was worth it.

Mmmmm...pancakes

Oh, and here is how much syrup (the best syrup I’ve ever had – they make it there) we used on our pancakes. The bottle was full when we started. Mmmmmmm….

After we rolled ourselves out of the Pancake Pantry and back into the car, we drove around the area for awhile. Did I mention it was COLD! The original plan was to walk around, however Mother Nature nixed that one. So we drove on over to Opryland to check that out. They wanted $18 to park and go inside. Ummmm – no. The building was LOVELY. We drove all around it. Then we ended up at the massive mall there. Ya, we went shopping. Well, we actually went window shopping. Again, more time to hold hands and just be. In WARMTH. We laughed when Sweetie said “We could do this at home.” My reply,”Ya, but we don’t.” Good to just be.

By the time we were actually thinking about food again, My Sweetie had a plan. He drove me out to the Loveless Cafe. Another historic, traditional place to dine. We tweeted that we were heading there and found out what we should order. Amazing how many people know the different restaurants. We got there and waited. Again. For an hour. Which was actually good because we were finally hungry by the time we got to the table. This meal about put us over the edge. I’ll give it to you in pictures.

THE BEST BISCUITS EVER! EVER! We ate a total of nine. I'm not going to say who at the most, but...

this face happened several times. They were SO SO amazing.

My Sweetie's Plate

My Plate

Both plates were empty at the end of the meal. And, I believe I may have moaned when eating. Not sure, but probably. Then, the nice waitress who was trying to kill us with such good cooking asked if we wanted dessert. Well… oh decisions… Who am I kidding? I had seen a fudge pie! Of course I was getting dessert! And shocking!!! My Sweetie ordered too. He doesn’t usually do dessert. Here’s dessert…

MINE

My Sweetie's - Key Lime

The WALL My Sweetie built around his pie so he wouldn't have to share. As if that could stop me. Ha!

We had a wonderful time at the Loveless Cafe. Laughing and cutting up. Being generally goofy. And eating SUCH good food. After that meal, we fell into the car and headed to the hotel to watch more football. I really do enjoy football. Especially on a massive HD screen.

The next morning we packed up to head home. The thought of eating made us both a little queasy. Well, I did eat a cupcake around 7am while waiting for him to wake up. So, he was queasy. I was full. We had a light breakfast and headed back to the ATL to pick up The Princess from my mom’s.

Breakfast - Last Day

It was a wonderful two-day getaway. We’re already thinking about where to go for the next one. Love spending time with just My Sweetie.