Last Meal

Saturday was our last day in the mid-South (I think that's what they cal the Tennessee/Kentucky region) and we kept up our eating regimen.

First up was a trip to the Readyville Mill.  My mom read about this great place in Relish magazine (it comes with the newspaper) and we knew we had to visit.

It is an old grist mill dating back to 1812.  It has now been restored and still operates.

The coolest thing is that they still grind corn and flour and use it in their restaurant!  

So flour that was ground that morning is used in biscuits that we were served at breakfast.  The biscuits are made with part whole wheat and part white flour and they were heaven (side note: I don't think I've eaten as many biscuits ever as I did on this trip!)

I read the menu online and totally thought I'd go with pancakes.  But we talked to someone in the woodworking shop outside the mill and she suggested a blueberry french toast casserole and tomato pie.  We decide to take her suggestion and got the Blueberry Cheesecake French Toast Strata (really with a name like that, why wouldn't you order it?!)

And the Tomato Pie.  I know it sounds funny but it is amazzzzzzing!  It like a tomato gallette with the yummiest, flakiest crust and lots of cheese.  I even liked the grits!

The food was very tasty and everyone was SO friendly!  I think they were a little surprised that we came all the way from California but when we see good food, we go for it!  They brought us out biscuits and answered all of our questions and everything was just fantastic!

The grounds are also a great place to get married.  It was a little hard to picture on this cold, grey morning but I bet once the flowers and trees are in bloom this place would be perfect for a country chic wedding!

Next up was another typical Tennessee thing: moon shine tasting!

We heard about Short Mountain Distillery from the hotel we were staying at and thought what the heck, how many times am I gonna try moon shine?

Moon shine is made similarly to whiskey except it's not aged.  It's made with rye and sugar cane in copper vats.  I had once heard a rumor that moon shine made wrong will turn you blind.  This comes from too much iron in the moon shine and that's why copper pots are used.

All in all, it was a fun experience!  I guess kinda the Tennessee version of wine tasting?

Our last stop on the trip was the Hermitage.  This was the home of Andrew Jackson.  If anyone knows my mom and me then you know we love history!  We visited a couple of presidential libraries and this seemed similar.

Jackson built his home in the early 1800's.  His first home on the estate was a simple log cabin before he built this lovely home as it looks today.

The house is done in the Greek Revival fashion as was common for the time period.  Americans liked the Greek Revival style as they felt that they descended from the similar democratic thoughts as the Greeks and sought to emulate the Greeks in other ways as well.