Many of you won’t know Jeff, and for now that’s fine. Probably we’ll introduce him in another blog later next year (I’m trying to convince him and others that an Alaskan Cruise would be fun), but we’ve been friends since middle school and have kept in contact over the years since. We knew each other and each other’s families in middle school and high school, and after going to different colleges continued to work together at different companies and within the same field to the point that we’ve been close friends for over twenty-five years now.
Jeff is one of my oldest friends, he’s also one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and so coming to visit him in Tennessee has always been something on my “free time” agenda. It’s hard to make these kinds of plans when you’re a traveler, though, because I have friends in Boston, friends in Los Angeles. I have friends in Tennessee, South Carolina, in New York (both upstate and proper NYC), friends in Montana, Oregon, Florida, and North Carolina. Coming to visit one always seems like a sleight to the many I don’t get to visit, all the people I consider my friends that I’ve missed out on staying in close contact over all these years – but at some point you just have to bite the bullet and spend time where you can – and that’s this week. I get to hang out with one of the greatest guys I know – my friend Jeff.
Jeff is a nerd, but in the best sense of that word. Born to be technical… Jeff and I became fast-friends in middle school and have been thick-as-thieves ever since. At this point I basically consider him my other brother. We’ve worked together, driven success for ourselves and for each other. We’ve fought, lashed out, made peace, all the good things that family members do over the years together. Still today he’s one of the first people I call for life advice and one of the voices I listen to the most when making decisions. I trust Jeff implicitly and always have, and his family is very much the same. His parents are salt-of-the-Earth people, his dad intelligent, whimsical, and yet grounded; his mom giving, nurturing, committed. Jeff additionally has two brothers, and I while I did not get to see them directly this week I spoke with all of them – and it made it a great week.
I started off my trip to Oak Ridge with a visit to Jeff’s home. He moved here in 2021 and I was treated to some homemade ribs and potatoes. We talked too much, drank too much, and frittered the night away drinking one too many bourbons as the sun sank in the horizon. I left before it got too late, and checked in at my hotel for the evening. The next day I was up early, and we left for Knoxville to go to the Tupelo Honey Cafe.
Jen and Eliza were the first two friends to introduce me to Tupelo back in North Carolina – and my life hasn’t been the same since. Their “Smothered Chicken & Biscuits” brunch menu item has enough calories to kill your day in one sitting – but it’s also the absolutely most-amazing, don’t-ever-miss-out-on-this breakfast that you’ll have in your entire life. The biscuits are perfect, the gravy flavorful and hearty. The bacon is cooked to perfection (though thinner than I remember?), and the chicken is juicy and flavored *just right* as it sits atop the mountain of deliciousness just waiting to be devoured.
Jeff and I drove to downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, just to eat this meal. I took some home in a box, as I always do, because it was just too much food – but who am I kidding… it didn’t last the day – after a quick attempt at going bowling only to find out they weren’t open until the afternoon Jeff and I headed back to his place to spend a bit more time jawing away the hours, watching a movie and making jokes like it hadn’t been years since we’d seen each other. The day was capped off with some fantastic sushi, as well as seeing Jeff’s parents, again back in Knoxville for some of the “finer things” in life.
The sushi was from a place called “Nama Sushi“, one known for their amazingly good sushi, in a part of Knoxville called Bearden. The fish was good, the company was even better, the wasabi set my soul alight as it always does. 🙂 I had a great evening and we talked about all the years that had passed since I saw them all last. We dropped Jeff’s parents back off at their home with an all-too-soon goodbye, then then watched the Presidential debate just so we could yell at the television together – another thing we’ve done for years.
The next day (today)… it was another day up early to grab breakfast from one of Jeff’s favorite places. I won’t put the name here to save the place some anonymity… but it was one of the best diners I’ve been to in a while! The owner greeted us as we came in like it was a scene out of Cheers with everyone yelling Jeff’s name, then checking their calendars and saying “Wait it’s not Saturday!”. Jeff says he doesn’t go there all that often – but I think he goes there every Saturday or something. 😉 The staff all knew him, knew to ask about some things going on in his life, seemed to be generally excited to see him and, by proxy, me. The food was great – more biscuits and gravy – this time with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese on top. Everything was delicious, and we left feeling very full.
Today was mostly an administrative day for me – I did some laundry back at Jeff’s after breakfast and talked him into going bowling. After the laundry finished and the dryer stopped we hopped into the car and spent a few hours bowling before heading to an early dinner at Jeff’s favorite restaurant in town – Dean’s. Jeff told me that Deans is a restaurant that moved into an old, existing spot present from the days of the atomic bomb research that went on here (not testing, so don’t think radiation, just research!). The owners essentially converted a drug store into a restaurant – and in some ways it’s pretty cool and you can tell! They still have the general layout – and the coin-operated pony to ride! They also have delicious food, including brisket, cornbread stuffing, and lemon-jello pie. I think I could easily gain another hundred pounds here in short-order if I weren’t careful… there’s amazing food everywhere I look!
Jeff beat me at bowling today… I need to get back on my game!
And with that… we headed back for my hotel. I brought a swimsuit and some flip flops with my eyes on some soaking time… and I figured it was probably time to give Jeff a break from my constant need for entertainment as well. I soaked a bit, I wrote this blog, and now it’s just a little past 8PM Eastern Time and it’s time to wind down and get ready for the night here. Tomorrow I need to be ready early – it’s time to drive back towards Denver and I intend to be well-rested and ready for the multi-hop adventure.
It’s been fun, Oak Ridge. A huge Thank You! to Jeff and family for showing me a good time out here!
