A QUICK LITTLE GETAWAY
BY DAN MILLER
March 24, 2006
I'm on vacation, so I'll keep this short.
Mostly we've spent the week at home, but on Thursday we piled into the mini-van.... my wife, two of my daughters, two grandchildren and me.... and drove to Huntsville.
It was a fun afternoon at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.... a "break" from our vacation.
Sort of a vacation within a vacation.
My oldest daughter Jennifer is visiting from Germany, along with her two kids.
Granddaughter Elouise is only 19 months old, and -- right off the bat -- I'm amused that a 19-month old is on "vacation".... taking a much-needed break from her normal toddler workload.
As far as I can tell, Elouise does exactly the same thing whether she's home in Germany, or in Nashville, or in Huntsville.....
drink milk from a sippy-cup.... make a strong case to be fed.... sleep.... sing to herself.... occasionally cry.... toddle around aimlessly.... and try to coerce someone to hold her.
Wait a minute.... that's exactly the stuff I do!
As we headed back from Huntsville to Nashville, we ditched the Interstate highway and drove the backroads, so the kids could see the "real" Tennessee.
And, sure enough, every now and then they would actually look away from "Nemo" on the video screen to see a cow or a barn.
I love small cities and towns, but -- truthfully -- after driving through so many over the years, each town brings to mind another town somewhere else.... and I'm not always certain which ones I've visited and which ones I haven't.
But we found something unique in Fayetteville.
We stopped and ate at Honey's Restaurant and Billiards, right on the town square.
It's a quaint little place that looks to be unchanged since it opened in 1923.... except they don't play billiards there anymore.
In fact, they have the old pool sticks up for sale.
If you ever stop at Honey's, try the "slawburger".... their signature burger that's been served to generations of Fayettevillians.
The kids also enjoyed walking through the town square, and seeing all the people's faces.
Of course, at my age, everybody I see reminds me of somebody else I've known.
Oops.... I said I'd keep this short.
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