It seems like Fridays are made for hitting the road, getting out of
Dodge for a while, going somewhere you haven’t been before. I did such
a thing this past Friday, needing to go to
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, but
not having to be there at any certain time nor having a set time to be
back, either. That is a sure formula for me to hit a back road, maybe
discover something I have not seen before, and possibly check out a
new-to-me Meat and Three.
Having no set travel plans, I took off from Madison, starting out on
I-24 West, but soon following a line over to Highway 41A on my way
through
Clarksville, Tennessee. Once there, I headed over to
Rudy’s Diner [
http://www.meatandthree.com/tn/rudysdiner/]
and met briefly with Bonnie, one of the owners. I say “brief” because
she was covered up due to the place being packed with customers…at
10:45am. Rudy’s building reminded me of an old Dunkin’ Donuts or maybe
a Waffle House or something similar. It was not fancy or anything, but
it sure seemed to be popular. I made a mental note to get back here the
next time I am in the area to see what all the fuss is about!
As it was still a little bit early, and having the need to check out
some other places, I was off on a little detour, headed opposite of the
direction I ultimately needed to be going. This was on purpose, though.
A few weeks back, I had seen an article about a little place on Highway
48 and thought I would head down there to check it out.
Sarah’s Southern Cooking
[
http://www.meatandthree.com/tn/sarahssouthern/] is a small place and,
like Rudy‘s, was not fancy at all. There were only a couple of cars in
the parking lot, and just a few folks in the restaurant when I walked
in. The white board on the wall showed me that today was catfish day,
just like it is with so many other Meat and Three’s. I ordered the
catfish (of course) with white beans and hush puppies - the french
fries came with the meal. Sweet tea rounded out this lunch time feast.
Sarah sat down with me for a bit before the crowd hit. She didn’t know
me from Adam, but she was so gracious and fun to talk with. She’s been
running the restaurant for more than a year and a half now. There is
wood paneling on the lower half of the walls while the upper portion is
painted white. Everything is pretty much out in the open - the kitchen
area and steam table at the back of the room; wood tables and chairs in
the L-shaped dining section. It did not feel cramped at all, but it is
definitely small. The 8 or 9 tables should seat somewhere over 30
patrons.
As I finished my meal and said goodbye to Sarah, the tootsie roll
basket provided a “sweet“ ending to the experience, and I felt like I
had made a new friend in Sarah. All I really needed at that point was,
maybe, a driver… a Friday afternoon nap was sounding really good at
that point. By the way, three cars pulled up right before I drove out
of the parking lot on my way to Hopkinsville. I imagine that most, if
not all of the occupants had discovered, sometime in days past, that a
little detour down Highway 48 is definitely worth the trip.
