Perfection ... Little House on the River

Who knew an hour and a half away was a place that Betty Lou “could just stay forever?”

Hammerhaid suspected it when he first spotted “The Little House on The River” on the Web. Oh, she was wanting to travel … drive, drive, drive. While ol’ H-haid was wanting to loaf.

But all of those somewhat far away sites were already booked for the long three-day weekend. Hammerhaid didn’t even consider grinning about this location, because she wasn’t happy. Her mood didn’t change during the drive, which followed a long day at work.

It was completely dark when they arrived. Even the normally perfect GPS system in Ruby, the red Honda truck, had let them down. Sigh!

Her dark mood soon lifted upon arrival.

Hammerhaid heard the sound of running water as he carefully ventured around the little house and flipped on the lights.

Giggling, she bounded into the structure and began a chorus of “uhhhhs and ahhs.”

“It’s perfect,” she exclaimed. And she was right.

The hints of perfection proved true at daylight. Log onto littlehouseontheriver.com if you don’t believe it.

Wow, what is better than perfection? This little house and its surroundings!

How so?

To begin with, the Little House is exactly that. It’s not a cabin. It is a perfect little home measuring 624 square feet with front and back porches that run the length of the house. It’s divided into a living room/kitchen with a bedroom and bathroom. Nice and quiet with plenty of light flowing into the dwelling.

Outside, there’s more than 1,300 feet of riverside frontage. It’s on the clean, spring-fed Rocky River. Beautiful!

Betty Lou and Hammerhaid spent many hours outdoors sitting in a rocker or enjoying a swing. They even waded in the clear stream. So relaxing!

We didn’t venture out, but Little House is near a number of attractions including Rock Island State Park, Cumberland Caverns and Foglight Food House. All of those await the next visit which…don’t tell Betty Lou…but that perfect little house is where we will spend our 3rd anniversary!

By the way, the owners of Little House are delightful. Debby and Joe are delights to work with. They even give one of their beautiful lilies to each visitor. Their guides to the cabin are perfect and share the many nearby attractions.

Make the trip and let us know what you think, we think you will agree….it's just PERFECT!

By the ol' mill stream ... at Readyville

Once upon a time, ol’ Hammerhaid had kinfolk who worked at the Readyville Mill.

But that was a long, long time ago before “progress” nearly erased the historic structure.

Built in 1870, this Readyville Mill was operated by a succession of people until it closed in 1978.

In 2006, Tomm and Martha Brady purchased the mill and began its continuing restoration. The Bradys reopened it in 2009 and now it is growing in popularity as a venue for weddings and other events.

So was it a wedding that attracted Hammerhaid and Betty Lou there?

Nope, no sir. Heck, no. It was breakfast and what a wonderful meal it was.

Now don’t go to Readyville Mill on a Wednesday, Monday or Sunday expecting a meal.

Breakfast is served ONLY on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

You better show up early or get a reservation by calling 615-563-6455.

So what’s on the menu?

Hmmmmm, the Eatery is located at a mill. Am I not right?

That means the top items on the menu are pancakes, stone-ground flour and corncakes.

Hammerhaid’s father came along on this outing and he had first pick. After studying the menu for a second, “Pa” selected the whole-wheat pancakes with blueberries. Did I mention the bacon and stone-ground grits? Delish!

Betty Lou copied Pa, but passed on the grits, selecting fresh fruit instead.

Hammerhaid, for once, had to be different and ordered biscuits and gravy.

Normally, a little sharing goes on, but not this day. Betty Lou and Pa hogged those beautiful pancakes covered with their savory homemade blueberry sauce. Must mention that she did share a strip of bacon, which was hickory smoked. Hammerhaid loved it.

Hammerhaid didn’t share his gravy and biscuits. The gravy was loaded with sausage and had tons of real flavor. The biscuits were made of stone-ground whole-wheat flour and were very filling when topped with gravy.

But he did share a little bite of a surprise addition to his plate. The little quiche was out of this world. “Oh wow,” was Betty Lou’s sincere comment upon tasting the quiche.

Fantastic! It was a great, unrushed breakfast with friendly service.

Tomm invited us to tour the mill after breakfast. It wasn’t a guided tour. We got the chance to explore the 1870’s structure.

Hammerhaid and Pa (particularly) were mill veterans. Pa, in the days of his youth, would ride a mule carrying a tow sack full of dried corn all the way through Woodbury to have it ground into meal.

Pa showed Betty Lou the old grist stones used to grind the corn and told her how the miller used an iron chisel to renew the worn-down stones.

After touring the mill, we then walked around the grounds covered with beautiful flowers ranging from colorful zinnias to the unusual Hummingbird vine.

The Readyville Mill is located at 5418 Murfreesboro Road, Readyville, TN 37129 and is just east of the Readyville Post Office.