babybloomr

And it was long overdue, by the way.

Yes, last weekend I did one of my patented runaway mom weekends in Chattanooga. Even though it has been a loooooong dang time since I did this, when it came right down to actually leaving Russ had to practically kick me out the door! I have no idea why I am always initially so hard to convince–God knows I thoroughly enjoy myself every time I do this and come back swearing I won’t let so much time lapse between runaway trips again. But for some reason I can always come up with at least 5 good reasons why I should wait until another time, there’s too much going on to leave town, blah blah blah.  (WhatEVER, self!)

Anyway, I DID IT, and it was fabulous! (And just for the record, I’d like to state that nobody paid me a dime or comped me a room or bought me a meal to mention their business on this blog– these are my own pristine opinions, unsullied and uninfluenced by graft or filthy lucre. Sadly.)

Here’s some of the highlights:

** Once again I stayed at my favorite little hotel in Chatt-town, the StoneFort Inn– I just love that place. It’s got a bed and breakfast vibe, but it’s large enough (16 rooms, 3 floors) to keep you from feeling like you’re staying in someone’s guest bedroom. The rooms are all so charming and there are huge soaking tubs in every bathroom, usually with big walk-in showers as well. Every room is individually decorated with elegant antique furnishings, incredibly comfortable beds and lots of vintage shabby chic/cottage-y touches everywhere. (Apparently I’m not the only one with an antique mall fetish!) Take a peek into a couple of rooms– the first one is where I stayed, here’s a shot of the bed:

**I love the exposed brick wall with lots of huge windows:

**This was the room next door:

**A shot of the hallway right outside of my room:

**And there are always fresh-baked cookies sitting on the buffet to take back to your room (I love little touches like that!):

**This is one of the common rooms on the main floor– doesn’t it look like an English pub?

**There’s a library with an antique piano:

**Everywhere you look there are cozy little vignettes– like a silver tea service:

**Or handpainted murals and doors… even the elevator:

**In the morning, you go downstairs to the Cafe Elite for your made-to-order breakfast. This set-up effectively eliminates Russ’ least favorite part of staying at B & Bs– eating a family-style breakfast with strangers. Not surprisingly, that doesn’t bother me at all!

**(But I’ll admit, sometimes it is nice to spread out your newspaper and dine alone…)

**Isn’t this a lovely setting for a breakfast buffet?

**Later that afternoon, I was wandering around the Southside area (yes, MORE antique stores) and found an authentic English tea room called The English Rose– heaven! So of course I had to stop in and have a scone and a cuppa.  It was just like being back in the UK… (I sure thought about you, Rachel and Betty!)

**And finally, here’s some food porn for my favorite tablescaper Linda– oh honey, did I ever find a great restaurant! It’s a tapas restaurant called Terra Nostra, right across the river in the trendy North Shore neighborhood. All kinds of unbelievable small plate servings from all different kinds of cuisines, which is my absolute favorite way to eat. Here’s a menu snapshot:

**I had 3 small plates– shrimp salad over sliced avocado, one of their signature dishes ‘bleu puffs’, and a moroccan crepe. The crepe was really more like something called a ‘bastilla’ which I had once at an incredible restaurant, Dar Mahgreb in Beverly Hills. In the late 80’s. With Michael and Stormie Omartian.

(I’d like to take this moment to admit/share with all of you the heretofore unrevealed fact that I am kind of like an idiot savant about food. Like, I NEVER FORGET EVERY SINGLE DETAIL OF A MEAL, even yeeeeears later. Also? Though I can still manage to get lost in Nashville despite living here for 34 years,  I have been known to track down an Indian restaurant in the fat middle of the winding streets of London that I had only been to once before 5 years earlier. I’m kinda like a blonde Rain Man.)

Anyway.

Bastilla is described as as “Morocco’s famous chicken pie– a light, crispy warga pastry shell conceals savory saffron chicken, spicy omelet stuffing, and crunchy topping of fried almonds sweetened and flavored with orange flower water. A garnish of powdered sugar and cinnamon adds to the fabulous blend of flavors.” Oh yeah, baby. (These photos aren’t very good because I took them with my cell phone in dim light– and also I was probably drooling at the time.)

**Everything I ordered was absolutely delicious, but the bleu puffs were a revelation. I am scouring the internet for some kind of similar recipe because I am dying to reproduce these at home! (If any of you have one, hook a sistah up, will ya?) Basically it is a phyllo puff pastry pillow with a savory filling of really good bleu cheese, and they serve it on top of a warm pool of what tasted to me like ginger marmalade. Seriously. It was a religious experience. I have now officially found my favorite place to eat in Chattanooga.

Well, there you have it. A beautiful place to stay, a fascinating city to roam and delicious food to eat– that, my friends, is what this ‘Bloomr calls The Perfect Runaway Weekend!

I have no idea why I am so obsessed, er, fascinated with ‘going antiquing’– and yes, it is a verb around my house. Granted, I was raised by a man who managed a furniture store, but that was retail, not antique. And my mom is completely unsentimental about possessions in general and antiques in particular– she will reminisce about some fabulous piece of furniture that was in the big house (NINE children!) in Sioux City, Iowa she grew up in 90-plus years ago and just as I am salivating over the thought of possibly inheriting such a treasure she shrugs and says, “Wonder whatever happened to that? Oh, well, it’s long gone by now.”

My two sisters, Liz and Carolyn both share my love of antique stores. Liz has a very discerning eye, and carefully adds a few things here and there– these days she is much more interested in spending her money on new things, for her beloved granddaughter Perri. Carolyn is as drawn to vintage dishes as I am, and though she has recovered nicely from a brief but colorful eBay addiction about five years ago, she still enjoys looking and is always up for an afternoon out browsing the aisles.

My own two girls have mixed reactions. Over the years, Madi Rose has slowly developed into quite the little antiquing companion and always has her eye out for several (typically quirky) things she likes to collect. For example: vintage sepia-toned family photographs particularly of old men, preferably with lots of facial hair, mutton-chop sideburns and a rakish air. I don’t get it either, but her bedroom walls are festooned with them. She is the BEST antique store photographer, and most of the pictures I use here are ones that she took. Charlotte, on the other hand… well, she’s still at the ‘I’d rather have dental surgery than spend 3 hours wandering around a dusty old store looking at things we’ll never even buy or waiting in the car with dad listening to my iPod when we could have been home by now if we didn’t have to keep stopping at every antique store sign that mom and Madi ALWAYS manage to spot even though we’re going 75 miles an hour down the highway’ stage. However I’m sure some day soon she will totally grow out of that phase and wake up some bright morning just begging to be taken to Franklin so we can spend the afternoon wandering the stores– just like I’m sure that some day soon Russ will suddenly develop a craving for mushrooms although he has thus far successfully managed NOT to, in spite of 34 years of me doggedly cooking with them anyway.

It could happen.

At any rate, with me? Antiquing is the emotional equivalent of a hot bath and a glass of wine– it soothes my soul, calms my busy mind and puts me in a zen-like state of deep contentment. It also simultaneously awakens the primeval hunter-gatherer instinct deep within my DNA, and I have a tendency to become a wee bit consumed by The Search. At any given time I have about three or four things in mind that I am “keeping an eye out for”– not necessarily actually collecting, just scanning the shelves and looking around the booths with the hopes of coming across that perfect little something or other I recently researched on the internet. The irony of course, is that even if I DO find it, I rarely buy it– but it sure is fun to stumble across! My current list of hopefuls include a hand-painted Bavarian or lusterware art deco tea set for one (preferably on a matching tray), vintage 50’s tablecloths (preferably with a fruit motif in a particular shade of blue that matches some of my dishes), Victorian silver napkin rings (preferably figural ones), and 1920’s era silk bed jackets. Yeah. I’m eclectic.

So what about you guys? Do other people’s old possessions hold any deep fascination for you or mildly creep you out? Are you a fellow aisle-wanderer, or are you the one sitting in the car checking your watch? And do you collect things? (Let me know, I’ll keep an eye out for you!)

**Here we are in Bell Buckle, watching a train roll slowly by and mentally preparing to storm the stores…

**This is the sight that gets my blood pumping– virgin ANTIQUE TERRITORY!!! (I think was in Kentucky.)

**A rainbow of Depression glass.

**One of my all-time favorite stores, Phillips General Store in Bell Buckle.

**I also love old chandelier prisms *makes mental note to add them to The List*

**These are the kind of little unexpected still life arrangements that just delight me– and Madi is so very good at capturing.

**Yes, I am indeed a member of the First Church of The Antique Mall.

**See?!

**These are Madi’s favorite kind of photos– the guy on the right might be a possibility for her collection, but I think he probably needs a handlebar moustache and foppish expression to really make the cut.

**This comes under the category of, “Wait– people actually BUY these? I grew up with a million of these!”

**Speaking of fruit motifs– if you are in the market, I can totally hook you up…

**This is one of those unexpected treasures you just never knew you wanted until you found it. And yes, we did buy it– it will be put to good use at the next Dirty Santa game at the Smedley family Christmas Eve gathering.

**And I’ll leave you with this lovely ‘antique’ image… (We DIDN’T buy this one!)