On Sunday, we were in Chattanooga and met the boys’ Uncle Doug who had flown into town for a couple of days for a project of his. The first place we went together was the Chattanooga Market – what a fantastic place:
All this gorgeousness plus more fruits, vegetables, pottery, wooden cutting boards, handmade toys, art, candy, fresh eggs, orchids, a glamorous older lady selling fudge…
We had lunch there, too – we all shared fried pickles plus Doug had a hotdog, Av had a hamburger from the bbq stand advertising possum (although they weren’t really selling it), and the boys and I shared a lamb sandwich from the Yellow Deli (kind-of interesting: they’re a group of people living in a commune, working for free, with a shared religion).
We ate lunch in an area in front of the stage while a really great group was playing:
After lunch and shopping, we all went to the
Chattanooga Choo-Choo which is also a hotel (you can sleep inside the train cars and according to
the reviews at TripAdvisor it will either be wonderful or terrible). Shug loved roaming all over the train engine and both boys *really* liked the large model train exhibit:
It was time to take Uncle Doug back to his rental car for the trip back to the airport afterwards. We all sure did miss him.
It was still mid-afternoon, though, and we had heard that there was a
kosher- or kosher style- bakery in town, so drove over for a bagel or a black & white or a whatever, and they’re closed every weekend, both days (odd!). It’s actually a couple that have relatives that belong to the Seventh Day Adventist church – and there’s a large community of SDAs around Chattanooga – so
they cater for both Jewish and SDA business especially since many who follow that religion keep some kosher eating restrictions.
Well, we may have missed out on babka or rugelach but right across the street was a sign for “
Gigi’s Cupcakes” so guess what:
*Oh* those were fantastic. We got four different cupcakes so we’ll have a couple in the refrigerator for the next day or two also: Italian cream, something super-chocolate, wedding cake flavor, and red velvet. Can’t even tell you how good those are.
Av knows that I like to see the architecture on college campuses – especially if it’s Greek Revival – so before we left for home, we went to Collegedale where the
Southern Adventist College is (turns out, they aren’t as wild about G/R as I am). The library there is named after the McKee family, who owns the company that makes
Little Debbie snack cakes in this same town.
We were just about to leave when Av decided he was ready for a fresh drink, so we stopped at the grocery store,
Village Market, right there at the campus. I knew that vegetarianism is practiced by many members of the Seventh Day Adventist church (they have a
position statement on it) – and I used to be a vegetarian myself – so I was excited that they might have a really fantastic produce section. It was okay.
What I really have to show you is this – a whole long aisle of faux meat in cans with faux names like Fri-Chik, Fried Chick’n, Prime Stakes, and Skallops:
…so if you were going to have to come up with a faux name for ham spread, you’d naturally call it…
—
The SDA representative to the UN wrote this month an entry in the
Washington Post Faith blog about the church’s “connection between the physical, mental and spiritual. In a society in which science and faith are sometimes portrayed as opposing forces, Adventists have a rich tradition of being as enthusiastic for spiritual insight as they are for scientific progress that relieves human suffering.” He goes on to discuss a
new documentary about this connection in the church’s teachings. It’s been on some PBS stations and now out on dvd.
This isn’t my religion but I’d love to view the film. Anyone seen it?
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