My lunch at Babe’s
May 17th, 2007 by Tucker
Let me begin with an apology for taking so long to write. Sometimes I get really lazy.
I made my trip to Tellico Planes and found that it has changed quite a lot. I couldn’t find Babe’s Flying Saucer and it wasn’t really necessary since there are other restaurants in town now. Babe is a really neat lady and the name of the restaurant has nothing to do with throwing dishes. The building is round and apparently reminds some people of a UFO. They always had good food though.
I believe I mentioned the day that the place was closed to the general public because it was the day of the Monroe County Coon Hunters Society’s monthly meeting. Since it was the only restaurant in town and I was quite hungry, this caused a problem. The Society president, however, was kind enough to invite me to have lunch with them. That was certainly a lucky day. Not only was I allowed to eat, but I learned something about coon hunting.
I never had any interest in coon hunting. Have you ever heard a description of the activity? 1) You gather up the dogs and go to the mountains or some other remote place where it takes a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get there. 2) Release the dogs and hope they find a coon soon. They most always do. 3) Build a small fire. 4) Open up a jar of moonshine and keep it available for sipping. 5)Then everyone settles down to listen to the dogs and argue about which one is in the lead. 6) The barking, at some point, will change and everyone will know that the coon is up a tree. Then they hike through the rough terrain and get their dogs. The coon will remain unharmed except for the long run and really the exercise should do him good.
That day, I learned what the real attraction is to coon hunting. They were the funniest people that I have ever been around. If they had invited me to go coon hunting with them, I would have gone.
My favorite story was one that was told by a man who was talking about a friend who was a fanatic coon hunter. I’ll try to tell it in his words.
We were laying up on the mountain listening to the dogs run. The weather was really nice and we had a cool breeze blowing. I turned to my buddy and said, “Man, it don’t get any better than this. There’s just one thing wrong and I feel guilty about it. It’s Wednesday night and we should be at prayer meeting down at the church. Don’t you feel guilty?” My friend was quiet for a minute and then he said,”Naw, my wife’s been so sick lately that I wouldn’t feel right leaving her.”
Again, I’m sorry that I took so long. It won’t happen again.
Welcome back. I’m glad to see that you are alive and kicking and to read more of your stories. Keep us in the loop with what’s happening in your life. It’s always fun to hear from you.
Tucker is referencing coon hunting in Eastern Tennessee–it’s a bit different out in Middle Tennessee.
One night a friend of mine (and Tucker’s) and I were going out to Kentucky Lake to do some catfishing. On a small dirt road leading to a remote cove, we encountered a coon hunting competition. That’s right–they actually have contests.
There were a bunch of people running around with their dogs, scoring judges–barking an yelling; we couldn’t wait to get out of there. Looked too much like work.
We pulled out our lawn chairs, put on the stink bait and cast out into the dark water. Built a fire, broke out the beer and settled in for a long night of beer drinking and bullshitting.
A red fox came up to the edge of the woods and sat down watching the fire. He sat there until a couple of guys in the contest came up and joined us.
They were looking for their dogs they said. They pulled out a couple of doobies and sat down to smoke. They drank a few beers and smoked a couple more.
They got pretty stoned and left after a couple of hours. We continued to sit there and wait for a bite. About an hour later, 2 more guys wandered up and asked us if we had seen two guys in the hunt. It was almost dawn and they couldn’t be found.
I told them, “If I was you, I’d look for them at the nearest restaurant or convenience store.”
After a long night of beer drinking–without catching one catfish–we drove back and came back through the coon hunting competition zone. We asked one of the judges if they had found the two missing guys. He said their dogs came back about 2 hours ago.
I told the guy he could probably get them back if he opened up a couple of Twinkies and the wind was right. He looked at me like I was crazy but it was a righteous plan. I knew them boys had the munchies.
Coon hunting is a changing sport.
Keep up the good work Tucker, and be sure and tape your TV interview.
TV interview? Tell us more, please.
I thought Tucker was being interviewed on TV in Knoxville.