a little taste of home

I said this post will probably be about food, so I'll go with that.

There's something very drastic about moving to another state. No, it's not leaving your friends and family behind -- it's leaving behind a lot of your favorite restaurants.

Ok, I don't really mean that, of course, but I sure do miss some of Knoxville's best eateries. Unlimited baskets of garlic rolls straight out of the oven at Calhoun's, super moist strawberry cake with homemade cream cheese icing from Litton's, spaghetti and meat sauce piled high from Louis' ... my mouth is now watering.

And as with most things in life, sometimes you leave good things behind but find more good things along the way. That's the case with this great (tax loving) state of North Carolina. (If they could tax Penny and Stacy, I think they would!)

In our five months together here, we've tried some local restaurants and stuck to the chains we know we love as well. I would imagine that one little local joint in particular hasn't changed much in the past several decades. It's like stepping back in time as soon as you walk through the door. That's Tony's Ice Cream.

It reminds me of the old fashioned scenery of my youth at Kay's Ice Cream in Halls. We'd stop in for a freshly made burger and fries (grease and all - you know the good stuff!) and finish it off with an ice cream cone. Superman flavor for me, Lemon custard shake for dad. Mom would change up her flavor sometimes. Kay's is no longer open in Halls, but Tony's has been thriving here since 1915.

Tony's is a family owned and operated restaurant in downtown Gastonia where you can get the usual burgers, hotdogs, chicken, etc. and of course milkshakes!! (and other ice cream related desserts). The thing I love about their old fashioned milkshakes is that they put a big scoop of ice cream on top! I took the photo below at a recent visit. Unfortunately, my taste buds were too busy devouring the milkshaky-goodness for me to think about taking a picture before most of it was gone.



Eating at Tony's is not only a reminder of my childhood, but it's also a little taste of home even though home is across the Smokey Mountains. That's the fun part about a new state - you get to explore so many new things. You don't have that "I've lived here my whole life" mentality and can discover new favorites.

As for future posts, I can't wait to tell you about our recent day trip to Hickory and the diamond in the rough we found there, but that one requires before and after pictures. Speaking of before and after pictures, next post will contain before and after shots of all the hard work we put into the landscaping out front.