Levon wrote:Did you ever go the John's? Still there, been named a National Historic Site. Amazing, huh?
I recommend stopping by John's Place if you ever pass through Cookvegas. Especially if you're there on a wednesday evening about supper time, the lady that run's it serves a home cooked meal that's fantastic. You have to get there early, like around 5:30. It's so good that there have been good Wednesday night church going folks in the community (which is like 85% of Cookeville) that skip services in order to eat there :o
Cookeville also has an excellent local PBS affiliate. Check out the documentary they did on John's Place sometime....
And finally, Cookeville now has three solid breweries that are worth a visit (but Calfkiller in nearby Sparta is still king of the Upper Cumberland Microbrew scene)
Levon wrote:Did you ever go the John's? Still there, been named a National Historic Site. Amazing, huh?
I recommend stopping by John's Place if you ever pass through Cookvegas. Especially if you're there on a wednesday evening about supper time, the lady that run's it serves a home cooked meal that's fantastic. You have to get there early, like around 5:30. It's so good that there have been good Wednesday night church going folks in the community (which is like 85% of Cookeville) that skip services in order to eat there :o
Cookeville also has an excellent local PBS affiliate. Check out the documentary they did on John's Place sometime....
And finally, Cookeville now has three solid breweries that are worth a visit (but Calfkiller in nearby Sparta is still king of the Upper Cumberland Microbrew scene)
If you already are that far into the wilderness, you also might to eat at the Bull & Thistle, which is an English pub incongruously located in my home town of Gainesboro.
Levon wrote:Did you ever go the John's? Still there, been named a National Historic Site. Amazing, huh?
I recommend stopping by John's Place if you ever pass through Cookvegas. Especially if you're there on a wednesday evening about supper time, the lady that run's it serves a home cooked meal that's fantastic. You have to get there early, like around 5:30. It's so good that there have been good Wednesday night church going folks in the community (which is like 85% of Cookeville) that skip services in order to eat there :o
Cookeville also has an excellent local PBS affiliate. Check out the documentary they did on John's Place sometime....
And finally, Cookeville now has three solid breweries that are worth a visit (but Calfkiller in nearby Sparta is still king of the Upper Cumberland Microbrew scene)
JW is right, John's Wednesday night buffet is excellent. I believe the lady who runs John's now is the widow of the long time owner, a man named Shakey who died a few years ago. He was a good, calm, very tolerant man. In the 70s when I was a Tech student, John's was one of 3 beer joints just outside the city limits. Cookeville was dry then and Putnam County allowed beer only sales...no liquor. John's was the "black" bar in town--the other 2 were redneck (and a little scary). It would be cool to say John's was something akin to The Dexter Lake Club from Animal House, but that would just be lie. It was small, had a pool table and juke box (with records that rarely changed), and was pretty relaxed. The black locals tended to sit at the tables and the white college boys drank at the bar. No microbrews then; the tap had Budweiser and Schlitz and they served 3-4 brands of nationally bottled beer. Food was the locally famous "John's Dog", boiled eggs from a big nasty jar, and saltines. That was it. They also had a drive-up window where IDs were never checked. College girls didn't go into John's, just some weird, southern, probably church-driven custom I guess. John's contributed mightily to my freshman year being largely obscured in an alcoholic haze. John's will always be one of my very favorite bars.
[/quote] If you already are that far into the wilderness, you also might to eat at the Bull & Thistle, which is an English pub incongruously located in my home town of Gainesboro.[/quote]
Surely they have "The Blue Boy" prominently displayed
wbl wrote:Hey Levon remind me when Youngblood played...I grew up in Cookeville and remember him...also remember durable and unstoppable tailback Larry Schreiber...enjoyed TTU sports but attended Vandy and now bleed black and gold! But I will cheer for the Golden Eagles until we play them.
wbl...
Youngblood played from 69-72, led Tech to one of their very few OVC titles in 72. Schreiber was a stud too. As I recall he rushed for over 4000 yards at Tech and then played 5-6 years with the 49ers & Bears. There was another guy there from 71-74 named Elois Grooms, a defensive lineman who played several years with the Saints and Cardinals. I knew Grooms a little bit; big, quiet, nice guy, but he looked meaner than hell. And he could clearly play. Did you ever go the John's? Still there, been named a National Historic Site. Amazing, huh?
Remember the John Dogs? They still have them too, used to get them thru the drive thru and go back to the house or frat house, either one.
wbl wrote:Hey Levon remind me when Youngblood played...I grew up in Cookeville and remember him...also remember durable and unstoppable tailback Larry Schreiber...enjoyed TTU sports but attended Vandy and now bleed black and gold! But I will cheer for the Golden Eagles until we play them.
wbl...
Youngblood played from 69-72, led Tech to one of their very few OVC titles in 72. Schreiber was a stud too. As I recall he rushed for over 4000 yards at Tech and then played 5-6 years with the 49ers & Bears. There was another guy there from 71-74 named Elois Grooms, a defensive lineman who played several years with the Saints and Cardinals. I knew Grooms a little bit; big, quiet, nice guy, but he looked meaner than hell. And he could clearly play. Did you ever go the John's? Still there, been named a National Historic Site. Amazing, huh?
Remember the John Dogs? They still have them too, used to get them thru the drive thru and go back to the house or frat house, either one.
John Dogs were the best...especially with a pitcher of Schlitz! 8-)
wbl wrote:Hey Levon remind me when Youngblood played...I grew up in Cookeville and remember him...also remember durable and unstoppable tailback Larry Schreiber...enjoyed TTU sports but attended Vandy and now bleed black and gold! But I will cheer for the Golden Eagles until we play them.
wbl...
Youngblood played from 69-72, led Tech to one of their very few OVC titles in 72. Schreiber was a stud too. As I recall he rushed for over 4000 yards at Tech and then played 5-6 years with the 49ers & Bears. There was another guy there from 71-74 named Elois Grooms, a defensive lineman who played several years with the Saints and Cardinals. I knew Grooms a little bit; big, quiet, nice guy, but he looked meaner than hell. And he could clearly play. Did you ever go the John's? Still there, been named a National Historic Site. Amazing, huh?
Remember the John Dogs? They still have them too, used to get them thru the drive thru and go back to the house or frat house, either one.
John Dogs were the best...especially with a pitcher of Schlitz! 8-)
JW...
I finally had time to watch the PBS piece on John's. It was enlightening. I guess I never appreciated John's as part of the civil rights movement, but in my first two years at Tech, 72-74, I was a John's regular, one of the white college boys. It was always integrated and typically crowded, but I never saw any racial problems there at all. Thanks for the link. And one final thought (I promise)...in the early 70's no one called it "John's Place"; it was simply "John's".
nyyankeeDore wrote:If you already are that far into the wilderness, you also might to eat at the Bull & Thistle, which is an English pub incongruously located in my home town of Gainesboro.
You're from Gainesboro and now live in NY? Just a bit of a change
I like the Bull & Thistle, my wife is also from Gainesboro and the in-laws now live in Cookeville, family roots in Clay County and Sparta as well, so we visit the area fairly frequently.
I wouldn't mind retiring to Granville one of these days.
Also, I mentioned the 3 small breweries that are now in Cookeville, I think one of them, Hix Farm I believe, has Jackson County roots....
nyyankeeDore wrote:If you already are that far into the wilderness, you also might to eat at the Bull & Thistle, which is an English pub incongruously located in my home town of Gainesboro.
You're from Gainesboro and now live in NY? Just a bit of a change
I like the Bull & Thistle, my wife is also from Gainesboro and the in-laws now live in Cookeville, family roots in Clay County and Sparta as well, so we visit the area fairly frequently.
I wouldn't mind retiring to Granville one of these days.
Also, I mentioned the 3 small breweries that are now in Cookeville, I think one of them, Hix Farm I believe, has Jackson County roots....
It's interesting to hear that your is from Gainesboro (the population of which is still around 1,000 as it was during the first 18 years of my life there). You could definitely do worse that retiring in a lake-side cottage in nearby Granville.
I actually live in Nashville (and work directly across West End Avenue from the Commodore's statue). I went to school at NYU long after I became a Yankee fan; I was lucky enough attend World Series games there, all of which they won on their way to a WS championship
I spoke to my dad about the Regional results and upcoming Supers. He was as excited as I expected for both teams.
Neat to see all the Cookeville area ties. My mother was raised in Celina and most of her brothers and sisters still live in the Cookeville-Livingston-Celina-Gainesboro area. Two of my aunts live in Gainesboro, and one of those was a schoolteacher there for many years. I’m hoping to be back up that way for a family reunion in two weekends.
StarTraveler wrote:I spoke to my dad about the Regional results and upcoming Supers. He was as excited as I expected for both teams.
Neat to see all the Cookeville area ties. My mother was raised in Celina and most of her brothers and sisters still live in the Cookeville-Livingston-Celina-Gainesboro area. Two of my aunts live in Gainesboro, and one of those was a schoolteacher there for many years. I’m hoping to be back up that way for a family reunion in two weekends.
The sun never sets on Upper Cumberlanders (or Yankee fans).
Levon--thanks for the info on Youngblood...I was still in HS at the time and remember him. Don't recall Grooms, must have been ‘72 or later when I was on the Vandy campus...trying to recall John's, will check documentary.
Last edited by wbl on Thu Jun 07, 2018 10:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
wbl wrote:Levon--thanks for the info on Youngblood...I was still in HS at the time and remember him. Don't recall Grooms, must have been /72 or later when I was on campus...trying to recall John's, will check documentary.
wbl...of course. Grooms was there from 71-74 and was a monster his last two seasons, 73-74. He was a man among boys in the OVC those last two years.
