Alright, I'm going to share this here. The Winger Family went on vacation this past week to Gatlinburg, TN and I had something nicely unsettling happen at lunch on Thursday. We went to a place called
The Fox and Parrot Tavern, a little place that is off the beaten path advertising British pub food. We like getting off the beaten path a bit and, if you've been to Gatlinburg, you'd enjoy it in such a place, too.
So, we go inside and this older lady greets us from the bar and says to take a seat. In a bit she comes over and gives us menus and gabs a bit. I'm pretty quiet because I'm mostly staring at her. My grandma has been dead for nine years. she was a pretty solidly built woman, 5'8''/5'9''. This woman giving me little rectangular menu cards bears a crazy resemblance to her. The same build, the same facial structure. She wasn't a doppleganger but like a cousin. It was so distinct that my wife, who met my grandmother maybe twice? before she died commented on it.
Which, by itself, would have been a fun piece of vacation story telling.
My youngest is 17 months and because of covid we haven't exactly been able to get him out a lot. Definitely not to the extent we had his sister out and about. And so he's not always the friendliest with strangers. For some reason he started following this lady around the restaurant. Laughing, giggling, falling all over himself. Then he calls her nana. Or says something approximating it enough that this nice, older lady looks at him and says, "You want a nana? I can be your nana."
And I lost it.
One of my genuine regrets is that my kids never really got to know my grandparents or my uncle from my mom's side. Seeing this woman who bore such a resemblance to my grandmother and having my kid just
take to her...I still have a hard time with it a few days later. It was just straight up unsettling but in a good way. I'm sure the germans have a word for it but I don't know it.
Anyway. Long story aside, The Fox and Parrot does have some good food and is a good place to sit down and have a beer while watching some soccer. I don't know if it really is genuine British pub fare, but they fake it well. Also highly recommend
Black Bear Cafe,
Split Rail Eats and
Junction 35 (the most main stream place we ate, but it was really good). Maybe later I'll post a pic of the booze haul.