Ode to Pete's

Today marked the first "official" day of our vacation (in Knoxville), so we kicked it off by having breakfast at one of our favorite little gems here in town, Pete's.

Pete's is a diner / coffee shop in the heart of downtown Knoxville. 

Now, if you know me well you enough, you may know that "diner" doesn't typically live high on my list of favorite hotspots - however, Pete's found its way into my heart two-years ago. . . and there, it will forever live. 

During the long, dark months when Richie was recovering from his accident and surgeries, we had a magical Friday morning family breakfast at Pete's every week, typically followed by a visit to the fountains in Market Square. This time was the highlight of every week for Richie, and truly served as a precious reprieve for our whole family from all the stress that was going on at our house.  
(photo courtesy of Mike C. Berry)

We presently don't visit Pete's as often as we did that summer, however, when we do go, it always feels like home. We are kindly graced with a very warm welcome from the servers, staff, and of course, Mr. Pete himself. I sometimes feel as if the restaurant stops for a moment while the staff greets us with "Hi Sam" and "Hi Charlie", and they always pause to marvel at Richie's recovery. They saw him through every stage of his journey...from struggling on crutches, to being a master on them. Months of that finally lead to losing the crutches, but limping around in a boot. Many many more months of that before he was able to finally wear a shoe, but with a very noticeable limp. And today they were very impressed with his (near) full recovery from it all.

Our Friday morning visits to Pete's were a remarkable part of that journey, and of Richie's entire healing process.

In addition to the diner having a special place in our hearts, it's important to mention that they also have some darn good food! 
Mr. Pete makes the most amazing blueberry pancakes… you must plan for some extra indulging if you visit.
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Our breakfast today was followed by a walk to Riviera Stadium to see Cars 2 in 3-D, the much anticipated film of the summer for the Hatcher boys (and for Mr. and Mrs. Hatcher too, I must say)



They were so excited to go in to the theater.
Then they rocked it out in their 3-D glasses!
And enjoyed a chocolate chip cookie after the movie.
The movie did not disappoint.
What a great day!

At bedtime tonight when I asked Sam and Charlie "What was your favorite part of the whole day?" After all the excitement of seeing the movie, and playing for hours with their new character cars from the film, Charlie's first response to my question was, "Going to Mr. Pete's!"

My heart melted. Cuz it was mine too ~

Comments

  1. pedwardsJune 26, 2011 at 5:39 PM

    Can't believe I've never heard of Pete's before this. Guess I'll have to add another item to the bucket list. Looks like an awesome day. I knew the Hatcher Staycation would be chock full of happy happenings. Hoping you continue to document the week and keep us informed of the family fun :) But, don't have too much fun. Remember, some of us still have to work this week!

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