When Tom and I went to downtown Knoxville, we ate at Calhouns on the River.  Calhouns is a local restaurant, but it has nine locations in the Knoxville area.  Calhouns on the River is located downtown on the Tennessee River.

Calhouns started as a local barbeque joint in 1983.  In the years since then, they have expanded their locations as well as expanding their food offerings.  Their signature and award-winning barbeque sauce is still the centerpiece of every table.

When Tom and I finished at the East Tenneessee Historical Society and Museum, we headed south to Calhouns on the River.  As I mentioned last week, Knoxville has a small downtown and we knew it wasn’t far.  We walked south on Gay Street and soon came to the Gay Street Bridge.  We started to walk across the bridge, but could soon see Calhouns down below us.  Far below us.  Gay Street Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that crosses the river.  We weren’t going to get to Calhouns by staying on the bridge.

From our excellent viewing point, we could see a smaller pedestrian bridge a couple of blocks down the river.  This bridge crossed the busy street just north of Calhouns, but had stairs leading down to street level at a park next to Calhouns.  Tom and I decided to head in that direction.  A helpful local man told us the street was steep and to be careful.

The street was steep, down to the bridge.  The bridge and the stairs helped make it manageable, but we knew it would be a climb going back up to downtown.  When we got to Calhouns on the River, we decided to sit on the deck and enjoy the beautiful day and the great view.  A friendly hostess seated us at a table in the shade.  We could see the University of Tennessee, the Sunsphere, and the neighborhood across the river.  We were also able to watch boats heading up and down the river.

But, somehow, between the museum and the restaurant, we had turned invisible.  No waitress came to take our order.  Lots of waitresses walked by us, but none stopped to ask us what we wanted.  I was ready to tackle someone, but Tom kept telling me to be patient.  Finally, our hostess came over and asked if anyone had helped us.  When we responded negatively, she said she would send a waitress over.  After another 10 minutes, she came back and said that she would take our order.  Apparently all the waitresses were too busy to be bothered with our table.

The hostess did a fine job serving as our waitress, but it was a little odd.  We had been seated at our table for a long time before our food finally arrived.  The food was good, which made up for being ignored for so long.  I got a burger and tater tots.  Tom got pulled pork and coleslaw.  We had planned on ordering dessert – one of the reasons we picked this restaurant – but decided it might be another hour before we could get someone to serve us.  So we settled the bill and left.

We walked around Market Square, hoping to find a bakery, but didn’t have any luck.  The pedestrian Market Square reminded us a little of all the walkable downtowns in Europe.  Except, Tom and I both agreed, every European downtown had a bakery or ice cream shop.

On our way home, I told Tom I wanted to stop at Gondolier and get a piece of cake.  We ate at Gondolier last year and the best part of the meal was the huge piece of delicious cake.  Gondolier is very close to home, giving me some space after lunch.  This is where I found out I was invisible.

I ordered a piece of Milky Way cake to go, paid for it and waited.  And waited and waited.  Waitresses walked by, other people picked up their much larger to-go orders, and I still waited.  Finally, the cashier who took my order told me that they were out of Milky Way cake.  Would one of the other 30 kinds of cake be acceptable.  I chose the Sinfully Chocolate cake.  The cashier returned to her counter and answered the ringing phone.  Ten minutes later, she was still on the phone and I was still waiting for my cake.

Finally, one of the waitresses, five of which had been standing behind the counter, asked if she could help me.  I said I had been waiting 20 minutes for a piece of cake.  She asked what kind.  I told her and then she asked another waitress, “Who is getting cake?”  None of the waitresses knew who was supposed to get the cake.  They debated it for a while and, eventually, the waitress who had actually spoken to me said, “I’ll get it!”  Two minutes later she was back with my cake.  I said thank you and left.

It was weird to wait so long at two places in one afternoon.  I was surprised to find out I had a new superpower, but invisibility isn’t all that great.  I’d rather be seen – and have my order taken and processed in a timely manner.  Oh well.  The cake was yummy – and it was a big enough piece that I’ve been eating it for three days!