Cornbread, Nancy and Me

While still feasible, waking early for the nearly two-hour drive to National Cornbread Festival  tends to sap our energy before the first taste of the namesake delicacy. South Pittsburg is just shy of Nickajack Lake and crosses a mountain, a long drive for the wee hours. 

This year, we left nothing to chance, and left Nashville early. The cornbread festival always falls on the last weekend in April, the same as the Country Music Marathon. After three years of running with ,my 35,000 closest friends, I will take a 5K and cornbread any day.

For our third trip to the festival, Nancy booked a room atop Monteagle, the section of Cumberland Plateau crossed by Interstate 24. Monteagle sits on high ground, a brief respite in the steep climb and windy descent on I-24.

We had come to think of Monteagle as just the hotels and services that straddled the highway. A handful of restaurants dotted the small commercial district. The most welcoming at 8:30 p.m. was Dave's Modern Tavern, a restaurant that smokes its own meats and features an extensive beer menu. Even  though the staff killed the "open" sign minutes after we sat, they kept admitting people up until we left. It was a welcoming place for wayward travelers.

For those who stay in Monteagle, a word of caution: phones will roam. The area lies close to the eastern time boundary and the elevation could lead a cell phone to connect to a tower in a different time zone. I woke at 6:50 a.m. and walked to the lobby for the continental breakfast. The manager had not opened yet, because it was still 5:50 a.m. Central. At least he was not upset about an early arrival.

The overnight in Monteagle cut our South Pittsburg drive down to 15 minutes. The sunny morning alone hinted at a festival first - sparkling weather. The first two visits came with ample doses of rain and humidity.

The festival's cadre of runners, which seemed about 200-strong, lined up.  The race winds through town of 3,000, with its second and third miles reaching into the foothills of the Cumberland Plateau, adding a bit of challenge to a fun race.

Running is never easy anymore, but running after a year without smoking helped considerably.  The comfortable temperatures also helped. For the first time, I didn't have to stop when climbing the steepest hill of the 5K's final mile.

The atmosphere of the race is buoyed by South Pittsburg's friendliness. Most of the runners are locals, and anyone not setting up at the festival is watching from the front porch and cheering for the runners.

My time was no better than any other Cornbread Festival 5K, but I felt far better than I had after the other two.

Cornbread Alley is always the marquee event of the festival. Local groups bake up many varieties of goodness, from buffalo chicken to pimento cheese to chocolate pecan cornbread. Cornbread can take almost any ingredient thrown into the mix, and the South Pittsburg's cornbread cooks  never shy away from innovation.As dessert, we split a cornbread salad as people poured into the festival. Literally poured. Last year, Cornbread Alley had not filled up by the time we left. For 2014, the line spilled onto the street after just 20 minutes.

Leaving South Pittsburg, the weather had brought crowds and many more who wanted a taste. The traffic stretched all the way from South Pittsburg's few blocks to the interstate. With a traditional stop at Mountain Outfitters for some new hiking clothes (and a South Cumberland trail guide), we crossed the mountain, cornbread quota met for another year.