We had one more BTD adventure before we returned from our trip to Kentucky. We made a side trip to Nashville, and while we were there we toured the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home.

On the way we stopped at a restaurant called O'Charley's for lunch. What I will always remember is the very generous vegetable portions. HH and DD ordered salmon. I needed a beef fix after several days of canned turkey and tuna. I ordered a hamburger patty, substituting broccoli for the fries. Between the three of us we had all the vegetables we could possibly eat. It was a delicious and very compliant meal. I found out later that O'Charley's is an Eastern chain restaurant. I would welcome them in Texas.

When you tour the Hermitage, you get headphones so you can listen to recorded messages about the many features on the grounds. They used a lot of quotes from people who had stayed at the Hermitage during Andrew Jackson's time. One visitor wrote, "There was an abundance of meat: beef, mutton, turkey, geese, several kinds of ducks and fowls. The guests loved it." Doesn't that sound like a Type O household!

The kitchen was a separate building away from the house. It was safer, because there was always a danger of fire. It also kept the heat and smell of cooking away from the house. We peaked in the smokehouse where we learned that pork was the "primary meat for the household."

That took a little of the shine off of the Type O household idea. However, I suspect that would have been a true statement for most rural households for most of this country's history. My Dad has often reminisced that on the ranch where he grew up they raised cattle to sell to folk in the cities. However his family rarely ate beef. They mostly ate the less expensive pork and chicken.