We made a quick run up to Monteagle early yesterday afternoon. I decided to take the interstate the whole way because we were both quite hungry, not having eaten lunch. So we arrived at the Mountain Goat Market around three. It was still rather busy, but we did get the patio to ourselves. After a typically delicious meal we headed over to campus to see the goats. I had seen on Instagram a few days ago that the heard had been expanded considerably. About a dozen baby goats had been born this week. So naturally we had to go check them out, and they didn’t disappoint. I lost track of how many times we went, but it was at least five total. The first time provided one of the highlights. The guys who were looking after the goats and pigs let us come into the barn to see the youngest babies, some of whom were just a day old. They also patiently answered a number of our questions about goats and the farm in general. Unfortunately I facetiously asked if the goats were headed to the cafeteria next, and the answer was yes. Liz got a little bummed about that.
The one negative of our trip was very overcast skies with intermittent rain. That made it hard to do too much outdoors for any length of time. However after our second goat visit of the afternoon we did go on a little driving tour with stops at Green’s View overlook, the Cross, and the Templeton Library (pictured below). We also went by Hallelujah Pottery, located next to the cottage, and chatted with Debbie the owner of Full Circle Candles. She makes lovely all natural candles and Liz bought two spruce and one birch scented. It is always really cool to hear how her business is progressing.
We picked up a few things for dinner at Piggly Wiggly, which as you may have ascertained from the picture at the top of the post did not include chicken. The rest of the evening was pretty low key. I did a couple of crossword puzzles and we just relaxed. I woke up super early this morning, but went outside and saw that it was raining, and so tried to go back to sleep. After another trip to Piggly Wiggly and a cobbled together breakfast we went back to see the goats again. A few of them were eating on their round bale out in the pasture, but most were presumably in the barn.
We decided to drive through the back side of the domain and into the forest. It really still felt like winter back up in there. There was no green anywhere, not even in the underbrush. It sure will feel different in a few months, especially with all of the lightning bugs this summer. When we drove back by the farm it had ceased raining and many of the baby goats had come out to run around and eat. I got out my real camera and we watched them for quite a while. They are so entertaining – jumping, messing with each other, climbing things, and just being cute. Hopefully we will get some for ourselves this fall. We went back to the pottery store and talked to Debbie for a bit longer and then had another late lunch at the Mountain Goat Market. From there we took the long and slow, but scenic route back to the condo. That involved going through Cowan, around Winchester, near Lawrenceburg, into the heart of Shelbyville, through Nolensville and into Nashville.
All in all it was a very nice trip, despite less than ideal weather. I’m not sure when we will be able to return. Congratulations if you have made it this far. Below are some goat pictures as a reward.
