There’s just something about the South. Life is a fraction slower than anywhere else, people are certainly friendlier, and the sweet tea is like heavenly nectar. It’s just a comfortable place.

I’ve been accused of having an accent, but last week traveling through Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee I felt like a foreigner. I had to intently listen to understand conversations. It's all about that drawl. Even when people are saying mean things, it’s doesn’t sound quite as bad. It might be because everything is followed up with, “Bless her heart.”

I had the opportunity to visit a Nashville landmark, The Loveless Cafe. Tennessee natives almost gasped when I admitted I’d never heard of it before. Opened in 1951, biscuits and fried chicken were sold out the front door to Highway 100 travelers. Though the cafe has changed hands a few times over the years, the coveted secret biscuit recipe has remained and that’s why growth and development and interstate highways haven’t been able to divert diners.

I guess Driod hadn’t heard of The Loveless Cafe either. After a short detour, we met our friends Ron and Teela for some of the finest food in the country: steaming grits, crispy fried okra, slow cooked green beans and carmel sweet potatoes served with warm biscuits and sorghum. Sorry Dr. Oz, but it was like manna for the soul.

A dining experience is so much more than just what you eat. Friends, service and atmosphere mean almost as much as the food. When everything is top notch, it’s hard to leave. The saying, “It’s the simple things” took on a whole new meaning at The Loveless Cafe. An hour and a half and two glasses of sweet tea later, I left with a pink “Got Biscuits?” tee shirt knowing I’d be back.