The Miller, Missouri fall festival was this past week. 

Miller is a small town, but they put on quite a show.  There are rides for the kids, several food booths, crafts, nightly musical entertainment, and a parade.  The festival continues for four days and is held right in the middle of Miller's Main Street.

This year there was even an Elvis impersonator.  I missed that, so I can't report back on how Elvis-y he was. 

My husband and I chatted with neighbors and had some dinner.  Then I dragged him off to the senior center where the crafts were being shown.  He showed his good nature by standing there with a smile as the ladies and I chatted about quilting, old-fashioned mangles and more.  Eventually he started to look glazed, and I figured I'd better get him out of there.  I bought a quilt raffle ticket and a pair of hand-crocheted slippers and we headed out.

Next stop was a more "manly" raffle booth where we put in tickets for an ATV and a rifle. We spent a bit more time listening to the music and chatting, and then had to head out to put the chickens away.

We didn't win the quilt or any of hunting gear (sigh...).  Maybe next year.

I foolishly left my camera at home while we were down there, so I can't show you the Miller festival, only tell you about it.  If you're in the area during the first week of September I'd encourage you to come down and check it out.  It's a lot of fun and a great way to show support for the town.

The Lawrence County Record is the weekly voice of Lawrence County, Missouri. 

Every Wednesday, we all open up the Record to see what's going on.  From editorials on national and regional issues, to front-page spreads about local events, to an annual back-to-school issue, and right down to who is having their 90th birthday party, they keep us informed.

Adding to their 134-year print tradition, they now have a website and e-Edition.  This is pretty exciting stuff.  The Record staff seem to have made a big effort to build a site that's not just a newspaper, but a community information portal.  The site looks professional, is easy to navigate, and loads fast.

On the public website, you'll find:

- Some of the stories from the paper.  There also seem to be stories from days when the paper isn't published, so it's not just once-a-week updates.

- Ads for local businesses.  Just taking a quick look at these is interesting.  Go ahead and click a few ads.  Click the one for the Lawrence County Historical Museum, for instance.  Cool info behind there.

- A very informative Community section.  It's still in its first stages but is already pretty nice.  There are some great pictures, history and present-day info.  Right now, it's focused on Mt. Vernon.  That's very understandable, but I'm hoping they might branch out a bit in the future to cover other towns in the county.  This is wonderful information for people considering relocating to Southwest Missouri.

- Local events and calendars.

- And more...who knows what will be there tomorrow?

The e-Edition, which is the full paper, is subscriber only (only $1 additional to those who are already paying the paltry sum of $23 per year to have the Record delivered to their house).  I'll be signing up, of course. 

I'm so happy to have this website as a resource for myself as well as relocation real estate buyers who'd like to find out more about Southwest Missouri.  In the past, I've actually mailed a few copies of the Record to prospects.  Glad I don't have to do that anymore.  Nice job, guys!

You Can't Read the Map If You Can't Find the Map

Modern mapping sites and software go far beyond simple aerials to include topography, geology, soil types, hydrography and much more. 

But all that is no good if you don't know where to look on the map.

Finding properties on a map sounds simple...just type in the address, right? 

Unfortunately, mapping software misplaces many rural addresses. My own address shows up a few miles from where it really is.

Even if you've already been to a property, rural areas tend to have huge tracts of land that look similar on an aerial.  Forests, pastures, fields...add that to a couple-mile address error, and you could be scratching your head trying to find that property on a map.

Let me help you locate your rural dream properties on a Missouri map (or any map, for that matter!)

Location, Location, (GPS) Location...

With patience and the help of your Realtor, you can confidently locate each country dream property.

- If you've progressed to the visiting stage, use a GPS to tag the entrance, a building or another conspicuous landmark and save it.  Make sure the tagged spot is in a cleared area that will be visible on an aerial map.  Choose an older building to make sure it will show up even in aerials that are a few years old.  When you start creating maps based on the GPS coordinates later, your landmark will be a final visual confirmation that you've input the coordinates correctly.

- No GPS? Document the closest road intersections.  Then drive from an intersection to the property, noting the mileage and direction.  Note any landmarks on the property that will stand out on an aerial map.  Ahem, don't forget to note which side of the road the property is on...not that I would ever do a thing like that.

- GPS tags or the intersection method won't show you the property boundaries, so try to get a plat map and aerial with the boundaries marked. Ask your Realtor (me!) for these items.  You can get them from the county if you're local.  Few of the rural counties around here have plats or aerials online at this time, though Lawrence County where I live does.  Go, Lawrence County!

Remember, do not enter the land without a agent accompanying you.  If you're just driving by, tag the entrance.  Even empty land often has neighbors keeping an eye out for trespassers.

Are You a Dreamer?

If you're at the armchair dream stage, maybe you're not comfortable calling a Realtor yet.  That's fine.  When you see a potential dream property on the internet, you can use a combination of the address, driving directions on the listing, and any small aerial or plat that might be included, and find the place by trial and error. It won't work for all of them, but it will work for some.

My husband and I did quite a bit of this armchair dreaming before we bought our 40 acres in Southwest Missouri.  We considered garden suitability, water features, distance to towns, and more.

Playing with maps was a big part of what brought us to Missouri to buy rural property. We could see the terrain, the combination of forest and open, the good road system, the amazing number of streams.

Besides, sitting there in our comfy chairs trying to figure out the exact location of each rural property became part of the adventure.  We weren't ready to buy...we just wanted to dream. 

OK, I've Pinpointed a Location...Now What?

All right, take your GPS coordinates, your nearest landmark, the nearest town + directions, or whatever you have, and go forth to your mapping software or one of these sites.

Our favorite mapping site for Missouri is the Missouri Map Room.  This University of Missouri site lets you easily make layered custom maps. Just click on Missouri Interactive Maps to get started.

You can use addresses, lat/long, county, township/section/range and more to find the property you're looking for.  Once you've found it, you can add an amazing amount of information from aerials to agriculture to demographics to healthcare to topography.  You can zoom in and out, add and remove layers, and more.  

For detailed information about dirt...excuse me, "Soil"...you can go to the USDA's Web Soil Survey page and click on the big green button to start making your maps.

Go check these sites out.  They're amazing.

Do I Really Need to Know All This?

Yes!  Or at least some of it, depending on your needs.

If you bought a house in town, you'd want to know about the schools, the stores, healthcare and how well the neighbors behind you take care of their place, right?  This is the same thing on a larger scale.

Don't wait to think about the things that are important to you.

Perhaps the area you're considering for your dream home is almost completely vertical, has soil that won't support a garden or is more than an hour from the nearest hospital.  You might even travel to the wrong area of the country, looking for a combination of factors that simply aren't there.

Perhaps you see a listing that seems perfect.  Map it, and find out more.

Is it a quarter mile from the railroad tracks?  Maybe you love the rumble of trains.  Or maybe you don't.

Does the listing say "secluded"?  Map it, and see if it's secluded enough.

Exactly how much of this listing is wooded, and how much is cleared?  Map it!

Does the stream mentioned in the listing run into a bigger river?  Map it!

Do they grow a lot of crops around here?  Map it!

Have fun with your maps.  Today's wonderful maps are a great part of educating yourself about property.  When you're ready, I'll be glad to help you turn those dream maps into a dream home here in Southwest Missouri.

Last week, I visited the University of Missouri's Southwest Center Agricultural Experiment Station.  That's quite a mouthful, so I'll just call it the Center.

The Center has been around since 1959.   Their mission is to perform continuing agricultural and horticultural research on an 898-acre site just south of Mount Vernon, Missouri.

For the last 46 years, they've held an annual public Field Day, and this was my first one.  I had a wonderful, educational time. 

Various professionals from the Center, other branches of the University, and other universities made short educational presentations and gave tours covering a variety of topics.  The general areas of discussion were Beef, Dairy, Forage, Horticulture, and Grapes.  Questions were welcomed.

This was a great opportunity for me.  My husband and I grow and enjoy a large home garden and are starting a tiny orchard.  We definitely wanted to check out the horticultural information.  I also try to learn whatever I can about local agricultural production so I can do a better job of presenting local farms to buyers and for sellers.

The very good turnout included students, cattle ranchers, dairy farmers, hobby farmers, vegetable producers and home gardeners.  Everyone seemed to be having a good time and learning a lot. We even got a little sunburned after the clouds cleared up.

There was definitely something for everyone.  Here's just a sampling of the 20+ wide-ranging farm and garden topics that were addressed:

• Home Fruit Production
• Interseeding Legumes
• Economic Models for Pasture-based Dairies
• Show-Me-Select Heifer Program
• Use of Rootstocks in Grape Production
• Walking Tour of SW Center Horticulture Projects
• Organic Options for Small Fruit and Vegetable Production

I made it through several of the horticulture and dairy tours and sessions.  There just wasn't enough time for anything else!   The morning horticulture sessions were very well attended.  I was very impressed both with the helpful presentations and with the crowd.  At the end of each presentation, people asked good questions, others chimed in with helpful answers from their own experience, and the experts did a great job of coordinating it all, giving their own answers and clarifications.

My dairy sessions were as part of the final group, so there weren't that many people in those sessions.  That was OK with me since I was just trying to soak up the basic information.  I'm not sure I could have processed any additional input!

If you are anywhere near Mount Vernon, consider finding out more about the Center.  You'll find them on the web at http://aes.missouri.edu/swcenter/.  They offer seminars throughout the year on various topics, plus they're a great source of information.  I already have a followup email in my inbox with some solar greenhouse information that I requested.

Another of my favorite Missouri garden and farm information spots on the web is the University of Missouri extension service, http://extension.missouri.edu/.  Click on "Programs by Topic" on the left-hand side, and you'll find a wealth of information.

So mark your calendar for early next September.  Whether you're a new or long-time Missouri gardener, a hobby farmer, or a full-time farmer, come on out and have a field day at Field Day!

If you've been living in the city all your life, you may not have thought too much about where your household water comes from.  Out of the faucet, right?  That's what I used to think, too.

Once you start planning to buy property in rural Southwest Missouri, there's a little more to it than that.  Unless you live within reach of the rural water districts extending around the local small towns, you're going to be getting your water from a well.

Well Basics:

There are some basic well questions you'll want to ask when you're buying rural property.  Start with these:

1. How long is the rope?  OK, just kidding.
2. How deep is the well?  How old is the well?
3. Who drilled the well?
4. How old is the well pump?  What size is the well pump?
5. Has the water in this well been tested?  When?  What were the test results?
6. Have there been any health problems related to the water?
7. Are there any non-health related issues, such as hard water, bad taste, etc.?

As always, check the seller's disclosure statement too.

Note:  Don't drink water from vacant properties!  See "Shocking a Well" below for why this is important.  If the well is old and shallow, or the owner doesn't know much about it, I wouldn't sample the water there either.

Shocking A Well:

If the rural property you're purchasing is vacant, you'll need to plan on having the well "shocked" and the water tested. 

Shocking a well is adding chlorine, turning on all the taps to carry chlorine through the system, and then allowing it to sit in the pipes overnight to kill any nasty things that have grown in there while the water has not been used.   

The next day, the chlorine is run out of the system and the water is sampled and sent off for testing. 

Sometimes systems have to be shocked twice.  More than two bad tests?  You may be looking at drilling a new well, or at installing a water-treatment system.

Even if the home is currently occupied, get the water tested anyway, for your own peace of mind.

Give Yourself Enough Time:

The well-test process takes time.  Consider this:  You schedule a well shock, the next day they put in the chlorine, the chlorine sits overnight, they sample the water, the sample gets mailed away for testing, it's bad, you start over. 

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the inspection clause of your contract.  So you must start the well-testing process as soon as the contract is signed, and make sure that your inspection clause includes enough time to complete it.  I recommend a minimum of two weeks.

Other Ways to Find Out About the Well:

In a given rural area, there are probably only one or two well-drilling companies.  If the current owner doesn't know much about the well, ask your Realtor who the local drilling company is.  If you or your Realtor contact that company, you'll find that they probably drilled the well.  Even if they didn't, someone is sure to know the details.  That's the beauty of living in the country.  No luck?  Call the DNR (see below link).

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has a lot of useful information as well as records of all contractor-drilled wells from 1985 forward: http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/wpp/wellhd/index.html

Your tax dollars have also brought you the following very helpful general well information from the EPA:  http://www.epa.gov/privatewells/index2.html

Don't Be Shy, You're the One Who Has to Drink The Water:

Water is crucial, so address this topic right away with any property you're considering. 

Don't be afraid to ask questions.  After all, a well is a topic you may not be used to dealing with.  Be polite, be pleasant, be honest about what you don't understand. 

Don't be nervous about having a well.  Just get it tested and make sure you know as much as possible about it.  I was very concerned about the idea of well water before I moved out here, but now I'm a convert. 

Our water tastes great.  It travels a total of less than 2000 feet from one of the best aquifers in the country, through pipes that we control, straight into my drinking glass.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Our television is rarely turned on.  My husband and I both work full-time.  When I'm done with my real estate day, and he comes home from work, the last thing we want to do is stare at a screen.  Chances are that you'll find us both outside, cell phones glued to our hips in case of business calls.

When we moved to Southwest Missouri and bought rural property, animals were definitely part of our dream. 

We found the perfect 40 acres for us.  Not too much cleared land to take care of, but plenty of room for a large garden.  Several hens, one rooster named Henry and seventeen young guinea fowl have the run of the place, and they provide a major portion of our at-home entertainment.

Who needs pre-recorded situation comedies, romantic movies and action flicks when you can watch it "live" with poultry?

Trust me, you haven't seen comedy until you've seen a hen run across your yard chasing a bug.  It's a run, it's a waddle, it's a side-to-side sashay.  It's something that I can hardly describe, but I assure you, it is hysterically funny.

Handsome Henry Just Wants a Little Love

Meanwhile, Henry provides the romance by softly calling his ladies over to eat all the best treats that he finds.  Once they get to him, Bird TV switches back to the comedy channel. 

The ladies have no manners, they don't take turns, and they certainly don't leave any scraps for the nice gentleman who found a tasty tidbit for them.

After the treat is gone, they stroll off without a backward glance and continue their leisurely browsing, while Henry is left to work again for their attention.

Two innocent guineas before they grew into "Teenage Barbarian Poultry"

Suddenly, along come the guineas.  Guineas don't walk.  They run, and they run as a gang, packed wing-to-wing as they cruise for bugs. 

The guinea gang does a great impression of barbarian invaders streaming down a hillside as they rampage over our rock pile.  This military illusion is helped along by the fact that each bird looks like a tiny infantry helmet.  If they were carrying little spears, I'd be downright frightened.

For the grand finale, we have a nightly reenactment of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds".  Guineas don't just run in a gang.  They fly in a gang.  Full-grown chickens, on the other hand, don't fly much at all.

At least once every evening, the guineas decide that they really, really need to be where the chickens are.  And they need to be there RIGHT NOW. 

So, up, up, up...loud, scary wing-flapping noises...and down again, sending hens scattering and leaving Henry twisting his head in every direction at once, trying to track the invaders and save his ladies.

Yeah, I don't need TV.  I've got Bird TV.

In my continuing baptism by fire into the sale of rural property, I spent an entire day last month overseeing a home inspection for my buyers.  The home was not a big problem, but the septic tank was nowhere to be found.  The owner thought he knew where it was, and he and the listing agent got together the night before and tried to dig it up.  No tank, no leach field. 

The septic inspector, a nice older gentleman, came out around 10 AM with his backhoe.  He dug where the owner thought the tank was.  No luck.  He flushed a little transmitter and dug where it landed.  Found the leach field there, which seemed to mean either there's no tank or it's full and the transmitter flew right over the tank baffles. 

He dug where the owner had once seen piping as he was trenching for something else and then back-tracked toward the leach field to try to find a tank.  Piping, yes.  Tank, no. 

At one point, before we found the leach field, we were worried that there really was no septic at all, and that the suspiciously small pond close to the house was actually a waste lagoon.  Pretty scary, considering that the owner's kids use it as a swimming hole.  Thank goodness, that turned out not to be the case.

We finally gave up around 4 PM when the only remaining spots to dig between the piping and the house became uncomfortably close to electric and water lines, not to mention the back deck.  The backhoe operator called it a day and notified the "Dig-Right" folks to come out and mark those lines for safety.  Now we'll be going back another day, and he'll have to dig some more.

So, hurray, I have smart buyers!  I should be celebrating, right?  But let's take a look at this from the other side:

My buyers aren't paying the freight here.  Sellers are generally responsible for making their homes accessible for inspection, and that includes the plumbing system. 

Sure, my buyers were paying for the original septic inspection, which included some digging.  But they certainly were not going to pay to go on a "tank hunt".

The current owner chose not to get the home inspected when he bought it.  He probably saved a few dollars by doing that.  Now he's paying a guy to dig up his backyard.  That would have been the previous seller's problem, if only this owner had chosen to get an inspection when he was the buyer.

When you're deciding whether it's worth it to pay for an inspection, don't just think about today.  Think about what might burn you later when the next buyer calls that inspector out. 

Here in rural Southwest Missouri, many buyers believe that since there are no local building codes, there's no point bothering with an inspection.  Don't think that way. 

An inspector is not there to check for code violations, but to see if the systems of the home work correctly and safely. 

Don't stop at the walls of the house, either.  Outside city and rural water district limits, drinking water and waste disposal systems are very, very personal matters. 

When I say "personal" I mean it's YOUR problem.  The city is not going to come and fix it for you.  

Unless it's so bad that your neighbors or someone from the county notices, no one but you is going to care if it works or not, if it's safe or not.  Get your well tested, and get your septic inspected. 
 
All right, say it together with me now:   Get an Inspection!

Post-Script:  Well, we found the tank, away from the house in about the only spot that didn't get dug up the first day.  That's a positive.  But it's full to overflowing, and the leach field is not at an acceptable depth.  It's too deep for our Southwest Missouri clay soil, so it's going to have to be re-dug down a slope. 

This is entirely not the fault of the current owner, but he'll be paying for it anyway.  I think you know what phrase I'd like to repeat here, but you get the idea, right?

The world of real estate as we know it revolves around describing properties in a way that attracts buyers.

I spent the first part of my real estate career in urban Florida, and like all agents and buyers, learned to take property marketing descriptions with a few grains of salt. 

As real estate agents, it's our job to make every home sound as good as possible, while staying on the right side of the truth.  We become experts at accentuating the positive.  And inevitably, there are some words and phrases that get overused.

So here's to all of you city and country agents out there, trying to use limited space and adjectives to convey the essence of a property in a way that draws the maximum number of possible buyers.  And here's to all you buyers, searching through the listings to find the home of your dreams. 

Take a lighthearted moment off from composing and reading those ads, and consider the following truthful descriptions and the less-lovely aspects of a home they sometimes reveal.  I bet you could add a few of your own, too!

Here are some well-used advertising phrases from back in Florida, and what I found that they sometimes mean:

• Cosy ==> Too small to turn around.
• Needs someone to make it their own ==> The current owners never heard of Martha Stewart.
• Unique ==> We don't know what the owners were thinking when they did this stuff.
• Mrs. Clean lives here ==> Unfortunately, Mrs. Up-to-Date does not.
• Dynamic neighborhood ==> The neighbors will party late into the night.
• Shows pride of ownership ==> The owners have done all the work themselves, and you can tell.
• Lush landscaping ==> The bougainvillea has covered the roof, and the ficus is bigger than the house.

Now that I'm selling rural real estate as well as city properties here in Southwest Missouri, I've learned a whole new set of interesting phrases that can mean more than meets the eye:

• Rustic ==> Built on a shoestring and appears to be held up by one.
• Private setting ==> You'll go over the river and through the woods, and you still won't be there.
• Old-fashioned ==> There may be a hand pump in the kitchen.
• Live in mobile while you build new ==> Better build fast!
• Firewood-size timber ==> Old clearcut.  Current growth too big to brushhog, too small to sell.
• Upland pasture ==> No water, big rocks.

And of course, my favorite:

• Charming farmhouse ==> Rooms randomly added and porches enclosed for necessary shelter, not to create a flowing floorplan.  Bathrooms an afterthought, floors wavy.

You know, I'm a firm believer that every property is a winner for the right buyer.  Almost any aspect of a property can be accepted or overcome if it's the right place for you. 

For instance, upland pasture is an awesome place for goats and great views.  Firewood-size timber can keep you warm, and makes wonderful habitat for birds, rabbits, deer and turkey.  And to tell the truth, I can still swoon over a charming farmhouse even when it's leaning a good 10 degrees off vertical.

Plus sometimes, you'll find that a flattering description hides nothing, and even falls short of mentioning all of a property's good points.

So don't be worried if you read an ad offering you a charming farmhouse in a private setting, surrounded by firewood-size timber and upland pasture.  

It could be a pristinely updated older home, supported by a foundation that will stand for another 100 years, just far enough off the main road to feel special, and surrounded by the loveliest land you've ever seen.

Even if not, just smile and remember...nothing is perfect, but it still may be perfect for you.  Hey, you could get lucky, it might even be in a dynamic neighborhood!

Putting a buyer and the home of their dreams together is always a thrill.  It's even better when the home is a classic historic home and the buyer wants to restore the home to its original glory.  That's one of my favorite moments in real estate.

Last week was the closing of one of those enjoyable deals.  This beautiful historic home in Carthage has been vacant and sitting on the market for a long time.  It's not my listing, so I've simply been admiring it from afar and sending it out to historic home customers as I had them.  None of them were ready to take it on, though.

Meanwhile, the home popped in and out of active status several times.  It must have been fate, because it became available again just in time for the perfect buyers.

These nice folks traveled from several states away to look at homes, after finding my office from another historic listing on our United Country website.  We had talked on the phone.  We had discussed many properties.  I had mailed them all kinds of local information and listings. 

They love Victorian homes and had already made their current classic home into a showplace, so I knew they were serious.

They'd seen this home on the web, and it kept coming up in the conversation.  Unfortunately, it was under contract during most of our preliminary discussions.  They were disappointed, but accepting.

Then, just the week before they were planning to head down for a visit, the home came back on the market!  We had agreed on an itinerary of classic homes ranging across 100 miles of Southwest Missouri.  But in my heart, I knew they were coming for one house.

So I made sure to meet them in Carthage first thing in the morning and we headed right over to the home they'd been dreaming about.  It's less than one mile from our office.  We pulled into the driveway.  We parked.  We walked up onto the porch.  I don't think we even got in the door before they were saying:  "This is it.  This is the one." 

We went through room after high-ceiling room, admiring the original woodwork, the majestic staircase, the irreplaceable original touches everywhere.   On our way out, we stopped in the front hall and said goodbye and thank you to the big old-fashioned portrait of the home's original owner. 

I think he smiled.

That was it.  That was the only showing.  They wouldn't go anywhere else. 

We went back to the office and wrote an offer, I sent them down the street to the bank, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sometimes, real estate is a beautiful thing.

The area of Missouri where I live is full of smaller towns with limited restaurant choices.  There are some real gems hiding in these little towns, but the opening of a new restaurant always makes me very happy!

Mt. Vernon is not so small, with about 5,000 people, and it certainly isn't without restaurants.  But many of them, particularly along the easy-access business loop just off Interstate 44, are the standard fast food outlets.

So I was quite excited when a previously empty restaurant building re-opened as the locally owned Red Barn & Grill.  It's home cooking, but not bland cooking. Nice atmosphere, lots of cheerful sunflowers in the decor. 

Extremely high quality roast beef on the French dip sandwich.  Blackened chicken on a salad, big thumbs up.  Good burgers, hand shaped patties.  Fresh-made sweet tea.  And sweet potato fries, one of my all time favorites.  If they had chili mayo to go with them like BBs in St. Louis used to, I'd be even more thrilled. 

The only complaint I have is that it can be a little slow, because they really are making everything fresh.  I'm willing to wait, though! 

I recommend getting there a little bit before or after standard lunchtime.  I was over there just now at 12:30 my time, to recheck the opening and closing times for this blog and the place was packed!  I can't speak for the breakfast or dinner rush, since I haven't been there at those times.

I haven't yet tried one of their slices of pie or huge sticky rolls.  I'm guessing that if I have one, I'll want another the next day, and so on, and so on until an entire upsized wardrobe is required.  I'll leave it to all of you to take the risk.  Enjoy!

The Red Barn & Grill is easy to get to.  The address is 107 W. Mt Vernon Blvd, but you don't really need that.  Just leave I-44 at the main Mt. Vernon exit, and head west into town on the business loop, which is Mt. Vernon Blvd.  You'll go most of the way through town, which frankly is not that far.   Pass all that fast food, and look for the sign on your right.   Open 7 AM-9 PM every day and now 7-2 on Sunday!

If you're worried that the Red Barn might take more time than you have, continue on down the business loop a few hundred more feet.   Look on your left for the Mt. Vernon Family Restaurant sign in a shopping plaza on a little hill.  Their food is plainer, but good. 

They do great breakfasts, fried chicken, and their specials are reasonably priced.  You can even get frog legs, but I'm not that brave.  Things generally move a little more quickly there, except on Sunday if you find yourself among the large after-church crowd.  This makes a great alternate choice.

Come on over and enjoy some good food in Mt. Vernon!