SATCO Hour

  CreekCreekBam  [Not in that order]

Today is my 35th birthday!! I have had so many nice cards, phone calls, IMs and emails. Thank you all. One of the ways I celebrated was reliving a long-time tradition. I realized the other day that I’ve been eating at SATCO for 20 years. In case you’re thinking that place has been here forever, well, at least that long. Because the first time I ate there, I was at Vandy for a prospective student weekend when I was 15.

Anyway, my friend Andrew and I went to Vandy together. He’s also friends with my [she would insist that I say] much younger sister, so the three of us have lunch from time to time. We ended up picking today because it worked for the three of us, but it was especially fun for me to spend my birthday with two of my favorite people.

When I was a senior in college, some of my friends decided we should make the most of the year, and declared that every Friday we’d hold "SATCO hour." So we started around 11 a.m. every Friday, with a bucket of beer, chips and cheese, and occasionally other food. The hour usually lasted all afternoon. SATCO hour was always held on the porch, but we went way into the dead of winter, and picked up again at the very first hint of spring. Many, many classes were skipped due to SATCO hour. Of course, most of us had just arranged our classes around this plan in the first place.

Note: I took a lot of pictures in college and I got out my albums the other night, thinking I’d find a fun one of SATCO hour from 1992-93 to post here, a la Busy Mom’s wedding day photo. Alas, while I had many photos of my friends at SATCO, I’d neglected to pass off the camera. I must protect the guilty, so I won’t be posting photos of other people who were drinking when possibly they should have been in class. I will add that all are now gainfully employed.

I still eat at SATCO a few times every year; I try to go in the summer when school is out. I guess I’ve gotten old and cranky enough I prefer to avoid those college kids [and the long line] when I can. But we had a fabulous time today. And SATCO is unchanging — the menu, the wobbly, sticky tables, the Steve Miller-era soundtrack — all your old favorites.