My friend Myrna had told me about a little place called Gin Gin’s up on Signal Mountain as we had planned to have lunch together last week. She said it looked like a house and was easy to find.

When it came time to meet her I thought I had prepared well by printing off directions from the Internet. I had been up on Signal Mountain before, but it was when my Joe was still alive and he used to do all the driving.

Trying to read and drive is not something an older person should attempt. I know that I am not up to par with the latest gadgets they have now and maybe I should learn to use one of those navigation devices you put in your car but I thought I had done pretty good by finding it on the computer without asking Myrna for directions. It never dawned on me how I would read and drive!

Going up that W Road was not my idea of fun! Those curves are so tightly wound I am surprised the mountain hadn’t already sprung itself! I just knew that the right bumper would hit into the rock of the mountain, but I finally made it up.

When I got to the darling place (after having to call Myrna for help in how to find it) she told me I did not have to take the W Road! She said I could have just taken Taft Highway. At least I knew I didn’t have to go back down the way I came up!

Gin Gin’s was so sweet and nice. It had a nice ramp-like porch and when you entered there was a television fireplace. It looked like a flat screen hanging on the wall and the “screen” had a fake fire going as heat came out of the bottom of it. I wished I could have changed the channels and made it a roaring fire, but the owner said she turned it down because it got pretty warm in there.

We sat in a corner in the back and looked at our menus. Myrna knew what she wanted already; she was getting the Reuben sandwich and chips for $7.99. I saw a prime rib sandwich for $9.95 that looked pretty good and I wanted French fries.

When our meals arrived, I first looked at Myrna’s sandwich with the marble-rye bread that looked delicious! Then I saw mine and I knew I should go ahead and ask for a box. My sandwich of sautéed onions, roasted peppers and prime rib roast was a monster sandwich (which was appropriate around Halloween time) but it looked as though it had lost some of its innards!

I took my fork and began eating the overloaded meat before attempting to pick up the sandwich. It was so wonderful! I loved the flavor of those sweet red peppers. Then I tried the fries and I was glad I ordered them. I am quite picky about fries being either too greasy or too potato-y but these were perfect! I would even re-heat them - and I don’t re-heat fries. But they were that tasty! Even the pickle on the side was not flimsy and was a good pickle.

With the cute and cozy place and the scrumptious meal, Willie Mae says Gin Gin’s is a “win win”!

Overloaded prime rib sandwich and fries