I miss the anonymity of big cities. You can have a run-in with a stranger, speak your mind, maybe even tell them off and walk away, never to see them again. Like the homeless guy that threw my money back at me. Or the girl that felt my coffee order was holding up the line. Small moments of interpersonal weakness happens to everyone, except in Johnson City.

In Johnson City the odds are fairly good that not only will you see this person again, they will be related to, employed by or friends with, an important person in your life.

This restricts the free flow of my emotions with strangers, and even though this is probably a good thing, it is not nearly as much fun. It makes me think twice about what I say to people, how I act in public and whether or not I leave the house in a tank top.

But apart from that, there are many, many wonderful things about small towns. The lack of traffic congestion, the quiet, the clean air and great parking.

Everywhere you go has abundant, free parking. If that statement doesn’t mean anything to you, take a trip to a big city in a car and then tell me about State of Franklin. I think my all-time, absolute favorite part about small towns, though, is their ability and willingness to shut down streets to have community events.

And so, with Jade away for the weekend, Jeff and I set out for one such event: First Friday.

I love the idea of First Friday and Jeff loves the downtown revitalization project. We both try to support our local downtown businesses as much as we can, especially since downtown is within walking distance from our house. But Jeff didn’t want to walk. Being that it was a Friday and he was tired from working in construction, we drove.

Mountain Yoga was having a free yoga class and chair massages. Jeff does Qi Gong there and was due for a date with me and a yoga mat. A fun class, a nice massage and door prizes left us feeling all relaxed and dreamy as we set out for some food.

On the way we saw three different bands playing and the piano guy outside of Russo’s. He’s a personal favorite of mine because he once sang “The Girl From Ipanema” for me. We settled on Freiberg’s for dinner because it had been a while since we’d been there.

I lived in Germany for a while, so I feel some authority in saying that the food there is pretty authentic.

But even if it wasn’t, fried potatoes with bacon and onions is pretty universal in its “awesomeness” as a side dish.

Jeff ordered the schnitzel sandwich and I ordered the onion tart, which takes a little longer to make, so Jeff and I had a beer and some of the deep fried cauliflower (the only way to eat cauliflower in my opinion).

And, there was another band playing there. We laughed, we talked, we ate and we debated whether the older woman at the next table was the girlfriend or mother of the guitar player, and we left with two containers of leftovers that provided to be enough for breakfast and lunch the next day.

Jeff’s schnitzel sandwich was a big honkin’ thing, deep fried and served on a pretzel roll.

The onion tart was bacony, oniony, cheesy, deliciousness and went great with eggs for breakfast on Saturday.

Our server was very attentive and helpful with the menu. Best of all, the view from the top floor allowed Jeff and I to goof on the other people out for First Friday.

Of course, just not within earshot.

Freiberg’s is located at 203 E. Main Street. To contact the restaurant, call 423-928-4106.

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