What to do after a mid-afternoon visit to the Hardin Planetarium, where I sat under a comforting night sky for more than an hour? How about a Sunday drive to Franklin under a calming fall sky for a little comfort food?

After a little search through the town to find out what was and wasn’t open, my dining companions and I ended up at the cozy Cracker Barrel restaurant near Interstate 65.

We were seated right away and treated well by the wait staff, who know how the flow of food service works – providing beverages, then just enough time to look over the extensive menu to decide between a huge variety of comfort foods, which were served in a timely manner.

For my dining companion, it was chicken and dumplings. What a great way to welcome in fall. The chicken was an abundant amount of thin mouthful portions. Even though it was swimming in a delicious thickened broth sauce, the chicken itself had been over boiled and was a little on the dry side. The dumplings, however, were thick, flavorful and worth every bite. With sweet baby carrots and whole kernel corn on the side, it was just another colorful reminder that fall is here.

I decided on the roast beef dinner (it was one of the few dishes on the menu with a photo, and I found it irresistible). The roast beef was tender and juicy, with a delicious gravy as well. If I order it in the future, I will ask for more gravy and pour it over the mashed potatoes, too. It’s not that the mashed potatoes were bad, but the gravy was that good. I rounded my meal off with a country dish consoling to me – fried apples, similar to apple pie without the crust. It has a soothing aroma (like grandma’s apple pie) as well as an appetizing taste.

If there is a comfort food for the modern generation, I’d say it could very well be chicken tenders. This is exactly what our lovely, young dining companion, who had joined us for a trip to the planetarium, ordered that day. In her words, the tenders were “not the best she’d ever had,” but “pretty good.” As her side, she ordered a fall staple, apple sauce. It was also good, yet lacked the spices my apples had, so we combined the two for a special luxurious comfort food.

We certainly could have had a delicious dessert at Cracker Barrel (and were tempted by the photo of a brownie with vanilla ice cream), but we had seen Chaney’s Dairy Barn on the way and my dining companion had never been there, so we stopped for scoops of one of the top 10 ice creams in the country, as well as a very hilarious trip down the large tube slide near the corn maze!

When we left Cracker Barrel, we were treated to a plethora of seasonal goodies in the gift shop. Music, candy, lotions, Halloween costumes, knick knacks and even comforting clothing.

So, if you’re in need of a little country coziness as we head into the fall, Cracker Barrel is truly a treat.

— Our anonymous food reviewer gives new restaurants a six-week grace period before reviewing. To comment, contact Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 or via e-mail to malexieff@bgdailynews.com.