This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

As with many interstate travelers, the Cracker Barrel is a regular meal stop during my family vacations. Partaking of some comfort food, perusing the country store for toys and foodstuffs we recall from our childhoods, and resting for a spell in the rocking chairs can be just the thing after long hours on the road.

But also like many travelers, I'm sure, I had no idea that the Cracker Barrel came from the small town of Lebanon (pronounced LEB-nun by many natives), Tennessee, the county seat of Wilson County, east of Nashville.

A local spring was the chosen site for the town, and a nearby grove of red cedars inspired the town's biblical name. The town was incorporated in 1819, and Cumberland University opened its doors there in 1842. The town square -- which today features antique and gift shops that bring tourists from far and wide -- was the site of a Civil War battle in 1862. Some 130 confederate soldiers are buried at Lebanon's historic Cedar Grove Cemetery.

The town expanded once the Tennessee and Pacific Railroad came to town after the Civil War, followed by the Lebanon Woolen Mills and the Gulf Red Cedar Company in 1908. General George Patton's tanks passed through the town on their way to Europe, and after World War II, the town expanded again, with the opening of Tennessee's first industrial park, which is the site of Cracker Barrel's corporate headquarters.

One of the first things I thought of when my husband and I made a whirlwind move from St. Louis to Chicago this month is that I'm finally in a JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) market and can see what the fuss is all about. I hear rumors of low fares, cushy seats, and personal media players for every seat.

Apparently, things are looking good from inside the company as well. The low-cost carrier returned to the black in its latest third-quarter, posting net income of $23 million, or 12 cents per share. This figure compares with a year-ago loss of $500,000 (roughly 0 cents per share). The numbers were a nickel above Wall Street's consensus view of 7 cents per share, according to estimates compiled by Reuters.

Revenue rose 22% during the quarter to $765 million, falling just shy of analysts' expectations of $767 million. Traffic during the reporting period jumped 13% higher to 6.86 billion revenue passenger miles, and capacity rose 11%. Load factor -- the percentage of seats filled -- rose to 82% from 80.4% last year.