Knoxville, TN: Explore

Four years ago, three girlfriends and I enjoyed a weekend at Autumn Olive Camping. None of us had been camping in years (or ever) and it was quite the adventure. From Vicky scaring us so badly no one except her could sleep in the tent the first night, to shooting guns, drinking moonshine, and just generally acting a fool. None of us had been to Knoxville before so we planned to spend the last night of our weekend there. The majority of our time was spent on Gay Street and we had an absolute blast! We saw the sites, met many locals, danced to Gangnam Style in the square, and gained superhero powers after dark. This time around, I got to explore Knoxville with my family. No superpowers came to light, but we did have fun. 

Sadly, reunion weekend was over seemingly as fast as it started. A handful of cousins left the day after Norris Lake, but my cousin Heather wasn’t leaving right away. We are only one week apart and grew up in neighboring cities, so we have always been close. She and I last spent quality time together for our 30th birthday celebration at the beginning of the year. Well, us and 30 of our closest friends, but it was our night. And here we are, 5 months later, back at it again! We hiked the steep hill on the property and attempted to find our way to one of the cabins. Along the way we attacked spiderwebs before they attacked us, I inhaled a bug straight to the back of my throat, and we discovered there are two trails up there where, of course, we chose the one that led us to a gate we never even noticed existed. At the end we checked for ticks and traded the dog in for my cousin's children who took us up the road to look at more of the property. Heather couldn’t escape some kind of bug and Makenna skinned her knee. The fun never stops!

Baby Bex, Baby Heather + Moms

Post hike, Heather and I joined the family remaining in town and caravanned to Knoxville. While we were wandering around town and looking for a spot to grab a bite to eat, we came across Strong Alley, an alley in downtown that street artists have tagged over the years. I have no artistic abilities and am always wowed at what people have the talent to do. After a tasty lunch at The Tomato Head, half of us grabbed coffee at Market House Cafe, and half went back to LaFollette. The coffee spot had neat ceiling tiles where someone put coffee under a microscope and transferred the images to the tiles. Heather and I took Mom, Lori, and her girls to the airport and wished them safe travels, then headed to a spot where you can see a great view of the sunset. It was a questionable ride following GPS instructions, but we parked on the side of the road and headed up Cherokee Trail in our sandals, with makeshift weapons on our person, just in case. We arrived at the top with no incident and the view did not disappoint. A small clearing behind graffitied boulders provides a panoramic view of downtown Knoxville. Our timing was spot on to see the sun slowly dipping behind the city… Success! As we were enjoying the views one of the people that we passed on our trek up the trail came up to us, handing Heather back her ID that had fallen out of her pocket somewhere along the way. Thank god for good people!

Knoxville

 

 

Market House

 

Our plan thereafter was to go back downtown. As we were driving, Balter Beer Works was on the corner of the street and we decided to give it a try. The bartender and the off duty brewery tour guide were so friendly and full of information for us. The brewery sold beers so small they were basically samples, but it was good enough for us to try. We followed the advice of the tour guide and headed to another funky brewery, but they were closing as we got there. Bummer. We went back to downtown and WOW how it changed in the few hours we were gone. What appeared to be shady characters roamed the streets and two men were preaching through a megaphone in the middle of the square. Many of the bars and restaurants were closing while we walked through, but one of the roof tops bars were open. Two were, actually, but one of them reeked of smoke as soon as we walked in and charged a cover so we walked right back out. Right next door was the free, smokeless, rooftop bar, Scruffy City Hall. There are 3 levels we checked out and made it back downstairs just in time for the Cavs to win the final basketball game. Good for them. I still don’t care much about sports, but it was nice for them to win since I was just in Cleveland and part of the hype. The ride back to Autumn Olive was dark, long, and uneventful. Until something large appeared in front of my car and disappeared just as fast. My cousin and I couldn’t figure out what it was… it was too big to be a cat, too small to be a coyote or something, but whatever it was, we thankfully didn’t hit it. After telling my aunt about it the next day, she told us it was probably a big owl swooping down in front of the car. That made perfect sense.

The next day, Aunt Joyce, Heather, Makenna, and I had a girls day at a mall in Knoxville. I had an appointment to get my phone screen fixed and my aunt had some issues with her iPods that she needed worked out. While the devices were being worked on, Heather and I fueled up on Starbucks. The caffeine hit us and we were in pretty goofy moods. She doesn’t have an iPhone and was unaware of the AirDrop feature, so I showed her how it worked. In short, AirDrop enables the quick transfer of files (any size) without using mail, text, or a mass storage device. To demonstrate, I used a funny photo that I had captured of Heather earlier in the day and AirDropped it to one of the iPads out for show. Then we decided to send it to just a few of the other iPads in the store. Then Heather sent it to every device available on AirDrop. Next thing you know, every iPad and computer in the store lit up with Heather’s funny face, requesting the device to accept the photo. It was hilarious to us from the get-go, but now everyone else got to enjoy it too. Luckily the employees were good natured about it and thought it was funny. Afterwards, Makenna and Aunt Joyce both used a massage chair for the first time and loved it. After our trip to the mall we went to the airport to let Heather go home. I’m so happy we got to spend so much time together and can’t wait to do it again!

I was supposed to leave LaFollette after getting my car fixed the next day, but the local dealerships couldn’t schedule me until the following week. After following hillbilly instructions, I made it to a dealership a bit out of town and they fixed my car up. Floridians worked there so we chatted about home and travel, then I was good to go. I spent the rest of my time in the country playing with the dogs, watching the hummingbirds zoom around, and catching fireflies with the kids. This week has been a great stop, so full of family, good food, and good times. If ever you are looking for a camping location or low key vacation, I encourage you to check out Autumn Olive Camping. It’s the cats meow.