Day 2 - Knoxville, TN

 

Sunday, May 8, 2022 (Mother's Day!)

Weather - Cloudy, high of 70F

Steps - Shaun: 16,444, Shannon: 15,108

Beignets were here and are now gone

This morning we started our day with a Mother's Day brunch at a cute restaurant called Farmacy that was only a couple of minutes from our hotel. The décor was really interesting, with plants EVERYWHERE and gallery walls with different kinds of art, baskets, and random stuff thrown together in a pleasing way. Plus, there was a mural of Dolly Parton in the bathroom, and she's always a win.

Yes, that otter is wearing a dress and red shoes
and that cat has three eyes

Farmacy didn't have a ton of vegan options, but they did have a wonderful avocado toast on nummy nummy bread, so Shaun was happy. Unfortunately, she didn't get to eat much of it because we started the meal with beignets, and those went a long way toward filling us up early. They were delicious but huge (but most especially delicious)! Shannon got what was essentially a bacon, egg, and avocado sandwich, but it was on a crispy buttermilk biscuit with smoky pimento cheese, and the avocado was fried, so it was a step above the rest. Both of us got a sweet potato hash that was tasty and savory and Shaun took hers home to eat as leftovers.

After brunch, we went on a short quest for tea and coffee, which took us to two different coffee shops. Status Donuts had good cold brew coffee for Shannon (plus a chocolate glazed donut for Shannon and a vegan snickerdoodle donut for Shaun) but no English Breakfast tea, so they sent us on to Honeybee Coffee, which had mediocre black tea for Shaun. It was decided that Shaun is just too picky in her tea preferences nowadays (oh how far we've come!), so we would bring the kettle and tea stuff in to the hotel room when we returned in the evening.

Now fully caffeinated, we drove across the city to the Knoxville Botanical Garden, a gem of a place tucked up on the hillside in a neighborhood. The only downside was that we arrived to find the visitors center closed, and we both really needed to use the restroom. So, rather than limit ourselves and be uncomfortable for the whole visit, we left again and went to an Arby's down the road. Upon our return, we took in all the beauty of the place. It was a manageable size and had a section close to the visitors center that was more manicured, while across the street was a wilder forest and wildflower meadow. 

Some of the highlights of the botanical gardens were the peony area (which was in full bloom), the bamboo maze (that was crazy!), and the secret garden with its sweet-smelling dianthus (these look like tiny carnations). It had an expansive section of five acres set aside for pollinators, which was really cool...until Shannon stepped on an ant hill and got attacked by those aggressive suckers!

We love it when we can find varieties of our favorite plant species that we've never seen before. One of our favorites was this hosta with both blue and green leaves and several other blue varieties that Shannon particularly enjoyed. There was also a children's garden, a native medicinal plant garden, and a community garden where people could rent a plot and receive plants, seeds, tools, and the water needed to grow their plants, all for free!  All in all, the botanical garden was great, and we were really glad we had the time to do it justice.

Next we went to lunch at Ale' Rae's Gastropub where Shaun got fried cauliflower and Shannon got pulled pork. It was really good, and we even got to listen to some live music for part of our meal. We've read that this is very common in Knoxville for there to be music in random places all over the city, and this guy was pretty good (especially since he started with a song from Bob Seger!).

Once we were re-fueled and Shannon was caffeinated with a cookies and cream latte, we were on our way to the Ijams Nature Center. Upon arriving, we found that a classical music concert was going on, which gave the visit some ambiance. We got to see a VERY large red-tailed hawk and a turkey vulture that had been rescued, checked out the little store and endangered species gallery, and then we were on our way to the trails.

We had been told that it was only a mile round trip to get to the river walk and back, but I (Shaun) think they lied to us. It felt like much further, and a good bit of it was uphill. There was also a scary series of steps going down to the river, but I figured if the three little kids and a pregnant woman that were in front of us could do it, so could I. It was slippery in parts though, so I was a little hesitant. It turned out to be worth it though because the river was pretty and there was a seriously cool series of caves and even a geologic fold to boot! We were good little hikers and didn't deviate from the trail, but there was a dudebro in front of us that kept climbing over the railing and poking around in the caves. Some folks just don't get it!

There were some big splashes in the water that we think were fish jumping for insects, but we couldn't see anything above the water except for the splashes. We kept looking and looking (because we'd read that we might see river otters), but we were denied!

Once we got back to the visitors center, we headed out to see Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which Shannon gave a 6.5 and Shaun gave a 7.5.  Back at the hotel, we ate leftovers and went to bed pretty early.  Shaun's system balked at the late meal, but we both got a good night's sleep and awoke ready for a day of shopping and exploring in Knoxville!