Day 3 - Knoxville, TN

 

Monday, May 9, 2022

Weather - Sunny and clear, with a high of 80F

Steps - Shaun: 12,282, Shannon: 11,423

We started the day leisurely, getting up around 9am, and then going down for the complimentary breakfast at the hotel. We left around 11am to head into Downtown Knoxville, where we planned to do some shopping and see the sights.

We parked in the Market Square Parking Garage, which was centrally located and easy to get to, and walked the couple of blocks up to the Knoxville Visitors Center. Part information center, part event space, and part store, the visitors center was pretty great, with a knowledgeable person working the counter who knew all about the local products and could guide us to our various intended destinations. We bought a few treats, including toffee made in Nashville and drink mixers, and then made our way a couple blocks further north, stopping at a cute plant/gift/coffee shop, where Shannon got a strawberry mocha latte and a rosemary-grapefruit mask spray. Our ultimate destination was the Arts & Culture Alliance's Emporium Center, a mixed-use building filled with artists' studios and exhibit space. Shaun didn't think it was that good, but it reminded Shannon of the old factories-turned-artists' studios she visited in Boston and Lowell. The art was interesting, and since we weren't going to be able to see the Knoxville Art Museum, this was the next best alternative.

After leaving the art emporium, we checked out at a mural we had learned about at the visitors center. The city has a bunch of murals scattered around, including a whole alley covered in them. This one in particular lines the center column of a multi-story stairwell, and has hidden symbols and features related to Knoxville and its history. We got a brochure that acted as a scavenger hunt, listing what you should look for and famous people, events, and attributes that are represented in the imagery. It was super cool, interesting, and beautiful too!

At that point, we decided to head back to Market Square to get some lunch. Shaun had looked up some vegan-friendly restaurants in Knoxville on The Happy Cow website, and one of the ones she found was located right in the square. The Tomato Head was perfect. Our server turned out to be vegan too, and she was able to help us not only figure out our meal there, but also recommended other eateries for us to try later on. Shaun ended up getting a pizza with vegan cheese, seitan pepperoni, and veggies, while Shannon got a curried spinach soup (surprisingly delicious) and deconstructed pasta salad (rather than lettuce, the goodies are served over noodles). 

We decided to take the stuff we had bought at the visitors center back to the car before going back out and exploring Market Square and environs. Of course, then we stopped at the Mast General Store and managed to load ourselves up again! Most exciting of our purchases was a 2000-piece puzzle of stained glass windows, which we're going to set up at the Vrbo tomorrow. We'll be there 10 days, so hopefully we'll be able to finish it before we leave!

We meandered a bit more around Downtown Knoxville before getting back in the car and driving over to the World's Fair Park (we could have walked it, but by then our dogs were barking and needed a bit of a rest). This was the site of the 1982 World's Fair, which is credited with bringing about a renaissance in the city, re-focusing attention and investment on the downtown district and leading to a resurgence in civic pride in Knoxville. The park is mostly used as an event space now, with a big lawn space for festivals and a canvas-covered amphitheater. The crown jewel in the park is the Sunsphere, a 266-foot tall tower topped with a gold sphere, which can be seen from most places around town. A little stream runs through the park and it's really quite pleasant. 

Closing out our day, we went to the University of Tennessee Gardens, something that we had intended to see yesterday but ran out of time. The gardens are used for teaching and research at UT, and they reminded Shannon of the Smith College Botanic Garden. There was a kitchen garden with lots of yummy fruits, veggies, and herbs at various stages of growth, a gorgeous rose garden in full bloom (we're not even close to rose season in Michigan!), Japanese and rock gardens, and a children's garden with lots of fun sculptures. We were pleased to see some poppies blooming, along with irises, dogwoods, and so, so much more. It was just beautiful and a great way to end the day.

Not far from the gardens, we went to Sunspot, one of the restaurants recommended by the server at The Tomato Head. Parking was a challenge because of a bunch of construction going on there, and it seemed like a favorite of the college crowd, but we didn't have any trouble getting a table. Shaun ordered a loaded mac & cheese with Beyond Beef chili, black beans, and vegan cheese, while Shannon got a local beef burger with sweet potato waffle fries. Shaun said hers was a little one-note and could have benefited from some sauteed onions and peppers, but Shannon's was good.

We had intended on going to see Uncharted after dinner, but we didn't have enough time to finish dinner and get to the last showing, so we just headed back to the hotel to relax, write up our adventures for the blog, and get ready to move on to the next stage in our trip: the Great Smoky Mountain National Park!

Basically our mantra for this trip