Sunday, October 2, 2016

Knoxville, Tennessee

What a week!  Last Monday, I flew from Denver to Knoxville, Tennessee.  When the plane landed, it was raining.  Got a taxi to the hotel. After I checked in, I went to set-up for the presentation for the next day.  As I turned on my computer, I realized that the computer wasn't operating properly.  After about 15 minutes on the phone with the "help desk", the conclusion was that my computer had crashed and that I needed to send it in to be worked on.  Definitely not the direction that I wanted to go.

I got the computer wrapped up and boxed to be sent back to be worked on.  I finished setting up the room for the next day.  After all of this, I decided it was time to explore Knoxville.

Knoxville is an impressive city.  It reminded me a lot of Austin, Texas back in the late 60s and early 70s.  Austin is no longer a small city!

Knoxville was first settled in 1786 due to the Tennessee River that runs through the city.  Knoxville was the first capital of Tennessee.  The current population is around 186,000.

Downtown Knoxville is less than one square mile.  The downtown area is filled with several retail establishments, residential buildings, the city's convention center and some great restaurants, such as Tupelo Honey Cafe.  This cute restaurant is located in the historic Market Square. The food is fresh, southern dishes.  The finger-licking chicken and homemade buttery biscuits melted in my mouth.

Knoxville is the home of the University of Tennessee.  They are known as the "vols".  The enrollment is approximately 28,000.  I took the trolley around the campus and I enjoyed seeing the stadium and the buildings.

Knoxville is the gateway to the Great Smoky National Park; as well as the home of the Women's Basket Hall of Fame.

In 1982, Knoxville hosted the World's Fair.  The theme of the fair was "Energy Turns the World". President Reagan opened the fair on May 1, 1982.  The 1982 Fair was the last successful World's Fair held in America and the first ever in the South.

If you haven't been to Knoxville, you need to put it on your list.  It is a great city to tour and enjoy the hospitality of the locals.






2 comments:

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

I have heard of Knoxville but of course have never been there being that it is in a different country, hell there are a lot of places in this country that I have not visited

Rick Watson said...

The are the Vols and they are 5 and 0 for the first time in many years. The last time they went 5 and 0 was when they won a national championship.
Alabama plays them in a few weeks. I'm nervous. Stop talking about Knoxville :)
R