Travels With B – Knoxville, Tennessee

Have you ever been to a place and you just know it’s going to be delightful? That’s how I felt
when I recently visited Knoxville, Tennessee. I’ve been through Knoxville before, always on
my way to somewhere else, but had never spent any time there. This was different but the time
we spent was not enough.

It immediately reminded me of many college towns I’ve visited because, it is, in fact, the home of the University of Tennessee. After a short drive around campus, our first stop was the visitors center. I have found that the visitors center in most towns is your best source of information.
They can tell you the best places to eat, where to park, and what to visit, especially if you are
short on time.

The woman there was very helpful and gave us lots of useful information and as we left, the door
was held open for us by the quintessential elderly southern gentleman. He engaged us in
conversation for a bit with a voice so honey-smooth, it could make a girl fairly swoon. I don’t
know if he was on the payroll, but he should have been.

Knoxville is chockfull of things to do. We spent some time at the 315-acre Ijams Nature Center
and almost crashed a wedding being held in one of the little outdoor spaces, tucked away in the
woods. They practically insisted that we join the guests, but we declined since we were, in
reality, intruders, having come upon the space quite by accident.

There is an entire group of fun activities included in what is broadly called the Urban
Wilderness. Besides the Ijams Nature Center, there is the Fort Dickerson Park, River Bluff
Wildlife Area, and William Hastie Natural Area, to name a few. There is much more. You can
hike, run, climb, bike, zipline, and swim.

If you prefer museums and art galleries, there is the McClung Museum of Natural History, the
Knoxville Museum of Art and The East Tennessee History Center, which we visited. I can
highly recommend it for a great overview of the state and important happenings. There are many
more cultural places we did not have time to visit.

I love historic homes and Knoxville has several but, because they were all temporarily closed
due to Covid, we did not get to tour any of them. I see another trip in the future! Many of them,
such as James White’s Fort, are quite rustic by our standards. But Westwood is at the other end
of the scale, exhibiting elegance and good fortune in every detail.

Fun activities for the whole family include the Three Rivers Rambler, a historic train, the Star of
Knoxville Riverboat, The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, The Zoo, the Alex Haley Heritage
Square, and the Sunsphere, built for the 1982 World’s Fair. There are many more activities too
numerous to mention. Suffice it to say, you will never be bored!

We ate downtown at the Market Square, first at Café 4 for lunch then at Tupelo Honey Southern
Kitchen and Bar for dinner. They were fabulous but our very favorite might possibly have been
the Coffee and Chocolate shop. The young man there served us the best coffee and chocolate we
have ever tasted. It was perfection. And who did we meet there, enjoying a cup, but our
honey-tongued Southern gentleman from the visitor’s center. We ran into him throughout the
day as we walked here and yon about the downtown area.

Before we were really ready to leave, we had to move on. Our actual purpose for this trip was to
visit Ross Miller of Bear Creek Warren in Powell, Tennessee, where we were to pick up three
new additions to my friend’s rabbit business.

Ross owns a number of rabbit breeds, including Flemish Giants and English Lops. We were honored to get a personal tour of his operation and meet his bunnies, all of whom are named and cared for as if they are pets. He loves his rabbits and it shows, both in the health and quality of his animals.

We left Knoxville knowing we would be back. There are so many things to see and do there that
a much longer stay will be required. If you have the chance, put Knoxville, Tennessee on your
places to go. You won’t be disappointed.