Day 6 & 7 - Knoxville, TN

For my next stop, I needed to backtrack north and east a little bit. My goal was to explore all the major cities in Tennessee. Plus I couldn’t pass up a trip to Gatlinburg. That place is like a combination of all the wildest attractions you’ve ever seen at any beach, except they’re all thrown together in the Great Smoky Mountains.

My first day in Knoxville, it was raining, freezing, and I was exhausted from the 3-day bender I just experienced with my friends. I checked the weather on my phone, and there was a “blackberry frost” alert. Apparently, there was a chance I’d wake up to see the grass dusted in PDAs. No, I understood perfectly that we were getting an uncharacteristically chilly cold front, and given the perfect week I just had, it was only fair. I spent most of the day relaxing and updating the blog.

It was nonetheless the anniversary of my best friend Bobby’s death. Every year, I get together with his cousins, and we go to dinner and have drinks to toast to his memory. I’m very close with them and consider them cousins of my own, as we all grew up together. This was the first time in 13 years I haven’t been in town to do so or visit the memorial. The latter I made sure to do before I left for my trip.

This year, I figured I would participate all the same by going out to dinner wherever I was, calling them at dinner to pay my respects, and having a toast “remotely.” I went to the Market Square District in downtown Knoxville; it’s the old town/main street area of the city. It was really a great opportunity for some classic pictures. I dined at the local hot spot Downtown Grille and Brewery. I had the best burger I’d had in a long time, and the beer was solid, the same quality you’d expect from a local tavern brewing its own beer.

The evening was filled with shenanigans, as I forgot to put the battery in my camera, for starters. My bartender seemed to try to skirt work at every opportunity, and sparked long conversations every chance she got, except when I actually had questions to ask her. She left the bar at one point to visit with some friends and play with their baby, because apparently Sunday night at the bar is the best place to bring your infant. So although it was frustrating, it was also mildly amusing.

Logistics back home were all mixed up, and by the time everyone got together, they only chatted for 10 minutes, took a toast, and left for other engagements. I still phoned my shot in, and of course in the spirit of the night, they didn’t have any Polish vodka and I took Absolut. Which wasn’t really what I wanted anyway; I wanted to try a new (local) Tennessee whiskey. Imagine this: the bartender never made herself available to recommend one.

I walked around afterwards scoping out the attractions, then went home to prepare for a day of sightseeing. I drove through the University of Tennessee campus, passing by the college bars. This looked like a pretty happening place to be while school was in session.

The next morning, I returned to South Gay Street, the main street in the Market Square District, and headed straight to my most anticipated location, the Mast General Store, an old-fashioned 1800’s style general store with just about everything you can imagine. They had clothes, dry food, toys, household items, and camping equipment. There were some quirky items that made for great photos, including garlic-shaped garlic containers, lots and lots of smoked bacon, and plenty of funny-sloganed t-shirts.

The outside of the store was amazing for pictures, as was the rest of Gay Street. I went to the History Center, and they had lots of old-fashioned hand made brooms, with the carved and lacquered twisting handles. I took pictures of the Riviera movie theatre, and the Tennessee Theatre, which featured not only a Bob the Builder production, but also a sold out Heart concert in the next month. The local park featured a very interesting iron sculpture. Also, among all the delicious country cooking, there was a French café serving homemade crepes. And a consignment store called “Yee Haw.”

I made my way towards the Knoxville Convention Center, which had shooting fountains and a very modern layout just waiting to be photographed, as well as a World War II memorial. The pictures were amazing, and it was an incredibly pleasant afternoon.

On top of that, I decided to try something new called geocaching. This is basically taking part in a worldwide scavenger hunt for individual items hidden in random places, trackable by GPS device. You enter the coordinates of a local item, then begin your search, and when you find it, you sign the log both on paper (contained with the item) and online. So I registered at the website and found some local “caches” hidden in Knoxville. There were several interesting ones hidden around the convention center, in or around the fountains.

I plugged the coordinates into my iphone and got started. The first one was definitely in the fountain, and it was definitely not even 60 degrees outside. Since this trip is all about adventure, I threw caution to the wind and took off my shirt and shoes and ran in regardless. Words cannot describe how cold the water was; I literally can’t even remember because I went into shock. It was hard to see anything because of the gushing water, and I ran around a lap and held out as long as I could but saw nothing. After that I realized it was not a battle to be won, but at least I tried.

The next cache was in a drier place apparently, but I could not find anything in the area marked by the given coordinates. After searching for quite some time, and almost killing my battery, I decided I would need to upgrade the GPS device and try again later. I was using Google Maps and I don’t think it was as accurate as it needed to be for this exercise. It was disappointing, but still a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of great landscape in the process. A huge thanks to my friend Chelsea for introducing me to the idea.

On my way back, I stopped to snap some shots of the World War II memorial. Adding to its aesthetic qualities were some inspiring quotes that only reinforced my mission to go out and live life with my hands on the wheel, according to my own rules. The monuments spoke of freedom, and I felt like I was right where I needed to be. The obelisk in the middle had a basic freedom on each of its 4 sides, and the one that stood out in my mind was “Freedom from Want.” I now have that. I am doing what I want, I don’t need to sit and dream about it and sigh because I may never get to do it.

I took a moment to reflect on the courageous people who fought and died for these basic freedoms. I wish they didn’t have to die for me to be here right now doing what I’m doing, but nonetheless I am fiercely grateful.

After spending a brisk but sunny afternoon dissecting Knoxville, it was time to move on to the Great Smoky Mountains. Next stops: Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg!

*For all the pics from today and the entire trip, check http://picasaweb.google.com/cyprian.mendelius.