My final post about my trip to Knoxville....
Calhouns: located at Volunteer landing and apparently the place to be. I thought it was just ok. They're known for their BBQ ribs, but with my braces didn't want to eat them. I opted instead for the pulled pork (a theme for my stay in Knoxville). I wasn't overly impressed, it wasn't even the best I had in Knoxville. If you like a spicier BBQ sauce you might like it, I prefer a sweeter sauce and this wasn't it. It's hard to tell how the atmosphere is since I had an early dinner, but I suspect the place is packed on weekend nights, and it does have a nice view of the river.
The Tomato Head: Located in Market Square. I was a little confused when I walked in for lunch, but asked for help, ordered my food and got a table. I had pizza and a salad. The pizza was good for non-nyc pizza, it was tasty. The salad was also good. This was a nice place for my lunch and I would go back again if I was there.
Market Square Kitchen: Located in Market Square. It's a breakfast and lunch place, the food was good, quick and well priced.
Cafe 4: Located in Market Square. I had good pulled pork here, there was outside seating and a nice atmosphere. The prices were reasonable and the service was good.
Woodruff Brewery: A block East of Market Square. I did not eat here, but it was the liveliest place I saw in Knoxville my whole time there.
Showing posts with label Knoxville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knoxville. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
In search of a Body Farm
When in Knoxville I visited the University of Tennessee. Having gone to Penn State, another large Football school in a University town I thought it would be intersting to see.
The campus was very hilly, which I didn't expect. It was built on a Civil War battle site, it's a shame that the area couldn't have been preserved - Bad Tennessee!!! Neyland Stadium is in the Southeast Corner of the campus, but was right next to other buildings. The stadium at Boston College was similar to that, dorms surrounding it. It's strange to me since Beaver Stadium at Penn State is on its own with other large sporting venues around it. The dorms were all in one spot in a corner of campus. The campus didn't seem well cared for like I have seen at other Universities. At one point I was walking on a side walk by what I named the "graveyard of buildings." There were small sets up steps that used to lead to buildings. The buildings have since been torn down and there are vacant lots with little sets of steps.
I did get an opportunity to go to the museum on campus. It was a nice little
museum, it had a Egyptian display and a display about Knoxville during the Civil War. I even made the guard go get the video about Knoxville during the Civil War. My favorite part was when I asked the info desk woman a question and she thought I was still in college. Ummm, no, but I'll take that as a compliment.
Before I went I had heard that the University of Tennessee has a body farm, since it was raining and I didn't have too much to do I thought I would go find it. All I knew was that it was near the Medical Center, so I took a drive around there. I found luxury student houseing, close but not quite what I was looking for. Then I found a back country area with cars on blocks and No Trespassing signs. I decided it was time to head back to civilization without finding the body farm. Other then saying I was at a body farm do I really need to visit one?
The campus was very hilly, which I didn't expect. It was built on a Civil War battle site, it's a shame that the area couldn't have been preserved - Bad Tennessee!!! Neyland Stadium is in the Southeast Corner of the campus, but was right next to other buildings. The stadium at Boston College was similar to that, dorms surrounding it. It's strange to me since Beaver Stadium at Penn State is on its own with other large sporting venues around it. The dorms were all in one spot in a corner of campus. The campus didn't seem well cared for like I have seen at other Universities. At one point I was walking on a side walk by what I named the "graveyard of buildings." There were small sets up steps that used to lead to buildings. The buildings have since been torn down and there are vacant lots with little sets of steps.I did get an opportunity to go to the museum on campus. It was a nice little
museum, it had a Egyptian display and a display about Knoxville during the Civil War. I even made the guard go get the video about Knoxville during the Civil War. My favorite part was when I asked the info desk woman a question and she thought I was still in college. Ummm, no, but I'll take that as a compliment. Before I went I had heard that the University of Tennessee has a body farm, since it was raining and I didn't have too much to do I thought I would go find it. All I knew was that it was near the Medical Center, so I took a drive around there. I found luxury student houseing, close but not quite what I was looking for. Then I found a back country area with cars on blocks and No Trespassing signs. I decided it was time to head back to civilization without finding the body farm. Other then saying I was at a body farm do I really need to visit one?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Knoxville and the free trolly
Knoxville is a nice little city, though very quiet. The city center is only about 5 blocks by 8 blocks (rough estimate), so it's quite walkable. It's also clean and there aren't a lot of vagrants around. Aside from Market Square there doesn't seem to be much signs of life. Maybe this was because of the poor weather, or maybe it's because I'm used to NYC. I did end up at a movie on Tuesday night, I was the only person in the theater, I almost felt bad about it.
One of the most interesting thing I did there was ride the free trolley. I did it for 2 reasons. One, it got me around the city for free, two - I would be able to see some different ares of the city without walking. I found so much more then just a free mode of transportation, I found a social experiment. The trolley takes you from a couple different areas outside the city center to the city center. Basically on the West side of the city is World's Fair Park and after that is the U. of Tennessee and the suburbs, the park kind of separates the city from the rest. Being free, the shuttle doesn't attract high society. Actually, as a "Northerner" it seemed to have Southern goobers... The people seemed to be one step above being homeless. I expected
to see more students and tourists on the trolley, I saw very little of either. After taking the trolley the first day, I decided to drive the following day. But I did get to see quite a bit of the city. I should have known there wouldn't be many tourists on it since there were very few signs showing where the trolley stopped even though it stopped quite often. But the trolley is a good deal if you're visiting the city and can figure out where it stops.
When I packed for my trip I forget the wire to charge my ipod and ended up going to Best Buy, this took me through the suburbs of Knoxville. They're like the suburbs in most other places. Residential areas and then sections of strip malls with all sorts of shopping along the major roads. All the same types of stores you'll find in other areas of the nation.
One of the nicer spots in Knoxville is Volunteer Landing. When I had heard about it before I thought it was going to be a 2 mile stretch of waterfront with fun and cool activities. It's really just a 2 mile stretch of walkway along the water with 3 restaurants and a fun activity or two. Half of the walkway has a view of the docked river boats. If you're looking for a spot to walk and see the water, it's great, if you're looking for a good time, you might have to go somewhere else.
I visited the Woman's Basketball Hall of Fame. I'm not a huge fan of Basketball, but it seemed interesting and admission was only a few dollars. I was the only person there, but the museum was nice. It was fun to look at all the funny uniforms woman wore over the years. I also liked that I got to see real Olympic medals. The museum has a downstairs section where kids or adults can practice different types of basketball drills. I would rate the museum as a good place to take children. It will only take an hour or 2 (maybe 3 if you're really into it) to go through the museum.
One of the most interesting thing I did there was ride the free trolley. I did it for 2 reasons. One, it got me around the city for free, two - I would be able to see some different ares of the city without walking. I found so much more then just a free mode of transportation, I found a social experiment. The trolley takes you from a couple different areas outside the city center to the city center. Basically on the West side of the city is World's Fair Park and after that is the U. of Tennessee and the suburbs, the park kind of separates the city from the rest. Being free, the shuttle doesn't attract high society. Actually, as a "Northerner" it seemed to have Southern goobers... The people seemed to be one step above being homeless. I expected
to see more students and tourists on the trolley, I saw very little of either. After taking the trolley the first day, I decided to drive the following day. But I did get to see quite a bit of the city. I should have known there wouldn't be many tourists on it since there were very few signs showing where the trolley stopped even though it stopped quite often. But the trolley is a good deal if you're visiting the city and can figure out where it stops.
When I packed for my trip I forget the wire to charge my ipod and ended up going to Best Buy, this took me through the suburbs of Knoxville. They're like the suburbs in most other places. Residential areas and then sections of strip malls with all sorts of shopping along the major roads. All the same types of stores you'll find in other areas of the nation.
One of the nicer spots in Knoxville is Volunteer Landing. When I had heard about it before I thought it was going to be a 2 mile stretch of waterfront with fun and cool activities. It's really just a 2 mile stretch of walkway along the water with 3 restaurants and a fun activity or two. Half of the walkway has a view of the docked river boats. If you're looking for a spot to walk and see the water, it's great, if you're looking for a good time, you might have to go somewhere else.
I visited the Woman's Basketball Hall of Fame. I'm not a huge fan of Basketball, but it seemed interesting and admission was only a few dollars. I was the only person there, but the museum was nice. It was fun to look at all the funny uniforms woman wore over the years. I also liked that I got to see real Olympic medals. The museum has a downstairs section where kids or adults can practice different types of basketball drills. I would rate the museum as a good place to take children. It will only take an hour or 2 (maybe 3 if you're really into it) to go through the museum.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Back to the cars and planes...
So my flights to Knoxville and Pittsburgh were relatively uneventful. My first pair of flights was NY to DC, DC to Knoxville. I did figure out that Reagan Airport (DCA) is not the best place to have to spend a layover, not much shopping or food there. Knoxville's airport was cute - 10 gates and the place was totally shut down (even the security lines) when my flight got in around 9pm. As in the area was gated off for the night. I didn't know airports shut down at night, it was kinda weird.
Then I flew from Knoxville to Charlotte to Pittsburgh. Charlotte is a much more interesting place to spend a layover; however, it's a dangerous place. My flight came in at terminal E and my next flight was from terminal C. There are tons of food places and shopping places, though I didn't partake in too much of that since it took so long to get between terminals, that was exercise enough! To top it off it's like a slalom course trying to avoid the golf carts for the handicapped people. What is going on in Charlotte? There were more people being driven around on carts then there were walking around. The theory I came up with is that there were always a higher number of handicapped people there and then they built the airport and started running people over with the carts creating a larger number of handicapped people. These are the theories you come up with when you spend too much time in an airport...
These flights to Pittsburgh were the more interesting pair. First we got NO service flying to Charlotte, I got service in Egypt on a 30 minute flight, US Airways Express is a bunch of weenies. I finally learned why it is that on some flights you can gate check a larger carry-on and why on others you don't. I flew US Airways - US Airways does not do gate checking, if you're on a smaller plane either it fits or it goes as checked baggage. On US Airways Express the planes are smaller so they will gate check larger carry-on. Finally, a mystery solved! I still didn't figure out how come the smaller plane that US Airways uses, which held a similar number of people as the US Airways Express plane, had so much more room in the overhead bins and why the seats seemed roomier too. But I did meet a nice girl on the flight into Pittsburgh, we talked the whole trip which made us not notice that our flight got in a little late.
Flying home from Pittsburgh was with Jetblue. I love Jetblue - I've only had one delayed flight with them, the staff is nice, you actually get a snack and you have a TV. When I got in the airport I had to check to see if my carry-on was still carry-on size. My friend in Pittsburgh had a large present for me and I had to expand my carry-on. It turned out to be too big for the smaller plane, though they did offer to let me try to take it on as a carry-on since there weren't a lot of people on the flight. I decided since it was free to check my bag and I didn't feel like dragging the thing around if I was going to end up checking it that I would just check it there. That worked out fine since the suitcase made it to NY. Also my flight got in 40 minutes early and I had to wait for my ride anyway, why not wait the extra 2 minutes to get the suitcase. Which reminds me, they had our suitcases at baggage claim super quick, I don't ever remember getting my bag that quick before!
My rental car... I rented from Thrifty at Knoxville for 3 days. I rented an economy car since it's just me and I don't need more then that. The girl kept trying to up-sell me a bigger car, saying the mountains down by Pigeon Forge were so big I might need more power. I didn't take her offer. I got a Toyota Camry, which is the first rental car I've had that I actually liked, and it had plenty of power for what I was doing. They probably ran out of economy cars and wanted to get me to pay for the upgrade. When I dropped it off, Thrifty was closed so I just dropped the keys in a box, I haven't heard anything since so I'm assuming everything was fine. One thing I didn't like about Thrifty at the Knoxville Airport is that their cars were parked the furthest away from the terminal. But then the airport was so small that it wasn't that big of a deal.
Then I flew from Knoxville to Charlotte to Pittsburgh. Charlotte is a much more interesting place to spend a layover; however, it's a dangerous place. My flight came in at terminal E and my next flight was from terminal C. There are tons of food places and shopping places, though I didn't partake in too much of that since it took so long to get between terminals, that was exercise enough! To top it off it's like a slalom course trying to avoid the golf carts for the handicapped people. What is going on in Charlotte? There were more people being driven around on carts then there were walking around. The theory I came up with is that there were always a higher number of handicapped people there and then they built the airport and started running people over with the carts creating a larger number of handicapped people. These are the theories you come up with when you spend too much time in an airport...
These flights to Pittsburgh were the more interesting pair. First we got NO service flying to Charlotte, I got service in Egypt on a 30 minute flight, US Airways Express is a bunch of weenies. I finally learned why it is that on some flights you can gate check a larger carry-on and why on others you don't. I flew US Airways - US Airways does not do gate checking, if you're on a smaller plane either it fits or it goes as checked baggage. On US Airways Express the planes are smaller so they will gate check larger carry-on. Finally, a mystery solved! I still didn't figure out how come the smaller plane that US Airways uses, which held a similar number of people as the US Airways Express plane, had so much more room in the overhead bins and why the seats seemed roomier too. But I did meet a nice girl on the flight into Pittsburgh, we talked the whole trip which made us not notice that our flight got in a little late.
Flying home from Pittsburgh was with Jetblue. I love Jetblue - I've only had one delayed flight with them, the staff is nice, you actually get a snack and you have a TV. When I got in the airport I had to check to see if my carry-on was still carry-on size. My friend in Pittsburgh had a large present for me and I had to expand my carry-on. It turned out to be too big for the smaller plane, though they did offer to let me try to take it on as a carry-on since there weren't a lot of people on the flight. I decided since it was free to check my bag and I didn't feel like dragging the thing around if I was going to end up checking it that I would just check it there. That worked out fine since the suitcase made it to NY. Also my flight got in 40 minutes early and I had to wait for my ride anyway, why not wait the extra 2 minutes to get the suitcase. Which reminds me, they had our suitcases at baggage claim super quick, I don't ever remember getting my bag that quick before!
My rental car... I rented from Thrifty at Knoxville for 3 days. I rented an economy car since it's just me and I don't need more then that. The girl kept trying to up-sell me a bigger car, saying the mountains down by Pigeon Forge were so big I might need more power. I didn't take her offer. I got a Toyota Camry, which is the first rental car I've had that I actually liked, and it had plenty of power for what I was doing. They probably ran out of economy cars and wanted to get me to pay for the upgrade. When I dropped it off, Thrifty was closed so I just dropped the keys in a box, I haven't heard anything since so I'm assuming everything was fine. One thing I didn't like about Thrifty at the Knoxville Airport is that their cars were parked the furthest away from the terminal. But then the airport was so small that it wasn't that big of a deal.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Update on fall travel
I've been meaning to post this, but my job has been very demanding of my time lately, hopefully next week will be better. But here is an update on my fall travel.
I have all my hotels booked, I even have two booked in Knoxville. I'm debating staying at the downtown Holiday Inn or an independent downtown hotel - the hotel St. Oliver. While it's budget, it seems quirky and to have personality. It's also cheaper, and in a good location (I think). I haven't made the decision officially, but I have some time. I am leaning toward the St. Oliver.
I've also got a car rental secured, unfortunately it's much more expensive then I thought. I'm playing around on priceline though trying to find something cheaper, but I doubt I'll save much money, but I'll keep trying.
I have all my hotels booked, I even have two booked in Knoxville. I'm debating staying at the downtown Holiday Inn or an independent downtown hotel - the hotel St. Oliver. While it's budget, it seems quirky and to have personality. It's also cheaper, and in a good location (I think). I haven't made the decision officially, but I have some time. I am leaning toward the St. Oliver.
I've also got a car rental secured, unfortunately it's much more expensive then I thought. I'm playing around on priceline though trying to find something cheaper, but I doubt I'll save much money, but I'll keep trying.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Booked my flight
I've booked my flights to Knoxville and Pittsburgh! Well that's one less thing to worry about. Now I'm working on hotel rooms and rental cars. any suggestions?
For my first night since I'm getting in around 9:30-10:00 I'm going to stay at a hotel airport so that I can save a day of the rental car and the drama of trying to find my hotel in the dark. I'll probably stay a night in Pigeon Forge near Dollywood and the Zorb place, then my last 2 nights I didn't figure out yet. I'm considering staying downtown, but the hotel prices are a little higher then I really want to spend. I would rather spend money on fun activities then on a hotel.
For my first night since I'm getting in around 9:30-10:00 I'm going to stay at a hotel airport so that I can save a day of the rental car and the drama of trying to find my hotel in the dark. I'll probably stay a night in Pigeon Forge near Dollywood and the Zorb place, then my last 2 nights I didn't figure out yet. I'm considering staying downtown, but the hotel prices are a little higher then I really want to spend. I would rather spend money on fun activities then on a hotel.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Figuring out my fall plans
Well I'm up to plan "Z" now with planning my fall vacation, but I think this might actually work! I'm off for 2 weeks from September 12 to the 27th. September 12 is supposed to be my nephews birthday party so I plan to start my trip September 13. The details are rough right now and subject to change at a moments notice, but here is the plan:
Leave on September 13 for Knoxville, Tenn. What is there to do in Knoxville was my first question... Apparently there is some Civil War stuff there, which I'll have to check out. There is also the University of Tennessee. Most importantly there is Zorbing, I love Kiwi's!
I'm going to stay there until September 17 when I will fly to Pittsburgh to visit my friend who had a baby in March. I'll fly back home on September 19. Then on September 20 I will drive out to Hershey, PA and meet another friend of mine to visit the Hershey Spa - after a week of running around I'll be happy to visit a spa. We'll return on the 21st, which is a Monday. Hopefully then I'll get to relax!
Leave on September 13 for Knoxville, Tenn. What is there to do in Knoxville was my first question... Apparently there is some Civil War stuff there, which I'll have to check out. There is also the University of Tennessee. Most importantly there is Zorbing, I love Kiwi's!
I'm going to stay there until September 17 when I will fly to Pittsburgh to visit my friend who had a baby in March. I'll fly back home on September 19. Then on September 20 I will drive out to Hershey, PA and meet another friend of mine to visit the Hershey Spa - after a week of running around I'll be happy to visit a spa. We'll return on the 21st, which is a Monday. Hopefully then I'll get to relax!
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