Knoxville

Knoxville, the home of the “Vols”, was our final destination for this side trip on the Tennessee River. Just as we entered the city proper, there was Neyland Stadium, home of the Vols. Just down the river a bit, we found a free dock right in front of Calhouns Restaurant (a local favorite). We enjoyed this dockage for 3 nights while we toured the city.

Here are the things we did while in town….ate at Calhouns (after all they let us stay on their dock). The first day there was oil change day. Took samples of the Engine, Generator, and Transmission oils and sent them to the lab, then changed the oils in all three. The next day we rode all 3 free trolleys to see the town. Walked to see the marketplace area. Toured the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame–realized what an amazing coach Pat Summit was and learned about the Red Heads basketball teams (read about them). One of the trolleys took us through the University of Tennessee–it is a huge campus compacted into tall buildings.

On our last day we walked the greenway thru part of the campus commemorating the Worlds Fair that was held here in 1982. The only part left of the fair is the Sunsphere. The city has a World’s Fair Park around the Sunsphere with signs indicating where certain exhibits stood.

On Wednesday, Brianna drove to Knoxville for a visit. We enjoyed a meal at, guess where, Calhouns. The next morning, she & Tim drove the boat downriver to Fort Loudon while I drove Brianna’s car to the same location. I was able to drive the 29 miles to town, provision (buy groceries), and do laundry before they arrived in Fort Loudon (5.5 hrs). I so enjoyed buying my own groceries verses ordering them via InstaCart.

So now we have started retracing our path back to Pickwick Lake. On Friday, we stayed in Fort Loudon as the rain from Hurricane Nicole spread over this area. A good day to stay inside and read. The rain stopped about 3pm finally–but too late to head down the river.

Saturday morning as the sun came up we headed over to the lock and downriver. We hit some rain on our journey along with wind generated by the cold front (I’m assuming). It is definitely time to go south!!! Our dockage tonight is at Terrace View Marina–we will be plugged in to shore power and have heat for this cold night.