Eastern Tennessee - Knoxville - Atomic Bomb!

[giradman]

Really great photos in this "series" giradman and suenc. Knoxville is a beautiful little city, nicely illustrated/described by you. You've filled in gaps in info, well mine anyway, about that part of America not seen as the usual tourist traps, much more attractive and "visitable" IMO. Your little culinary adventures in passing just add to the enjoyment here. Oysters? Oh Yesss!!
Andrew

Hi Andrew - plenty more to come, but we were rather SHOCKED by the quality of the seafood this far inland. The first night we 'tried' Shucker's Raw Bar & Ale - we had 4 different oysters on the half shell (shared a dozen & a half), along w/ a delicious shrimp ceviche & a tuna sashimi salad - cannot remember where the oysters were from but vaguely recall Blue Points (Long Island), Malpeaque from PEI (Prince Edward Island), James River, and another one (maybe Chesapeake Bay).

Second night, we ate at a seafood chain called Chesapeake - started out sharing a dozen oysters (3 different ones) - I had the grilled swordfish; Susan had Crab Imperial (w/ plenty of fresh crab, shrimp, cheese) along w/ a side dish called Baked Spinach Maria (spinach, macaroni , and more cheese - I had a few bites - DELICIOUS!).

Third night back to Shucker's, started w/ a dozen oysters (4 types including one from the Pacific Northwest - love oysters from the west coast of the USA!), dozen steamed clams, and simply repeated the same as above.

Last night, we tried a French bistro called Cafe du Soleil (Menu) - we both started out w/ the Duck Confit Salad (below); Susan had the rabbit dish & I the veal stuffed pork tenderloin; then shared a lemon tart w/ some fresh brewed coffee - great way to end a nice trip! Dave

Duck Confit Salad – Spring Mix with House Made Duck Confit, Pickled Shallots, Candied Walnuts and Sherry Vinaigrette

Rabbit a la Moutarde – Rabbit braised in White Wine w/Dijon, carrots, pearl onions, mushrooms and potatoes

Pork Tenderloin - Tenderloin stuffed with ground veal, wrapped in bacon, in a tomato cream sauce with potato gratin and seasonal veggies

 

[giradman]

University of Tennessee - Quite a Campus!

The University of Tennessee's 'flagship' campus is in Knoxville along the Tennessee River (see map & pics below; arrow on football stadium). The school started out as Blount College (of course after William from the previous post; in fact, his daughter was the first coed graduate from a college in the United States) but was chartered as a public college (later University) in 1794 (third oldest public university in the country after Georgia in Athens, GA, 1784 and U of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 1789).

This is a LARGE campus which Susan & I love to roam - we met on the University of Michigan campus, so brought back many memories (and boy the students looked young!). There are 27,000+ students (both undergrads & grads) - the Vol Trolley routes through the campus, passes the Sunsphere & Knoxville Art Museum on its course through the downtown area (perpendicular to the other trolley routes).

The McClung Museum is on the campus and a recommended visit (gem attraction in AAA guide of TN). The museum is not large and concentrates on ancient cultures (nice small Egyptian exhibit) and those of the pre-Columbian natives of the area; also has an anthropologic emphasis w/ another small exhibit on the evolution of man.

Finally, the football stadium is HUGE - called Neyland Stadium (see pics for a perspective) and w/ a capacity of over 104,000 spectators (one of the top 10 in the USA for university stadiums; the largest is actually where I went to school, the University of Michigan w/ 109,900 seating capacity!). The U of TN nickname is the Vols (w/ numerous men & women sports teams), shorten for Volunteers (after the state's nickname) - presumably relates back to the War of 1812 when so many men from TN 'volunteered' to fight, especially w/ Andy Jackson @ the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Dave
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[giradman]

Knoxville's Environs

Knoxville is strategically situated with a number of 'day trips' w/i an hour or less to enjoy!

I'll be discussing the following in the next posts: 1) Museum of Appalachia; 2) Green McAdoo Cultural Center; 3) Oak Ridge; and 4) Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Dave

 

[giradman]

Museum of Appalachia - A Must!

The Museum of Appalachia is located about a half hour north of Knoxville and is now part of the Smithsonian Institution - their website HERE - founded by John Rice Irwin contains numerous historic buildings from small cabins to larger log houses, workshops, and a wonderful building called the Hall of Fame, which is stuffed w/ thousands of artifacts and stories of the peoples and cultures of the Appalachian area (Susan & I spent nearly 2 hours in the building but even a whole day would not be enough).

Their story (short version, of course) is quoted below from the link above. A wonderful gift shop is on premises w/ many mountain crafts, foods, etc. on sale - also a quaint restaurant serving food of the region, so a nice lunch stop. I've added a bunch of pics, some are mine including Susan walking out the Hall of Fame (also pic of a portion of the mountain instrument collection) - as stated in the title, if you happened to be in eastern TN, then a must stop! Dave

At the Museum of Appalachia, read the stories of a hardy and resourceful people. Share memories between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren. Spend time in the Hall of Fame, our tribute to the Appalachian people. Walk through the Display Barn and marvel at the ingenuity of our ancestors. Stroll rustic paths to the cabins—or simply rock on the porch and enjoy the picturesque view. Hear musicians playing old-time music… watch farm animals grazing peacefully in the fields... enjoy a home-style lunch… browse regional crafts in the gift shop.
The Museum of Appalachia is “an American treasure that stands alone as a tribute to the American spirit. It is about family, country, hard work, and respect for tradition.”

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[giradman]

Green McAdoo Cultural Center

Clinton, Tennessee is now part of the greater Knoxville metropolitan area but in the 1950s was a small town in the midst of a segregation issue, i.e. busing black students who had finished grade school into Knoxville to a black segregated high school (HS) there, apparently a long and miserable 2-way trip daily on poor roads of the times.

Desegregation of schools seemed to receive more attention in Arkansas & Alabama in the mid-50s, but according to the quote from their website HERE, Clinton HS was the first to integrate a publicly supported high school in the south. The small cultural center is located in the old Green McAdoo grade school which the students involved in the integration attended.

A visit involves a short video followed by a self-guided tour through several rooms that illustrate and discuss the civil rights issues of the times and also the destruction of the HS on Sunday, October 5, 1958, when the school was blown apart by three massive explosions. Pics below from the web; several of the current Cultural Center w/ the statue of the twelve students (and a view of the town of Clinton), and a number of B&W images from the exhibit, including one of the blown-up high school - what happen after is yet another story. Dave

On August 27, 1956, twelve young people in Clinton, Tennessee walked into history and changed the world. They were the first students to desegregate a state-supported high school in the south. Clinton High School holds the honor of having the first African American person to graduate from a public high school in the South. It was a great victory for the Civil Rights Movement. The events of that school year and the years that followed are celebrated at the Green McAdoo Cultural Center, which opened on August 26, 2006, the 5oth anniversary of their first walk to Clinton High School. Their courage is commemorated in a life size statue on the grounds of the museum.

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[giradman]

Oak Ridge - The Atomic City!

Oak Ridge, Tennessee is just west of Knoxville and was instrumental during WWII in development of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan - quote below is a brief summary (Source). Again another MUST visit if you are in the area. One of the main attractions is the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) which is a wonderful place for adults & kids.

Below are pics of a map showing the closeness of Oak Ridge to Knoxville and an aerial view of the town; followed by several historic roadside markers and also a large road sign from the time of the war; the last pics relate to the AMSE - love the final one of a girl w/ her hand on a Van de Graaf Generator (completely harmless) which produces static electricity causing you hair to fly out! Our visit there was a while back but I'm sure Susan & I likely touched it - I remember one in high school science. Dave

P.S. Next will be the Smokey Mountains and the National Park!

Oak Ridge is a city in Tennessee, USA. Oak Ridge’s epithets incorporate the Atomic City, the Secret City, the Ridge, and the City Behind the Fence. It was built in 1942 as a generation site for the Manhattan Project—the gigantic American, British, and Canadian operation that created the nuclear shell. Investigative improvement still assumes a urgent part in the city’s economy and society by and large. In Oak Ridge, thousands worked in mystery to enhance the uranium utilized as a part of the shells dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan. The city is no more mystery, yet it has a rich history worth investigating, and a solid twisted to science and innovation. Oak Ridge is Appalachia and the atomic age moved into one, an incredible city to look at.

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[suenc]

University of Tennessee - Quite a Campus!

The University of Tennessee's 'flagship' campus is in Knoxville along the Tennessee River (see map & pics below; arrow on football stadium). The school started out as Blount College (of course after William from the previous post; in fact, his daughter was the first coed graduate from a college in the United States) but was chartered as a public college (later University) in 1794 (third oldest public university in the country after Georgia in Athens, GA, 1784 and U of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 1789).

This is a LARGE campus which Susan & I love to roam - we met on the University of Michigan campus, so brought back many memories (and boy the students looked young!).

Being on a college camps made me want to go back to college and take the courses I missed the first time around, picking up books for a brand new class. However, I would have to find a way of skipping exams (I don't miss those!)

 

[scifan57]

Oak Ridge - The Atomic City!

Oak Ridge, Tennessee is just west of Knoxville and was instrumental during WWII in development of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan - quote below is a brief summary (Source). Again another MUST visit if you are in the area. One of the main attractions is the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) which is a wonderful place for adults & kids.

Below are pics of a map showing the closeness of Oak Ridge to Knoxville and an aerial view of the town; followed by several historic roadside markers and also a large road sign from the time of the war; the last pics relate to the AMSE - love the final one of a girl w/ her hand on a Van de Graaf Generator (completely harmless) which produces static electricity causing you hair to fly out! Our visit there was a while back but I'm sure Susan & I likely touched it - I remember one in high school science. Dave

P.S. Next will be the Smokey Mountains and the National Park!


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Your posts are just as good as any of the travel shows I see on TV. Keep up the good work.

 

[suenc]

Oak Ridge - The Atomic City!

Oak Ridge, Tennessee is just west of Knoxville and was instrumental during WWII in development of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan

I am ambivalent about this attraction because I possess a streak of pacifism and am not proud of bombs.
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[suenc]

Museum of Appalachia - A Must!

The Museum of Appalachia is located about a half hour north of Knoxville and is now part of the Smithsonian Institution - their website HERE - founded by John Rice Irwin contains numerous historic buildings from small cabins to larger log houses, workshops, and a wonderful building called the Hall of Fame, which is stuffed w/ thousands of artifacts and stories of the peoples and cultures of the Appalachian area (Susan & I spent nearly 2 hours in the building but even a whole day would not be enough).

I've seen countless old Southern buildings, but I've nevert seen anything like the Hall of Fame. Not only were there endless artifacts but they came with photos and bios of the artisans and descriptions of how the objects were made, all provided by the amazing Mr. Irwin. A standout for me was the real, working banjo made from a toilet seat.

 

[giradman]

I've seen countless old Southern buildings, but I've never seen anything like the Hall of Fame. Not only were there endless artifacts but they came with photos and bios of the artisans and descriptions of how the objects were made, all provided by the amazing Mr. Irwin. A standout for me was the real, working banjo made from a toilet seat.

The industrial nature and cleverness of the Appalachian mountain people astounds in the Hall of Fame - the collection is phenomenal and reflects the nature and personalities of the 'local' peoples over centuries - we would certainly like to return!

But just to expand & illustrate the statement in bold above, the musical instrument section of the museum was pretty astounding, not only for the number of artifacts in the collection but for the ingenuity & cleverness in using a lot of everyday materials (remember these were poor people and had to often due w/ what was available); and the humor often shines through these instruments.

Some pics below of just a few of the innumerable instruments of all sorts found in the Hall of Fame; the Bedpan Banjo (notice the name - ); a Hubcap Banjo; and a Toilet Seat Guitar! Finally, for those not familiar w/ banjo music, a fairly recent CD w/ Steve Martin (YES, the comedian BUT a superb life long performer on the banjo) - we saw him last year w/ the bluegrass group, the Steep Canyon Rangers. Now I own dozens of mountain/country instrumental music w/ banjos, guitars, etc. recordings - both historic & modern, but Martin's CD is still a nice place to start for those interested. Dave

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[giradman]

Your posts are just as good as any of the travel shows I see on TV. Keep up the good work.

Hi Scifan.. - thanks! When I used to put PPT lectures together for my radiology residents, I likely ended up learning the most - and at my age, helps me to remember where I've been! Dave

 

[giradman]

Smoky Mountains - Gatlingburg - Pidgeon Forge

The title of this topic relates to several popular tourist towns near the Gatlingburg entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which will be discussed in several posts. The park contains over a half million acres of land and is about equally divided between TN & North Carolina (see more details quoted below - Source), and is the MOST visited National Park in the United States. There are three main entry points, Townsend & Gatlingburg in TN and Cherokee in North Carolina (where the Blue Ridge Parkway terminates); these are underlined on the map, along w/ several other towns and cities, including Knoxville which is nearby.

The name derives from the oft seen misty clouds in the valleys, especially at dawn (and shown in several of the pics below); now this occurrence is not limited to just the mountains inside the park; I've shown mountainous areas in North Carolina appearing similar in several of my other travelogues, but there seems to be a more frequent abundance of these smoky views within the park boundaries, in my experience. I'll continue in the next post w/ some more discussion of the Great Smoky Mountains. Dave

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCOWorld Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. It is the most visited national park in the United States. On its route from Maine to Georgia, the Appalachian Trail also passes through the center of the park. The park was chartered by the United States Congress in 1934 and officially dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. It encompasses 522,419 acres (816.28 sq mi; 2,114.15 km2),[1] making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States. The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) at the towns of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Cherokee, North Carolina. It was the first national park whose land and other costs were paid for in part with federal funds; previous parks were funded wholly with state money or private funds.

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[scifan57]

Smoky Mountains - Gatlingburg - Pidgeon Forge

The title of this topic relates to several popular tourist towns near the Gatlingburg entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which will be discussed in several posts. The park contains over a half million acres of land and is about equally divided between TN & North Carolina (see more details quoted below - Source), and is the MOST visited National Park in the United States. There are three main entry points, Townsend & Gatlingburg in TN and Cherokee in North Carolina (where the Blue Ridge Parkway terminates); these are underlined on the map, along w/ several other towns and cities, including Knoxville which is nearby.

The name derives from the oft seen misty clouds in the valleys, especially at dawn (and shown in several of the pics below); now this occurrence is not limited to just the mountains inside the park; I've shown mountainous areas in North Carolina appearing similar in several of my other travelogues, but there seems to be a more frequent abundance of these smoky views within the park boundaries, in my experience. I'll continue in the next post w/ some more discussion of the Great Smoky Mountains. Dave



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Great shots, especially the last one.

 

[giradman]

Smoky Mountains National Park (continued):

The Smoky Mountains provide an abundance of natural beauty and mountain activities during all seasons, including skiing in the Gatlinburg area in the winter. Some of these activities include hiking, water adventures, such as rafting, camping, and the numerous attractions in the adjacent towns mentioned in the previous post (which I'll discuss later). But regarding hiking, the famous Appalachian Trail, which begins in Maine (near Canada) and extends about 2,200 miles into northern Georgia is popular w/ experienced hikers who often are out in the wilderness for days - below is another map of the park which shows the Trail passing through the middle of the park (red broken line), pretty much following the state lines of TN & North Carolina; also, I've put red arrows of just two of the most famous attractions, i.e. Cades Cove & Clingmans Dome.

Cades Cove is briefly described in the quote below (Source - there is a loop through the valley which is a beautiful drive that we did a while back - saw mainly deer, including fawns. The pics immediately below the map show other views and attractions along this 11-mile drive - definitely worth a stop near the Townsend entrance to the park. The other images portray some of the natural scenes in the park, including streams and waterfalls. Finally, a climb to the observatory of Clingmans Dome @ 6,643 ft (third highest peak east of the Mississippi River; the other two are in North Carolina) - more information below from HERE.

Next onto Pidgeon Forge & Gatlingburg - Dave

Cades Cove is a broad, verdant valley surrounded by mountains and is one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smokies. It offers some of the best opportunities for wildlife viewing in the park. Large numbers of white-tailed deer are frequently seen, and sightings of black bear, coyote, ground hog, turkey, raccoon, skunk, and other animals are also possible.

At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is the highest point in Tennessee, and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi. Only Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) and Mt. Craig (6,647), both located in Mt. Mitchell State Park in western North Carolina, rise higher. The observation tower on the summit of Clingmans Dome offers spectacular 360° views of the Smokies and beyond for visitors willing to climb the steep half-mile walk to the tower at the top.

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