We spent a short weekend in Knoxville Tennessee to attend a wedding. I like Knoxville. There are some good restaurants, beer, hikes and activities. It’s a great place to visit for a weekend.
Things to Do:
We hiked the Tharpe Trace Trail which is a nice little loop trail that goes around a lake. There are some interesting sites along the way, like a cemetery. This is all part of the Ijams Nature Center, which also provides canoe, kayak, and paddleboard rentals. When we went, the rental was $14 an hour for a canoe. We rented it for one hour and it was perfect. The lake was so green and serene.
To experience Knoxville, you must walk around the Old City and Market Square. There are numerous restaurants, coffee shops, and art galleries to stop and look at.
Places to Eat/Drink:
This local breakfast restaurant is the bomb. Teddy ordered the “Discovery”, which comes with Two Eggs, French Toast, and Bacon, and I ordered the Pork Tenderloin meal (which comes with Two Eggs, Toast, and Potatoes). Everything was SO GOOD. Potatoes had capers in it – never seen that before, but it was yummy. For dessert, we had the Fried Apple Pie with Ice Cream. Oh yes! This place has been here for over 60 years – a real local gem!
A white tablecloth type of place with good tasting food and drinks! The complimentary bread is flavorful and delicious! For drinks, we had the Bravo Old Fashioned and the Raspberry Mojito. For dinner, I had the Lobster Bisque, and the Shrimp and Lobster Linguine. The soup was good but a little too starchy tasting. The linguine could have used more lobster. The Mascarpone Cheesecake was very good. Overall, it was a good restaurant but the service was slow and lacking.
We loved Harvest. The place was super nice, great service, and the food was very good. We came on a Friday and most of the bottles of wine were half off! I had the Seafood Tower, and a She Crab Soup. Teddy had the Prime Rib. We shared a side of Brussel Sprouts. Everything tasted great!
We tried a flight of beer at Balter Beerworks. Four beer options for $6.75. Perfect for us. The interior is modern rustic, with exposed beams and high ceilings. The food also looked amazing, to be honest, but we already had reservation elsewhere so we didn’t get to try.
This is a divey bar where the wedding party had the after party. The specials were awesome and the outside patio was very nice. The inside was rather smoky though.
Final Thoughts
We really enjoyed our short stay and we were blessed with awesome weather. There are still many other things I would like to try, including the Volunteer Princess Cruise which is on my list for next time! Since we have family here, I hope we will be back sooner rather than later!