Knoxville Getaway

The Man of the House and I have a habit of planning our Valentine date on a day other than February 14th.  This saves us from having to fight the crowds for a table at a restaurant and keeps things a little more personal for us. 

This year we waited until the weekend after Valentine's Day and decided to get away for the night.  We thought about some of our usual haunts - the Biltmore Estate, Gatlinburg, etc.  Then the Man of the House suggested driving up to Knoxville, Tennessee since we've never really been there before other than taking the kids up to the zoo once several years ago.

He found us a nice hotel right downtown beside World's Fair Park and within walking distance of well... a lot!  We arrived early Saturday evening and spent the whole day Sunday.

we had brunch at The French Market.  The Man of the House enjoyed an omelette, while I tamed my sweet tooth with a delicious Nutella crepe.  Yum!

It was a beautiful weekend to just stroll around town and explore.  Sunday started overcast, but quickly cleared up with temperatures in the 60's. And walk we did!!

Knoxville has a nice little Veteran's Memorial located at one end of World's Fair Park.

We went up into the Sunsphere, which was originally built for the 1982 World's Fair.  Great views of Knoxville!

There were several musical groups playing in Market Square. And people out enjoying the music and the sunshine.

Surprisingly,  I didn't take many photos on this trip - just enjoyed the time with my sweet hubby. 

Conclusion:  Knoxville is a nice quiet college town.  Perfect for a day trip and a little exploring. 

The Reality of Weekend Softball Tournaments

This Man of the House was invited to go participate in a softball tournament in Cherokee, NC last weekend.  Well, ok - technically it was in Whittier.  But... 6 of one, half dozen of the other...

Knowing he had to be there pretty early and that games could run late into the evening we decided to make it a weekend getaway.   A little early anniversary gift to ourselves.

After digging around online we managed to find a good rate at a cute little bed and breakfast nearby - The Chalet Inn.  It was a very nice little place.  Personal attention.  Tucked away from the beaten path, but very conveniently located to Cherokee, Sylva and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

On a side note - if you ever decide to visit Cherokee in November you should be aware that, with the exception of the casino, apparently the entire town closes up shop and heads home at sundown.  We went looking for something to eat and quickly found our choices to be fast food or fast food.  We settled on Pizza Hut because that was the nicest restaurant we could find open at 8pm.  You have been warned.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, although a little bit cold.  I've never been to one of these tournaments before.  And clearly had no idea what to expect.  In all my glorious naiveté, I expected there to be some downtime between games while other teams played.  Time the Man and I could slip away for some brief sight seeing, shopping, or a quick pop into the casino to lose all my loose change in the slot machines.  (If you've ever actually BEEN to a tournament of this time you are now laughing like crazy.  Go ahead.  Take your time.  I'll wait.)  The reality of it was several back to back games, with an occasional break of about an hour - IF the current game didn't end earlier than scheduled.  So much for down time.

On the plus side:  have I ever mentioned how beautiful this part of the country is?  Well, it is.  Beautiful.  I mean, when you live somewhere that THIS is the view from the ballfields:

Yeh... that!

During the day the weather was cool, but not uncomfortably so.  The sun was shining.  (I ended up sporting a pink nose the next morning.  Oops!) I settled into a camp chair, relaxed, crocheted and watched my handsome man pitch game after game.

Which is not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Once the sun set behind the mountains things got ugly cold very quickly.  And as games continued on into the wee hours of the morning we found ourselves tired, hungry and frozen.  Which just isn't as much fun as it sounds.  Exactly.

But, their team did take second place in their division.  We got a day and 2 nights away from the grind.

And on the drive home we made much less softball-ish type plans to enjoy our actual anniversary this coming weekend.

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