Knoxville - Head to the Mountains

the gateway to the Smokies, but also a great getaway for a weekend in the city

By Jill Melton | February 28, 2022

Aerial view of the Sunsphere at World's Fair Park. Courtesy visitknoxville.com.

For the past eight years now, I’ve bypassed Knoxville enroute to a friend’s cabin in Black Mountain, bustling Asheville, or the Smokies. For the past four years, I’ve seen a bit more, but mostly from my son’s dorm room or his house just blocks from the University of Knoxville (UTK). So, it was about time to explore this city as a traveler and a tourist. And it did not disappoint.

First stop was THE TENNESSEAN Hotel, located conveniently within walking distance to pockets of the city that are popping. It has a fantastic view of The Sunsphere, a 266-foot-high hexagonal steel truss structure, topped with a 75-foot gold-colored glass sphere that served as the symbol of the 1982 World's Fair.

It’s also blocks from the campus. The rooms are lovely and the service fantastic. The top two floors are condominiums, so I mingled with residents at the coffee station in the lobby in the morning. They’re in the process of expanding and will have a full-service restaurant, but in the meantime, The Drawing Room on the 6th floor has all you need, including a bevy of original cocktails. Director of Food and Beverage, Kyle Hagerty has curated a menu of great eats, including a killer rueben. They make all their own syrups and cocktail recipes, including a delicious smoked old fashioned.

For breakfast, walk a few blocks (or get chauffeured in the golf cart if you feel lazy) to OliBea, in The Old City, a diner-esque café with sky high biscuits and hot coffee drinks from Honeybee Coffee. Chef and owner, Jeff Dealejandro, has been at the center of the Knoxville food scene for a decade. They converted the second floor above the restaurant to a BnB with a chef-style kitchen perfect for entertaining and hanging out. He also owns Hen+Hoc Deli & Butcher, which I didn’t visit, as I didn’t have a kitchen, and well, didn’t wanted to be teased by the finery. But I’ll hit it when I go back. The Old City is full of charming cafes and shops. One I loved was Rala, a colorful shop full of cards, paintings, and crafts from local as well as global artists.

Photo 1: The wall of books as a mural of the Tennessee river in the lobby of THE TENNESSEAN

Photo 2: headboard detail in a room at THE TENNESSEAN

Photo 3: outside the front of Pretentious Beer Co.

Photo 4: glass blowing at Pretentious Glass

Always needing to do something green, my son and I headed to Ijams Nature Center. And what a gem it turned out to be. Ijams is a 315-acre urban greenspace featuring 12+ miles of natural-surface trails and a stretch of the Will Skelton Greenway. We took the Tharp Trace hike to the old quarry which was mystical and beautiful and quiet.

Our hike worked up a thirst, so we headed to Pretentious Beer Co. in The Old City. It’s next door to Pretentious Glass Co. Funky and fun, we took our cold drafts, served in hand blown glassware, out to the back patio for a break. You can buy glasses blown in the adjoining studio, so we picked up a few gifts while there.

Walking in Knoxville is an art crawl in itself. The city is dotted with Downtown Arts Wraps, which transform plain traffic engineering boxes into stunning canvasses portraying the artwork of some of the important Knoxville or East Tennessee artists from the past. Each colorful wrap is enhanced with an interpretive panel featuring a photograph of the artist and a short biography describing the artist’s local connections.

Next up was cocktails at Post Modern Spirits Distillery. Owner Stanton Webster gave us a tasting of their spirits, designed for the cocktail culture. They range from whiskey to gin to amaro.