So I recently went on a tour of the southern United States along with my child and my wife. This is that story. It waited until I got back so I didn’t have my house broken into. The story, or blog, is being broken into several parts.
Tour Stop 3: Knoxville
So Sunday we wake up and go about our day. My wife heads off to work. I’ve become an expert in the hotel breakfast bar at this point in my life (ProTip: mix the blueberries from the fruit bar in with the waffle mix to make passable blueberry waffles) and spend a little time eating, watching some tv, and re packing the car. Okay I spend a lot of time re packing the car. This task is now Herculean in nature. I’m one arming everything while I’m carrying the kid in the other. The other part of this is, the hotel checkout time is noon. My wife works until 2:30 or so. So I pack the kid up and we go to the Barnes and Nobel across the street. They are always well air conditioned, it’s relatively quiet, and I can pass more than 20 minutes looking at books, something I can’t do with clothes. We also get lunch, where I sit next to a bunch of ladies with big bangs talking about their church, how President Obama is terrible, and how important it is to have two parents at home (while eyeing me suspiciously). Clearly we were going to get along swimmingly. So I fed her while I waited for my food, scarfed my food down once it came, and left the server with a big tip because I felt bad that I had taken up a whole booth just for me and the kid on a Sunday, post church when a lot of people eat out. So by this point I went and gassed up the car and my wife was ready to leave.
We were taking a trip to Knoxville because my wife’s mother was going on a trip with some of her girlfriends to Alaska. My father in law would’ve been lonely without company (or so we decided). Tracy and I didn’t mind helping out by going there. I think it’s important for my child to spend time with her Grandparents.
Grandpa and Baby
We were also looking forward to seeing lots of friends and family while we were there. My wife has lots of extended family who lives in the area and they were all excited about the chance to hold my daughter. We even talked one of them into babysitting while we went on a date with some friends. (If you’re in Knoxville, Nama has some pretty wonderful sushi).
Date Night with Friends
My wife has a not so hidden agenda for us to move back to Tennessee. Specifically Knoxville. This is another reason why we went. Knoxville offers a lot of positives. There is the bonus of us having lots of friends and family in the area. It’s not a large city but it’s large enough to have some interesting restaurants, a small art scene, and some good musical acts that come through. The city is also close to a lot of great camping and other outdoor activities. The main problems I have with the city is the conservativeness and homogeneous of the population. I also don’t really care that much about football, the topic that dominates much of the Knoxville cultural scene.
At an Uncle’s Farm, Just Outside of the City
So my wife and I settle into a routine pretty quickly in Knoxville. We wake up and we eat. A couple hours later, we eat. Then I go to the grocery store to find things to eat. And then, you guessed it, we eat them. My father in law spends his time watching TV and old movies. I like old movies but I can’t spend all day watching them. So I found small tasks to do around the house. I fixed the cabinets, I’d clean the overhead lights, I’d clean the garage, and I’d get the cars running. My Inlaws own 4 cars. My mother in law drives her Mini Cooper frequently. The other 3 cars don’t get much use. There are two SUVs and a convertible. I’ve tried to talk my Inlaws into just selling two of the vehicles to have them off their property and gone. I see them as liability issues. However, the good part about them keeping the cars is that I have things to do while I’m in Knoxville.
Overall Knoxville was a pleasant experience. I’m sure my father in law got sick of me being around after awhile. I did manage to take some time to myself in the two weeks we were there and I went to Memphis, which I’ll write about in Tour Stop 4.
To be continued….
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