Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

Today we walked through Knoxville, Tennessee east to west or north to south if you follow Route 11. It was COLD today. The temperature was 40 degrees F in the morning with a steady 15 mile per hour wind. The lady at our motel told us they usually don’t have this type of weather until December. At one point in the morning I saw a couple of snow flakes, but since no one was with me to confirm this I won’t report it.

Knoxville is a big city in the south. I think it is the biggest city we will transit on this walk. The east side of downtown is old and decaying. There were plenty of businesses open on Route 11, but we could see the decay just a block or two off the Route.

We couldn’t walk through downtown. We tried, but there was construction on Route 11 (Magnolia Ave). We took the detour by car, but could not find our way back onto the right street. After several trips through downtown and across the river, we doubled back and found our way onto Cumberland. This went on the northern edge of the University of Tennessee. That is Route 11.

I found two more Starbucks on Route 11. That brings us to a total of four (or is it five?). I stopped in one for a cup of coffee. The sales tax is awful. $1.80 for a small cup of Starbucks. That costs $1.63 in expensive Northern Virginia. Ouch, but that is the way to do it, tax out-of-state travelers.

In the area of the University of Tennessee are big, beautiful, and expensive homes. That is what I expected to find as it seems the norm near large, central universities. The same is true in Baton Rouge, Louisiana near LSU. I have never understood this. Professors at the universities don’t make the money to buy these homes. As far as I know, only the football and basketball coaches (this is the South Eastern Conference) make that kind of money. Who owns these homes? Who built them? What is the deal here? Does anyone know?

I took several photos of these homes. I didn’t post them as I was having trouble with the WiFi at the motel tonight. Sigh.

Here is a photo of the “Bleak House.” This was used by General Longstreet (Confederate General) during his seige of Knoxville. That is something different here. The big memorial markers honor Union and not Confederate Generals. Whose side was Tennessee on during the Civil War?

Here is a photo of a Greek Orthodox Church. I was impressed with the architecture. I was also impressed to find a Greek Orthodox Church in Knoxville. They must have an interesting history to be here.

Here is a photo of the gem of the day – an old motor court. I think it is still operating, but it could be open now as an apartment business instead of a motel. The sign is great, so I couldn’t pass it up. The title “11-70 Motor Court” is because U.S. Routes 11 and 70 run concurrently here.

It is obvious that Knoxville is growing to the west. The middle and upper-middle class neighborhoods are all to the west of the University. Shopping centers one after another, restaurants, motels, churches, private schools and all the other attractions of economically prosperous neighborhoods in the south today. I have no complaint about these, but it is boring and noisy (traffic) walking.

Tomorrow we finally exit the city of Knoxville and get back to a rural area.