Our first stop was to the Knoxville Visitor Center, where they host the live Blue Plate Special Radio Program at noon six days each week. We had enjoyed it so much on our visit a month ago that we wanted to see it live again. The first thirty minutes we were entertained by a duo called "Outlaw Ritual."
They were playing bluegrass music that he had written, and they were very entertaining. Outlaw Ritual had a big sound for a two-person band. We smiled when we saw that they were using some of the same "instruments" that we had seen with the street musicians in Asheville. His left foot is playing a bass drum that doubles as a suitcase and a chair. His right foot is taking turns tapping a tambourine and two different bells. How fun to listen to such creative musicians!
During the second half of the live radio show we were entertained by Roy Book Binder. A long-time blue grass guitarist, he also sang original songs with funny lyrics that made us smile. He will be on a 64-city tour this fall, living in an RV as he makes his way across the United States. We love this free entertainment option that brings some of the best blue grass artists to Knoxville.
When we checked for local events, we saw that there was a celebration this evening at Haley Heritage Square. We wouldn't be in the city at that time, so we decided to stop by there now. Knoxville is the hometown of the famous author, Alex Haley. Best known for his Pulitzer-prize-winning book "Roots," Haley's grandson was in town today and the city was celebrating the author's 95th birthday.
It's fun to be back in the sight-seeing mode! But we have especially been missing the natural exercise that this full-time RVing lifestyle allows us. It's such a rich blessing to be able to hike almost daily in different beautiful places! Today we are at the Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, hiking on one of their heavily-wooded trails.
We are hiking the River Trail that leads us to a boardwalk over the wide Tennessee River.
After the mile loop hike, we donned our bike helmets and headed out on a ten-mile bike ride. It took us beside the "canopy experience" at Ijams. It looked like a lot of fun with zip lines, rope bridges, and a dozen more obstacles to swing and climb through. If it weren't for the price of the $38 ticket, we would have loved to spend a couple hours frolicking through the tree tops.
We pedaled on to Mead's Quarry Lake. Even though it is lovely, this is not a natural body of water. This area was once a quarry, where huge pieces of marble were removed far down below the water table. When they stopped removing the marble, the hole that was left behind filled with water. That became the beautifully clear green water lake that people can enjoy today.
Our best wildlife picture of the day is certainly an unusual one. One of the guys working at the lake had been catching fresh-water jelly fish. He had a few in a jar, and he let us take this picture. They are about the size of a quarter, and it was interesting to watch the jelly fish swim. He told us that these guys are heading to the University of Tennessee for study purposes.
We also took the hike around the lake that led us to the Ross Quarry nature area. Here we found giant marble slabs piled up to make a tall bridge, with a small opening at the bottom called "The Keyhole."
A close-up of the keyhole also shows the marks of the drills used to separate these massive slabs of marble from the quarries they were once a part of.
The woman at the visitor center said there was an underground cave in this area, and we headed out to find it as well. We finally came upon the underground vent, and stayed longer than usual, enjoying the 54-degree air that is pouring from it. On a day with temperatures in the mid-90's, some natural air-conditioning was our favorite find.
After this cool-down, we were back on our bikes on the greenway trail that hugged the shore of the Tennessee River. We were disappointed that the heavy tree-cover limited our views of the river. But we did get a close-up of the fields of sunflowers. Planted as natural ground cover and a good habitat for the animals in this wildlife preserve, we enjoyed their bright faces along the trail.
The flowers were enduring the heat better than we were. The eastern half of the country is "enjoying" unseasonably hot weather, and the humidity here makes it feel even warmer to us.
It was a great first day back on the road that included live music, sight-seeing, hiking, and biking. But we were tired by the end of the day! It looks like we are out of shape, and we'll have to do some training to develop the stamina we need for all this fun. It's a tough training process, but we're really looking forward to it!
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ReplyDeleteI'm a Florida gal and found your blog because I want to camp at Ocean Pond this autumn and found you on google. Ocean Pond is about an hour from me. I love reading about your adventures and can't wait to read more. :)
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