To Knoxville We Will Go

I took a nice mini-vacation to Knoxville, TN last weekend. Not only was it refreshing to get away for a few days, I also spent some much needed quality time with two dear friends.

Laura and I have been planning for a while to visit Natalie and finally settled on a weekend. Neither of us realized at the time that it was mother's day weekend, but both of our sweet moms were completely understanding of our need to visit our old college roommate in her new city (I'll be celebrating with my mom Saturday and promise to make up for my absence on the actual day).

Natalie moved to Knoxville last fall and works at the Marriot downtown. I know she has been itching to share her new life with her friends, so I'm really thankful we were able to visit.

We got to Natalie's late Friday night and immediately felt like we were back in Auburn living together again. It's funny how no matter how much time passes between visits, it seems like we can pick up right where we left off. I guess that's what's special about having best friends.

We decided to make the most of our short visit and crammed in as much action as possible. Saturday morning we ate crepes at a cute little french restaurant in downtown Knoxville. We then walked around the farmers market in Market Square. The flowers were beautiful, the vegetables looked delicious, and the people-watching was out of this world. Needless to say it was wonderful.

We also visited the clothing stores and gift shops around market square. I may or may not have bought an owl shaped contact lense case on a whim. It's kitchy and fun and I NEEDED IT!

We drove to Pigeon Forge for lunch at the Pottery House Cafe and Grille where we enjoyed great food and much more fantastic people watching complete with a redneck bride and groom. I kid you not.

We spent our afternoon in Gatlinburg where we bought delicious Mountain Taffy and saw one of the werewolves from Twilight accompanied by his twin sister.

{disclaimer: not actually werewolf from twilight and i doubt that's really his sister...

but you get my drift}

On the way back to Natalie's we stopped by the Tanger Outlets and Laura RACKED UP in J Crew. Fancy pants had some graduation money to blow and blew it well she did.

We rested (and watched dance moms) for a bit before heading back to downtown Knoxville for dinner at the Downtown Brewery. We followed dinner with gelato from Coolato Gelato. I could eat a whole-lato this gelato.



We finished the night off college style packed onto the couch like sardines for a chick flick. True to form I fell asleep half way through, only to wake up super charged.

After church at Cedar Springs and Sunday lunch at Jason's Deli, it was time for our sad farewell.

I loved everything about this trip. The city is adorable with a great hometown feel and just enough character to set it apart from the rest. Of course spending quality time with two special ladies was just icing on the cake.