Travelogue: Knoxville, TN

Over Labor Day weekend, my wife, the tyke, and I made the relatively short trip from Louisville, KY to Knoxville, TN for a relatively short visit with relatives of all flavors. Here are my notes from the trip:

• The traffic seemed eerily light for a major holiday travel weekend. Undoubtedly the $3+ gas prices (and threatened shortages) played a role.
• For as long as I can remember, there has been road construction on the section of Interstate 40 from downtown through west Knoxville. They’ve either been adding lanes, repaving, or blowing up bridges incessantly for the last 20 years. There are undoubtedly “permanent road construction worker” jobs for that section of highway. There’s a chance that all the orange barrels are simply a show of support for the Vols, but I doubt it.
• Being in Knoxville on a weekend when Tennessee is playing football at home and not going to the game is more than a little disconcerting. Compare it with going to Paris and not ascending the Eiffel Tower — a feat I’ve managed to accomplish without regret. There’s just something that makes you feel out of place watching a home game on TV in Knoxville. There are times, however, when one must make do, and Saturday thus did make. . .
• On the way to my cousin’s house, we passed by Mr. George’s Barber Shop, where I got my hair cut in college. It was nowhere near campus, but the haircuts were cheap and lacked the effete stigma of getting your hair cut in a “salon.” Why get your hair cut by someone wearing a black turtleneck for $30 when you can get it cut by an old guy in a smock who’ll talk football with you for $7? Perhaps I’ll post more on my history with barber shops later. . .
• With the extra holiday added to the weekend, we had the chance to visit my brother’s house in nearby Alcoa — a city named for the ALuminum Company Of America, which built the town in 1910 to house its workers (imagine Louisville being called Ups, after its chief employer!). With my brother and his wife lives Boo the dog, pictured above. Some blogs post photos of their brothers, others post photos of their dogs. Only TruePravda posts photos of a brother’s dog.
• On our way back, before we fully exited the South, my wife graciously relented to stopping at Krystal to eat. Krystal is one of those fast food places that elicits either love or hate as a response when mentioned to people — there are no in–betweens. For those of you who have no idea what Krystal is, you’ve just betrayed yourselves as Yankees (think White Castle of the South). Completely contrary to the health-food craze of our times, there’s something about those slippery little miniature hamburgers that I just can’t pass up.

That’s all for this edition of “Travelogue.” Join us again next time with more adventures from the road.