Vonore to Knoxville, TN

We pulled into Knoxville around 3 PM and tied up at the public dock at Vol Navy, just outside of Neyland Stadium. It was 98° with a heat index of 108°, and of course, we decided it wasn't going to hold us back. After all, we were here to explore the town and didn't have time to wait for the heatwave to dissipate.

While Ben ran to the post office to send spare boat parts to some of our Endeavour fam, the kids and I stayed back to secure our belongings inside the boat. Since this is another dock that is public and not locked, we had to put everything away from the cockpit and zip up all the eisenglass before heading out.

When Ben got back, it had “cooled down” to 97°, heat index 107°. So… basically the same, but off we went!

Our first stop was the Sunsphere from the 1982 World’s Fair. (AKA the Wigsphere, of The Simpsons fame.) We rode the elevator to the top and checked out the view. We couldn’t see the Cartermaran, but we lucked out by being the only people up there, so we lingered a bit in the AC before moving on to a quick stop at the World’s Largest Rubik’s Cube. 

For dinner, we headed to The Tomato Head on Market Street, which gave us total Pearl Street vibes with its pedestrian-only street, lined with fun shops, street musicians, and restaurant patios, which we would have enjoyed if it wasn't as hot as it was at the time! We had delicious pizzas and sandwiches, and managed to save room for Cruze’s Ice Cream just around the corner.

Before we got there, I’d read that Cruze’s sells milk and coffee milk, and we knew we had to get some. Turns out they also had chocolate and strawberry milk, so we left with a few pints of flavored milk and a half gallon of regular milk. They had about a dozen flavors of soft-serve-style ice cream. What was different about their flavored ice creams was that it was smooth, so it didn't have your typical chunks of mix-ins, unless you added toppings.

Knoxville gave us that cute small-town college feel, and we enjoyed it more than Nashville, but not as much as Chattanooga. Even in the crazy heat, we were glad we ventured out to explore it.