Top attractions in Knoxville, Tennessee: Ijams Nature Center and downtown Knoxville

 

Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN

The last time my wife and I visited the city of Knoxville, Tennessee was in October 2003.  We were getting ready to leave the rat race of New York behind for the perceived paradise of Hawaii, which would come the following month.

We were excited for that move, a new chapter in our lives.  Before leaving the “mainland”, we wanted to make sure we see more of it, before leaving.  To that end, we really tried our best that same year.

First, it was the 3 week long west coast road trip, going from New York City to Colorado and back.  It was followed by this 10 day long trip that would take us to Knoxville, Memphis, then to New Orleans.  

Knoxville was more a layover destination on our second road trip that October.  We stayed just one night, on our way over to Memphis.  We knew we needed to rest up to break up the trip, as the driving distance from New York City to Memphis is over 1100 miles.

Knoxville seemed like a good half way point from NYC at just around 700 miles, hence our stopover there.  We didn’t get to do anything once we arrived in Knoxville, as we arrived very late.  We basically ate some dinner, went to bed, then got up to eat the free breakfast at the Hampton Inn hotel we were sleeping in.  That, is the entire memory of Knoxville, plus the nice fall foliage views from our hotel room’s window…

Not much to remember Knoxville by…

It seemed like a good idea to finally get to know the city when we were traveling through the American South.  During our winter road trip of 2023-2024, we booked hotel rooms about 2-3 weeks in advance.  The reason for this was simple:  I found out Hilton Hotels’ best rates are typically found about 2-3 weeks in advance.  

After figuring out our next destination after booking Helen (Georgia), Knoxville sounded like a good place to go, as it is close enough from Helen.  At a distance of about 150 miles, it would take roughly 3 hours, to traverse through some of the mountainous terrains found en route.

After checking out of our hotel in Helen, we headed on a northwesterly direction towards Knoxville.  As anticipated, the roads cut through mountains, over valleys, and over rivers/creeks.  The scenery was fantastic but driving it was no easy task.

There was a road closure as soon as we left Helen, so we took a detour, unsure if we took the right route.  Thankfully, the detour eventually got us on the right path, and we were pushing forward at a decent pace.

We crossed both North Carolina’s and Tennessee’s borders.  Passing tiny mountain villages and towns, we wondered when the mountains would end.  That never came!

The city of Knoxville is located near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The city’s elevation is as high as some ski resorts on the east coast at 886 feet above sea level.  

The city had seen some snow the previous week and it was still covered with beautiful white stuff all around.  We were enjoying the views of mountains in the distance and the surrounding areas blanketed by snow, by the time we arrived near Knoxville.  Definitely scenic!

Our hotel for the next 3 days would be the Tru by Hilton Alcoa/Knoxville Airport.  We knew the check in wasn’t until 3, so we looked for a place to eat some lunch before heading to the hotel.

We chose Yassin’s Falafel House nearby, a local favorite for Middle Eastern cuisine.  We had to try this place out as it got some rave reviews for taste, freshness, and price.  Good combination!

We arrived at Yassin’s before 1 o’clock, and ordered the following: chicken shawarma wrapped in pita bread and falafel salad.  We had never had chicken shawarma before and it was absolutely delicious and amazing!

It had plenty of savory and flavorful chicken wrapped in pita, with fresh vegetables like cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes.  What made it even better was the delicious white garlic sauce that really brought out the flavors!  One bite and I knew I had been missing out…

My wife’s falafel salad was huge and it had the very crunchy falafels with lots of fresh vegetables.  We fell in love with Middle Eastern spices right then and there.  Sure, we had Middle Eastern staples like the skewered meats (Shish Kebab) and tabouli, but nothing like the flavors at Yassin’s.  

By the time we had finished our meals, we went back to the order counter to get more food for the evening.  It was that good.

Yassin’s Falafel House, Alcoa, TN

After securing our meal for the evening, we headed to our temporary home for the next 3 days, Tru by Hilton.  Our room was ready by the time we arrived at the hotel.  

We got into our room, enjoyed the airplanes taking off and landing for few minutes, then relaxed with some coffee after a much needed warm shower.  Afterwards, we took a nap to rest up.  Yup, life was good.  Being able to relax and to take afternoon naps is definitely one of the best perks of early retirement!

Hotel lobby, Tru by Hilton, Alcoa, TN

View from our room

View of the airport across the street

We got up when the sun went down over the mountains to the west, then chomped down on our take out food from Yassin’s once more.  It was still phenomenal even though we couldn’t heat up the food as Tru by Hilton does not have a microwave oven in the room.  Bit inconvenient…

After our meal, we watched yet more airplanes taking off and landing throughout the evening.  It got loud at times, but we figured it was another experience that we will not easily forget.  We watched some television before going to sleep. 

We got a good night’s rest and woke up to the brightening morning.  We went downstairs to grab some breakfast (hot breakfast with eggs, meats, coffee, juice, breads, etc.), then got ready to explore Knoxville!  These are two of our favorite places in the city:

• Ijams Nature Center 

Ijams Nature Center is located on 318 acres of protected land, and sits right within the city.  I discovered this place while researching for scenic places in the area.  What really got my attention was the existence of a boardwalk that seems to be built right along the river, practically attached to huge rock formations.

It looked amazing, and we were eager to see it for ourselves!

We took off from our hotel, heading north along US-129, then turning eastbound.  At a driving distance of roughly 17 miles, it took about 40 minutes to get there.  

The drive was slowed by the snow covered roads on secondary roads once we approached the city limits.  When we got within 2 miles of the nature center, the roads looked terrible, with snow still covering most of the roads.

We drove extra careful, taking corners extra slow.  We navigated the hills near the nature center like a turtle, literally driving below 10 mph.  

We wondered whether it was worth it to be driving on a day like this, but the neighborhood was covered with white snow everywhere, and it looked absolutely beautiful.  It was fitting to see snow in middle of January.

We arrived at the Ijams Nature Center, and the place was empty.  We saw one car that had been left overnight, and that was about it.  We picked a parking spot that was near what we guessed was the entry to the hiking trails, then started hiking.

We saw a sign for the River Trail where the iconic boardwalk was, then slowly made our way down towards the river.   The snow covered trail felt awesome, and we felt like two school kids on a snow day!

We hiked down real slow, taking one footing at a time, as the trail was not at all cleared of snow.  Our senses were hyper alert as we responded to every sound made by burrowing creatures, as well as the sound of our boots stepping on several inches of snow.  

It felt great to hike among nature with no one else around.  We didn’t mind that the trail hadn’t been cleared of snow.  The place felt pristine and we counted our blessings that we were among the first walkers on this freshly fallen snow.

Slowly but surely, we made our descent to the river.  The scenery opened up nicely.  The Tennessee River greeted us, welcoming us to take in the beauty of nature.  We obliged.

The scenery was amazing, and so serene.  With nary a creature in sight (human or otherwise), we walked slowly sniffing the fresh air after a snow.  We finally saw after few steps the iconic boardwalk, and it was beautiful!

It was cool to see the boardwalk almost attached to the rock formations.  It was unique and amazing to look at.

Awesome boardwalk!

Awesome views everywhere!

Along the River Trail, there were several short detours to get to a higher vantage point.  We checked them out as well, enjoying the views.

We made it to the end of the River Trail, then decided to backtrack to get back to the parking lot.  We thought very carefully and decided to go back to Yassin’s for more of the delicious Middle Eastern food!

We were in love with that place.  We brought to our hotel enough foods for both lunch and dinner.  It was that good…

• Downtown Knoxville 

On a bright sunny Saturday morning, we decided to visit the downtown area.  We chose a weekend day, as we learned many city owned garages do not charge parking fees on weekends.  Why not go there on weekends?

We headed back up north from our hotel, arriving in downtown Knoxville within about 30 minutes.  The roads were not cleared of snow even in downtown, and to make things worse, the roads had been frozen over.

After parking our car at the 1040 World’s Fair Park Drive parking lot, we walked, slowly tip toeing on slick and very slippery ice covered sidewalks.  Roads seemed to be better to walk on than the sidewalks on certain places, so we walked along the roads as well.  

We saw fellow pedestrians slipping on these roads, like us.  As we got near the famous Sunsphere, we stopped to take some pictures.

Sunsphere, Knoxville, TN

The very slippery roads near the Sunsphere 

We walked inside the Sunsphere to get a tour of the place, but it didn’t have an admission booth anywhere.  After looking around the place, both inside the elevator and outside, we finally saw a small information placard saying we needed to download an app to schedule a tour!

That, is too much of a hassle!  What popular attraction does not have an entrance/admission booth???  We were completely discouraged and deflated by this, and we gave up trying to tour this place.  

Here’s my two cents to Knoxville tourism agency:  Please set up an admission booth to make it easier for visitors to visit.  Downloading an app or needing to schedule ahead of time won’t work for many visitors.  We can do it, but we got disgusted by all this jumping through the hoops deal…

We walked outside then walked inside to the Knoxville Convention Center for a bathroom break.  Luckily, the convention center was open and the bathroom was easy to find.  

Afterwards, we braved the cold to get back to the parking lot.  We decided to drive over to the famous Market Square about a mile away.  We parked, again free at the Market Square Garage, then walked over to get some lunch.  

The Tomato Head 

Market Square, downtown Knoxville 

We decided to try the Tomato Head, a well reviewed restaurant that serves American fare including salads, sandwiches, and pizzas.  We ordered a Tuscan chicken sandwich and a veggie burger.  

The food was just ok.  We could’ve eaten better at a Chick Fil A restaurant for less.  Even though we liked the decor of the restaurant and the service was good, we weren’t impressed with the food.  It tasted bland, and not seasoned enough.  It was a big disappointment.  We expected better just looking at the Google reviews…

Oh, well.  Sometimes the reviews are not right…

We went back to our hotel, longing to eat the leftovers of Yassin’s for dinner.  Luckily, we had some left from the day before.  We did order plenty of food and then some, as we loved their food so much.  Dinner (Yassin’s) was so much better than our lunch at the Tomato Head.

In conclusion:

Knoxville had been on our bucket list of places to visit, and we’re glad we finally got to spend some time there.  Although popular attraction like the Sunsphere can certainly be better, we still loved all the things the city has to offer.

We loved Yassin’s, and Ijams Nature Center.  The downtown is well laid out with plenty of places to eat and see.  We loved the natural beauty of the city with its majestic mountains surrounding the city.  The Tennessee River was also awesomely scenic as well!

We had a great time during our 3 nights/4 days trip.  We highly recommend the city.  We know we barely scratched the surface when it comes to Knoxville, but we know we’ll go back one of these days.  

We thank you for reading and happy trails!

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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