the opportunity arose in mid-august to make a visit to chattanooga, so i decided to tack on stops in knoxville and nashville as well to make it a well-rounded trip. i am trying to take advantage of the flexibility my current round of funemployment offers for as long as it lasts, and this seemed like a great opportunity.

first up, knoxville:

britney and brandon recently bought a house in knoxville, so i began with two days of hanging out with them. as soon as i arrived we took to the river, enjoying a leisurely ride and picking out our dream houses along the shore. on monday britney and i journeyed out to the ijams nature center and took a stroll down to the boardwalk before stuffing ourselves silly on bojangles’. when brandon got home in the evening, we went downtown to sip on some fancy cocktails at the peter kern library, a speakeasy in the oliver hotel, before dining at stock & barrel. it was a great two days, and i was pleasantly surprised at all that knoxville had to offer. i’m sure i will be back one day soon.

my favorite, chattanooga:

a visit to chattanooga always feels like returning home. i only lived there for two years, and i’ve not spent a huge amount of time there in the last 5 years, but it will always be home for me, and i loved having three days to catch up with some friends and wander the town. i finally introduced steph and pete to the wonders of typhoon; i got a great tour of a few of the properties steph is managing as well as the edney innovation building downtown; we went on a bike ride on the newly-opened portion of the riverwalk; i got to catch up with joli and wander my old stomping grounds; we had a great event and silent auction to raise money for alex’s college tuition; and i even managed to catch up with an old rhodes friend. so as you can see, it was a fun-filled and wondrous visit, and i continue to dream of the day i find a job there and move back.

last, but certainly not least, nashville:

this could not have been better timing. the weekend i was in town coincided with birthday celebrations for both millie and lindsay, natasha was in town and free all weekend, and chrystal happened to be in town as well. i got to town on friday, helped steve clear out and set up the garage for millie’s party, and headed out to meet natasha for a great dinner at little octopus. on saturday morning i had breakfast with lauren, lance, and sam before heading back to celebrate millie’s 1st birthday. after everyone cleared out, i sent lindsay and steve to take a nap and headed out to meet chrystal and natasha at the jackalope taproom. from there we grabbed some food at taco mamacita and then popped into old glory for a few drinks. i eventually made my way back to lindsay and steve’s to change and get ready for lindso’s birthday celebration which included a giant bottle of wine they received for their wedding and some delicious pork sliders courtesy of peter and sarah. we wrapped up the weekend with brunch at the melrose on sunday before i drove back to memphis.

all in all, it was a fabulous week spent catching up with some of my best friends and seeing some of my favorite places in tennessee. my feet are already itching to go back.

xx