The Western approach to Great Smoky Mountain National Park is a blighted landscape of billboards (in Sevierville, pronounced “severe-ville”) and goofy monuments to American Family Entertainment (Pigeon Forge)…and we didn’t even get near Dollywood Theme Park, on the outskirts of town. Sevierville is all about shopping, and during this season, you know they pull out the stops to get your buck: the biggest drive through neon light exhibition ever! Dancing Cleopatras doing the King Tut walk, rock bands drumming, genies popping out of bottles…you get my drift. However, a Best Buy-sized store that only sells knives is more like a museum. Cool!

Thinking we had already finished with the craziness, we were shocked by 10 miles of main road lined with wacky architecture to lure the needs of the American Family for….entertainment of  course! You can travel the world without leaving town…

Home Sweet Home in Appalachia…

Manhattan…

We definitely prefer tin-can pigs pulling sleighs!

We Americans know how to have a good time!

We got to Knoxville, TN just after the front page story in The Tennessean (Nashville newspaper) celebrating Knoxville’s status as one of three completely economically recovered cities. Unemployed residents we met at a Tango Practica here, disagreed.

However, the Downtown area on a Sunday morning was thriving with locals and their dogs enjoying the pedestrian art park that runs for blocks with outdoor dining and a creek. There’s even a downtown dog park!

Old structures are preserved, and new amenities make it inviting. The University of Tennessee campus (400 acres) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (which oversees a regional network of over 20 dams) have shaped this city. Where else can you find a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame?

Replete with 60 miles of dogwood trails, art laden bike paths, and free transportation on the Trolleys, it is easy to get around. We are just sorry we missed the Boomsday Festival on the river waterfront during Labor Day weekend, the largest fireworks show in the South.

President Andrew Jackson had his home in Hermitage, TN. It is very well preserved. However, President Jackson is an evil jerk and historians agree…sort of.

He was asked to lead very poorly performing troops against the British. Instead he chose an army of freed Blacks, and Indians as he believed that they wouldn’t flee in the heat of battle against seasoned troops. He was right. He ascended all his public offices and survived a hard fought battle for his second term in the White House, based on his win in the Battle of New Orleans, and earned the nickname these brave troops gave him for his ferocity, “Old Hickory”.

Here comes the evil jerk part. He then turned around and engineered the Trail Of Tears, wherein four thousand Cherokees, Choctaws, and Seminoles died, of the 15,000 forced to relocate by U.S. troops. Their lands provided space for frontier development.

In just 41 years at The Hermitage, Jackson’s original 425-acre frontier farm evolved into a diversified 1,000-acre cotton plantation by the time of his death in 1845. He pulled that off with the free labor from his slaves. He even advertised that he would give a reward to anyone who would give his escaped slave 300 lashes.

He betrayed the same people that gave him his success and reputation. Any question he is an unapologetic evil jerk?

After visiting the museum, I could not enjoy the house with fine original wall paper and furniture; it made me too angry to hear the “spin” that the costumed docents are trained to give. They say his evil acts are balanced by the “rights” he put in place that Abolitionists, African Americans and Native American Indians later used to argue for their equality under the law. Puh-leeeeze!

I left the manse and wandered out to the fields, imagining humans toiling there against their will. Instead, my mood improved when I found these Belted Galloways from Scotland! Apparently the CEO here is a Scotsman and found a good tax loophole for his darling herd.

Lety, our Mexican rescue dog, dressed in her white goose down vest for the cold, thinks they are just copying her fabulous fashion sense.

We agree with her as we now see her style copied everywhere we go.

Shouldn’t Bill Cunningham be documenting this new fashion trend in the New York Times?

Many also call it, “NashVegas”. You can see their point when a fat white Elvis waits with you at the traffic light. They also have an exact scale model of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece …Okay… there is some flamboyance going on here!

Otherwise, it is better than Vegas as the live music venues (called honky-tonks here) are everywhere, in volume, with talent, and charging no cover. Usually, starting at 2 PM daily, four acts are booked at each so you can wander from place to place all evening to pick your favorite style of country…and we found two blues clubs.

Named the “Buckle of the Bible Belt” due to the huge volume of religious publication centered here. There are also more than 800 churches, a lot for a population of 600,000. Yet, music reins. Although country rock and rockabilly (think Presley) preponderates, it is balanced by the lovely harmonies of gospel crossover and old tyme music. There was a good bit of the ballad/pop/modern country fusion, fortunately counterbalanced by some fiddles playing irish trad, bluegrass, and of course the banjo and strings that Bill Monroe and the Clinch Mountain Boys introduced at the Grand Ole Opry in their “Hillbilly” music lineup. Did I mention the influence of Earl Scruggs? The entire 2nd floor of the Country Music Hall of Fame is devoted to these Hillbilly artists. The exhibit is immensely well researched with evidence of the banjo’s primacy in Africa before being brought here by enslaved Africans. Musicians jam on the streets and these parking signs show the priority on music in Nashville.

The Ryman hosts the Grand Ole Opry live radio show twice a week. There’s nothing like Minnie Pearl’s traditional greeting, “How-Dee-e-e-e-e!” and  her advice, “Hey Northerners! Put something fried on that salad”! However, some of the modern country tunes with goofy titles like, “If I Could Have A Beer With Jesus”, were not sung like the humorous “achey-breakie” country style, but as a slow and mournful prayer. Yep this is a thoroughly, seriously Christian town. There are no “Happy Holidays” greetings here, as one is corrected with a pointed, “Merry Christmas”.

I learned that Bud Isaac was the first musician to create and play a pedal steel guitar. He said everybody started to try to tune their guitars differently to get that sound, but it was not possible to get it without building a whole new instrument, with a new sound.

Nashville is booming with new construction. The new convention center is being constructed on three downtown blocks, while Patsy Cline supervises.

The old and the new mix comfortably in Nashville. The mounted officers are proud to tell you that they ride only “Tennessee Walkers”, as they should as it is a really comfortable riding gait, faster than a walk, and smoother than a trot.

Boots. Western Style dress. Very big here. Every block seems to have a boot shop with some quirky marketing…

The Frist Center for the Visual Arts provided amazing eye candy. Carrie May Weems, photography exhibit was moving as she unflinchingly shoots poverty and beauty all over the world. Also, “Degenerate Art” was on view as well in the German Expressionist exhibit owned and developed since 1943 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Hitler denounced this art and proceeded to put on the biggest and best represented expressionist art show ever produced. Over 20,000 people in Germany went to see it. Kinda backfired, I’d say. Expecially as Peggy Googenheim and Valentiner swept in to purchase and export everything they could get their hands on. Unfortunately, many of these artists later suicided when they were fired, not allowed to paint, not allowed to rent, and were shunned by Germans fearful of the Nazis. We were disappointed that none of the galleries on 5th (Gallery Row) showed local artists.

…and if that is not enough entertainment for you, how ’bout serene fishing on a lake within Nashville that has no houses on it and makes you feel deep in the country as you head out in the boat? …or perhaps 3 hours of bowling, including the shoes for $6…or maybe covered tennis courts for $30/month so you never get rained out? We really enjoyed all these things in Nashville so much and want to come back soon, but maybe we will wait for the nightmare traffic due to all the construction to end first!

Are we lucky, or what?  An invitation to a real Southern Thanksgiving, joining our dear friend Diane, her wonderful sister Laura, and their kin. Even though Laura is the Superintendent of all Middle Schools in Nashville, and works long hours, she always hosts the holidays. We watched as all the family chefs began to lay out huge platters of their signature dishes.

Normally, I don’t take pictures of food because it requires special skill to look edible in photos. However, I break my rule here to showcase Bertha’s chopped collards in ham hock pot liquor. I also vow never to eat another piece of sweet potato pie if it doesn’t look like Bertha’s…souffle light, straight forward splendor. Diane used TV Chef Alton Brown’s brined, roasted turkey recipe (no basting, and no opening the oven door to peek), as did my mother in Los Angeles: moist and delicious; even those who hate white meat asked for more. At dinner, I also received instruction on making my favorite: hot water cornbread (no leavening and fried of course!)  According to, “Southern Belly”, by J.Edge, Tennessee is famous for the “Meat N’ Three” plate lunch. It usually is a meaty entree and sides of coleslaw, greens/veggies in pot liquor, and of course, cornbread. Pork and cornbread are for sure the heart of Southern cooking!

Okay, so where does the “Battered and Fried” come in? A delicious restaurant by that name creates light, non-greasy, crunchy fried products. We had never tasted rich molten hot cheesecake and brownie bites in a crispy coating before. Fortunately, we don’t live here as the richness and texture is addictive.  We also had to try fried Hostess Twinkies with a bourbon vanilla sauce, only because there may never be a fried Twinkie opportunity on the planet ever again, with Hostess’ demise. The “Twinkiness” just disappears into molten and crunchy sweetness.

With all the good food available here, we knew what was required. Diane dragged us to three sports a day: tennis (covered courts!), golf (three affordable, gorgeous courses), a huge modern YMCA, free to us for our first 14 visits, and took us out fishing on Lake Percy Priestly! We just cannot find all these amenities at these prices at home. We danced at a (free) Tango Milango downtown, as well as taking a tango lesson. We keep meeting Californians who have moved here for the affordable real estate and the culture: food, arts and entertainment, sports, and the extremely friendly people. We love Nashville…and haven’t even told you about the arts and culture part yet! We were deeply honored when Laura said, “So where is the rest of the family?” when Steven and I were out for the evening.