{Travel} Tennessee Trip: Downtown Knoxville - Day 1

 We took a late summer trip to Tennessee and our first stop was Knoxville.

We flew into to Knoxville and wanted to see the city.

It was a tiny plane but a short flight from Philly.  

We picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton Downtown.  We picked it for its location and it was also very pretty.

Our room was ready-yay! We dropped off our bags and went out to explore. Our first stop was Market Square in search of some lunch.

Our rental car agent recommended Stock and Barrel and said they had the BEST onion rings. When we saw the restaurant, it was an easy choice. I had the Black Bean & Corn Salad and of course we tried the onion rings.  yum!

After lunch we set out to explore more Knoxville.  We walked to World's Fair Park and were drawn to the Sunsphere.  

This structure was built for the 1982 World's Fair. 

There's an admission fee to take the elevator to the Observation Deck for a 360-degree views of the city, the Smoky Mountains and the Tennessee River. 

The Observation Deck is also a tiny museum about the 1982 World's Fair.

We loved checking out the artifacts.

Cherry Coke and Petro's Chili Chips(the creator of walking tacos) were both introducted at that year's World's Fair.

The views were pretty spectacular and it was great way for us to get our bearings around the city.

Interesting highlights from 1982.

Back down on land.  We walked around the park a little bit and then walked over to the Knoxville Museum of Art.

It was a cool break from the intense heat of the day (and free admission!).

Contemporary art isn't really our thing but we still enjoyed exploring the museum.

We had about an hour before it closed which was plenty of time for us this day.

We found our way to Strong Alley to see the Gallery of Murals.

They were really incredible works of art.

We made our way back to where our hotel was and stopped at Cruze Farm Dairy (another recommedation from our rental car agent!).

The store is so cute and their soft serve is delicious. I had a combo of snickerdoodle and pumpkin. Mr. Click got vanilla with cherry dip.

At this point we were ready to head back to the hotel for a bit.

Later we enjoyed a rooftop happy hour at the hotel.

That night we headed into Old City for dinner.  Not a lot of things were open but we stopped at Stir to look at their menu.  We weren't feeling anything on the menu so we grabbed a few things for dinner at a local market and went back to the hotel.
We were off to Pigeon Forge the next day.

to be continued...

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{Recipe} Peanut Butter "Ice Cream" Sandwiches

 I did my own spin on these Healthy Summer Treats that I found on Pinterest.

I didn't have all of the ingredients for the original and I wanted a peanut butter treat.

Recipe:

1 cup thawed whipped topping

1/2 cup non fat Greek yogurt

1-2 scoops protein powder (I used PB Fit)

Mix to combine and spread onto 8-9 graham crackers squares

I added some peanuts, mini chocolate chips and drizzled some peanut butter on top of the mixture.

Put the remaining graham crackers on top and freeze for at least 4 hours. Cut into squares.

I enjoyed mine with a cup of coffee.

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{Shopping} Trader Joe's, Aldi & Costco-Just the Seasonal Items!

 Instead of a typical haul with a lot of repeat items, I'm highlighting just the seasonal things I picked up.

[Trader Joe's]

 Most of these are old favorites but this is the first time trying the soup.  I bought it for a recipe, coming soon!

[Aldi]

I love that is savory and more versatile than a sweet pumpkin hummus.

A fun candle and this cute match holder.

[Costco]

I was so excited to finally see a fall/winter Mrs. Meyer's hand soap set.

This is a fall/winter staple in our house.  We usually roast it right away for a delicious side dish.

Have you found any fun, seasonal items lately?

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{Thrifting} What I Thrifted in September

 I only did a little bit of thrifting in September.

I found one clothing item, this velvet Madewell t-shirt that I thought would make a good transition piece into fall.

I found this interesting shaped cutting board that I've displayed in my kitchen. On the same trip I picked up another melamine piece for outdoor entertaining. It's from Sur La Table so...ooh lala!

We went to a community market and found a few pieces for City Girl #2.  I sent her this photo of a wooden whale.  

We also spotted this whale house at the same vendor and she loved both of them. 

I found a few things at Goodwill... a brand new bike helmet, Buddha statue for my garden, a hand towel and a new puzzle.

I didn't buy this but sent it my daughters for a laugh.

I made Buddha had a safe trip home. 

Have you thrifted anything lately?

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