Knoxville, Tennessee. The best place on Earth- well at least in my eyes. I have always had the best time at this little slice of heaven, plus I always get to see my besties which is now few and far between since we graduated college. This was probably my fourth time coming to Knoxville and I was a little worried that something would happen that would result in me not having as much fun as I always do but, of course, Knoxville has never let me down and I still had a banger of a weekend. So if you are looking to plan a visit or just want to see what I got into while in Dolly Parton's home state, this one is for you!
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I always try to go on Memorial Day Weekend because I am able to go for longer without having to take off of work. I left Thursday afternoon and luckily had a very seamless travel experience ( thank you American Airlines, ily). If you have been following me, you know that my airline travel has been nothing if not complicated this year, but for once luck was on my side and I got to Knoxville on time with my luggage in tact.
Immediately when I got in the car, Gabby and Jade said "you have 20 minutes when we get home to change to go out". Keep in mind, I had just beed traveling for the past 4 hours, but somehow I managed to straighten my hair in the morning and my skin wasn't looking too bad, so I quickly changed and was out the door to get something to eat at one of my favorite places, Southern Grit. They have some of the best happy hour deals in Knoxville and their sliders are to die for. Literally any of them. Also, Jade works there so I have become friends with some of her coworkers to it is always nice to see them when I am in town.
I pretty much ordered everything on the happy hour menu and was so content with myself. We then decided to go to this new cocktail restaurant in town called Brother Wolf which was cute. I got an espresso martini- which I think this is the only place you could order one of those, but it was pretty good. The price made up for the taste.
Then we went to the barcade- aka the best part of the night. I got a $6 beer and set the high score on their ski ball machine. I don't know what it is, but I love ski ball so much and I am really good at it ( clearly). There was a table of guys next to the machine who saw me won. Each of them tried to beat my score but the champ stayed the champ that night- the champ being me lol. Looking back, I should have made a bet with them or at least had them buy my drinks, but there is always next year.
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The next day we went on a little hot girl walk to Honey Bee which is the BEST coffee shop in Knoxville- not to mention, cheap as hell. I got a dirty chai with oatmilk and lavendar for $6 not including tip!! It is the best place ever and so fresh! We then went to a new jewish deli called Potshki where I got some lox and bagels. Honestly it was pretty good!! We walked back to the house and read on the porch swings. Its times like that where I love being out of the city because where in New York can you do that? Answer: Nowhere.
We got ready for the night and headed out to Adobo where we got wood fired pizza. I split a pizza with Gabby and it had prosciutto and arugula on it so you know it was amazing. We went to this brewery/ bar called Merchants of Beer and spent the rest of the night playing cornhole and just hanging out. Nothing to crazy which was good because we need to save our energy for the next day.
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Saturday aka Jade's 24th birthday! We rise and shine and get ready for the lady to teach her 9:30 cycle class at Cycle Bar. This was the first time I was able to see her teach in person in the past year she has been working there and I had never been more proud. It is so cool getting to see your friends do such amazing things. She was such a star and the class was killer and we finished it all with mimosas.
We went over to a friends house and ate breakfast. A nice homemade spread which consisted of pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, and homemade kombucha. After spending a couple hours around the dining table, we went back to the house to shower and get ready for the cook out of the century.
Jade's family also lives in Knoxville and her aunt and uncle were kind enough to host a cookout for her birthday. They also have a beautiful backyard where we hung out by the pool and created a corn hole tournament where we made a bracket and everything. I made it to the second round but ultimately couldn't go any further. We finished the night with presents and gluten free cake. It was such an amazing day and I loved watching jade shine with the people who love her most! Also when was the last time you had an old fashioned cookout?
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Surprisingly enough we were not hung over in the slightest, which is always a great start to the day. We rallied the troops and went to a place called OliBea. I have to say, the food there was absolutely incredible. I got a biscuit with potatoes on the side and it was amazing. The wait was a little long to get a table but well worth it once we got our food.
Every time the three of us are together, we also have a day dedicated to watching TV. This was that day. It is my favorite thing to do because we can just lay around with no pressure to be doing anything and watch a show or a movie together. We landed on the new Netflix movie, Senior Year, and a romcom classic, Crazy Stupid Love.
After spending a majority of the day horizontal, we put on our shoes and decided to have a Sunday Funday. We hit up a couple breweries- literally in our running shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes on- and returned to Merchant of Beer where we played Catchphrase, similar concept to Taboo. I am a very competitive person so I took this game very seriously. My team ultimately lost, but it was still very fun! We just hung out for the rest of the night and chatted away about everything under the sun.
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Travel day. Whenever I leave, I am always reminded about how I never get to see these people as much as I would like. I try to focus on all of the good times we had that weekend and I am never stressed about the state of our friendship or anything like that, but when you have people in your life that literally make going to the grocery store fun, its hard to be reminded that you only see them twice a year. This is something I have struggled with since graduating and something I am continuously working through to find a place of acceptance. I am forever to have Gabby and Jade in my life and will always love my trips to Knoxvegas! <3
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Stay UNIQUE,
Sara Anne
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