Knoxville, Tennessee: It rained overnight and was pouring this morning when we all (Mary, Steve, Chris, Kathy, Woody, DT and myself) piled into the Suburban and hit the freeway east to Knoxville.
It is about a three hour drive from Nashville to Knoxville. By the time we arrived, the weather had cleared a bit, but they are predicting rain, thunder & lightning for the game tomorrow night.
Oh joy.
The hotel lobby may be decorated for the Vols, but a lot of Ducks were checking-in
We found our hotel in the outskirts of Knoxville, settled-in and then jumped back in the car to visit a suburb of Knoxville - Maryville, Tennessee - Steve's birthplace.
Steve, in his birth city
Steve's Dad was in the Air Force and the family was stationed in Maryville for a very short time. Steve has no memory of Maryville. Even his mother could not remember their address in Maryville - though she did remember the name of the street where they lived!
Steve was born in the Blount (pronounced blunt) hospital.
We had a walking tour through the pretty downtown and spent a while in the city park along the creek watching huge turtles in the water. This footbridge crosses Pistol Creek to reach the beautiful Maryville Library.
Pistol Creek in Maryville, Tennessee
A bike/jogging path runs along the creek
We met a cast of thousands at the Crown & Goose Pub for dinner. We saw Ducks everywhere in Knoxville this evening! Most Vol fans were quite fun and hazed us with friendly banter.
Kathy & Mary at the Crown & Goose. Keeping with the Green & Yellow theme, Mary insisted on a lemon and a lime wedge in her gin & tonic. GO DUCKS!
Alex, Brandon & Chris
Hey, wait a minute. Isn't Brandon our house sitter? Shouldn't he be holding down our fort?
Being our house sitter is a very tough job, isn't it?
The game is tomorrow on ESPN2 in HD at 4p pacific (7p eastern). Be there.
And wear green or yellow, wontcha?
Until my next update, I remain your GO DUCKS correspondent.