Five things…

Below is a handful of things that happened this week.

1. A Favorite, Sunset Season, is Coming to an End

As trees’ leaf out, a process that is happening rather quickly right now, our views from the hill will become hidden and these beautiful sunsets will no longer be visible. Living on the highest hill in the neighborhood has some great benefits, this view of downtown Knoxville is one of the best.

2. Walking for our Lunch

We walk, a lot. Our mileage can total 25 and as much as 35 miles a week utilizing neighborhood roads, Ijams Nature Center and roads/trails around Knoxville. We often repeat the same routes over and over because, well, there are only so many routes and we are looking more for the exercise than the scenery.

This week we decided to return to one of our favorite walks, a walk that began in the “training days” of the Cleveland Trail in 2018 and ended the minute we finished that 109-mile walk. The favorite walk…for lunch of course! “Back in the day”, a lunch destination by foot served as motivation on days we struggled to get out the door. Indeed, it worked well for us on Monday when we headed downtown, then home for a total of 6 miles.

Kopita in downtown Knoxville on a midday Monday.

Our destination restaurant was fai thai kitchen; we had heard good things. Just one problem, fai thai is closed on Monday so we ended up at Kopita next door, also new to us. The food was good though we look forward to another destination walk soon, on a Tuesday or Wednesday, so we can give fai thai kitchen a try.

Front door at Kopita
Imperial Alley (behind John) will be additional outdoor seating for Kopita. When complete, the area will have a large mural depicting the 1920’s hotel that once occupied the space and will showcase a large, outdoor crystal chandelier.
Behind us, Starbucks, located in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel.
I had the hummus plate and vegetables.
John had the falafel plate, and yes that is sauerkraut and pickles.

3. Crazy Weather Happened

Around Tuesday of this week, the temperature reached 80° F. Tonight it will drop to 32° F. We have had warm sunshine, heavy rain, hail, brisk, chilly wind and periods of snow. This weekend’s cold weather has officially been dubbed Dogwood Winter.

When I was younger and this crazy weather pattern struck, I would express my worry about the fate of the beautiful blooms and emerging leaves of spring. My mother would always reassure me that erratic spring weather has been around forever, nature knew what to do. She was right, of course.

4. Bicycling and Blooms

Springtime in Knoxville is a particularly beautiful time of year. For 55 years or so, Knoxville has hosted a Dogwood Arts Festival during the month of April. The festival celebrates all things dogwood, flowers and the arts. Our little city looks forward to this celebration; everything is cleaned up and spit polished in anticipation.

Through the years, the number of roads that make up the dogwood trail network has continued to grow. Currently 13 Knoxville neighborhoods (including ours) are marked with pink paint in March and designated as official trails. This year trail mileage has reached 85.

One of the older and longer Dogwood trails meanders through the Sequoyah Hills neighborhood in mid-town. Sequoyah Hills is a historic and beautiful neighborhood with large homes, big lawns and expansive gardens. The neighborhood is also walker, runner and bicycle friendly. We decided to explore the trail by bicycle.

Unloading in one of the public parking areas. The air felt colder than I initially thought when leaving the house and I was glad I had not left my arm warmers at home.
We had just climbed some steep hills before this photo. John was happy, me, not so much!!
Azaleas and Lenten Roses. The gardens in this neighborhood are beautiful and most are professionally maintained.
Talahi Park is one of the first parks in Sequoyah Hills. The park was named after the original name of this neighborhood. I find the dogwood blooms, white concrete fountain and green grass against the blue sky to be quite striking.
What a vibrant planting!
John waiting on me on yet another hill (pink trail marking on the road).
Beautiful sky, beautiful neighborhood
This is the route we took. The ride included several miles of “not official” Dogwood Trail for a bicycle total of 10-miles (we had walked 5-miles earlier). Pretty clear from the map where the hills are 🤣.

We had a lot of fun bicycling this Dogwood Trail and hope to cycle one more before the festival ends.

5. Dinner with this Little Bunny

Finally, last night we had dinner with this little bundle of cuteness and her parents. ‘Nuff said.

Ears go on (note the tulip bud in her little fingers, it did not survive the evening).
Oh no, not the ears!
Ears come off!

So that concludes our favorite events of this week. Now I am off to watch it snow and check the weather for the anticipated mid-afternoon sun. Afterall, we have some miles to get in!

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2 Comments

  1. April 9, 2022 / 6:51 pm

    We used to live in Sequoyah Hills some 30 years ago. I imagine there have been a few changes. It’s hard, however, to imagine downtown Knoxville as a “destination” – it was desolate in our days there. Nice to see that it’s come a long way in a good direction. 😃

    • April 9, 2022 / 7:07 pm

      Sequoyah Hills has changed somewhat. Big homes have become huge thanks to additions (s), some smaller homes have been leveled to make way for huge homes but many homes are still the same. It is as beautiful as always. Downtown Knoxville, on the other hand, you would not recognize, condos, apartments, restaurants, music venues, theaters, stores, festivals and so forth. It is easier for us to walk than to find good parking.

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