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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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. 😃
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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.