Knoxville: Brews & Bikes

Knoxville, Tennessee has had its share of hard knocks over the years, but this old city of 170,000 people is finding new life with micro breweries, unusual bars and outdoor activities to help you burn off what you’ve just consumed. I visited in November, when the leaves had turned colors, the chill of the air kept you moving at full speed, and the inside of a warm bar made the end of the day just about perfect.

Brews

There are three micro-breweries in downtown Knoxville including Downtown Grill & Brewery. The brew pub and restaurant is immensely popular and they offer a diverse food menu, typical bar fare, though it's quite good. They brew an amazing 7,000 pints weekly which constitutes eight different ales and frankly demand is so high they can barely keep up as it is, and it's packed even on off nights. Their beers uniformly present hoppier notes from their Alt to their stouts. They source their grain from Germany and England and they are one of the few to have their copper tanks, not sequestered behind glass, but out in the open.

Saw Works Brewing Company is the near opposite open far fewer hours preferring instead to get their beers on taps around the region. "We're trying to be Knoxville's beer," co-owner Adam Palmer tells me. They are located in what used to be, not surprising, a saw sharpening and finishing shop. The focus is English style ales therefore English grains and rye malts are their base and brew up mainstays and a few seasonals. I really liked their double chocolate porter and their dirty south brown, both nicely balanced with a creamy viscosity. But what also makes this spot unique is their Beers and Steers program. The brewery has partnered with Century Harvest Farms and owner Chris Burger (no seriously, that’s his name) who raises grass fed beef which can be ordered and picked up at the brewery on special nights, which also gives beef-loving customers special pricing on growlers. I love this idea.

Smoky Mountain Brewery takes a different approach to their brews with Munich style lagers. They make beer for Copper Cellars and Calhoun’s (a great barbeque spot) and their beers are clean, smooth and crisp in part because he does all his fermentation in tank which keeps the brews fresh and clean with a slight carbonation. I really liked the Velas Helles and Thunder Road Pilsner, two styles I don’t normally appreciate, but which turn out beautifully balanced. They craft eight mainstay beers, seasonals and IPA’s and other specialty brews.

There are other beer spots like The Casual Pint and Suttree’s, both of whom do not brew but do carry local, regional and national craft beers on tap and in bottle. Overall in Knoxville pints run about $4 and growler refills about $9. Suttree’s also offers a solid selection of local whiskey mainly from Tennessee and Kentucky. Just up the road is Boyd’s Jig & Reel who are compulsive about their 218 Scottish single malt whisky’s. This musical pub offers live music and food and even if you don’t have Scottish roots, if you love whisky, come here and you can sample more single malts that almost anyplace on the east coast.

Bikes
What’s surprising about Knoxville is that within two miles of downtown you have access to 1,000 acres of wilderness to mountain bike, hike, trail run and miles of the Tennessee River to go fishing or canoeing. The land comprising this urban wilderness is a joint partnership with the City, State, Federal government and private landowners, and that right there is stunning. The adopted motto of the urban wilderness is, “No child left inside,” and with tons of protected fields, meadows, hills and trails, not to mention three Civil War forts, and two Civil War battlefields on this land, this really is a playground in the middle of the city. The outdoors called me so I grabbed a bike from River Sports Outfitters and hit the trails. With the damp fall foliage covering the roots of the trees you’re bunny hopping a lot, probably with a few kick-outs. The single track is not overly technical but it does have enough turns and hills to keep you paying attention. I did have one gravity check, but no biggie, frankly it’s a badge of honor…I guess. And a visit to the abandoned Ross Marble Quarry is a must. You can easily hike or bike to it, and this moss covered quarry needs to be explored on foot. Stairs lead down to what looks like urban Mayan ruins, the large blocks of stone still bearing quarry marks. It’s eerie as well as archaic; a funky, odd spot with an unusual beauty.

Ross Marble Quarry

Knoxville is growing up and the downtown core is getting’ revitalized. So if the Smoky Mountains are calling or the fishing along the Tennessee River or the 1,000 acres of urban wilderness, or even some damn fine authentic biscuits and gravy are pulling you towards east Tennessee, make it a point to get a pint in Knoxville.

VISIT KNOXVILLE

Richmond, Virginia – History Underfoot

The Grand Staircase at the Jefferson Hotel

Richmond, Virginia is bathed in Revolutionary and Civil War history; it rose from its own ashes when 37 blocks were destroyed by retreating Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Anywhere you go in Richmond you’ll run into something of historical importance. The architecture of ornate iron work graces beautiful brick buildings, and monuments and statues are scattered everywhere. The Jefferson Hotel, one of only two five-star hotels in the state, is an ideal base as you’re within walking distance or a short cab ride to most of Richmond’s coolest attractions. The hotel, built in 1895, is old-school, stately, plush and refined. Rather weirdly, the hotel used to be home to alligators that lived in the shallow indoor pools until 1948, and the grand staircase is said to have been the inspiration for the one in Gone with the Wind.

Monticello - from the back side

An hour’s drive from Richmond is Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s technologically advanced home where he studied, plotted graphs and charts on farming, wine, food production and entertained international guests. Plan on Michie Tavern for lunch though, before visiting Monticello. Operating since 1784 the tavern serves a daily buffet based on 18^th Century fare. Be Southern and get the excellent fried chicken, biscuits and black eyed peas, and save room for their killer peach cobbler, all for about $20.
Arriving at Monticello, check out the visitor center first to see a short film abut Jefferson which is surprisingly moving. Take the shuttle to the entrance of Monticello, or, burn off that cobbler by taking the 20 minute walk through the lush woods, past the Jefferson gravesite and enter via the back side of the property. Tours are an hour and are worth it, as Jefferson was a man way ahead of his time. A three minute drive from Monticello is Jefferson Vineyards. Located on Jefferson’s property the vines, planted in 1981, not only bear Jefferson’s name but are pretty good wines. Jefferson sought to bring fine wine to America and made various studies about grape growing. These days Virginia has 150 wineries, showcasing Viognier, which is quickly become a signature white wine, to native American varieties like Norton and Vidal.


The Lovely Ladies at Michie Tavern



A Poe actor creates The Tell-Tale Heart

Returning to Richmond, swing by the Edgar Allen Poe Museum, it’s a mere $6 to get it. There’s an eclectic collection of all things Poe; from one of his vests, to his boyhood bed (odd), books of his works, a lock of hair (a little more odd), the staircase from his childhood home (really odd), and a peculiar, but intriguing, diorama a local woman made in 1926 showing how Richmond looked when Poe lived there in the 1800s. They occasionally offer murder mysteries where actors recreate some of Poe’s best works.



St. John's Church

 Richmond’s most visited structure though is St. John's Church, built in 1741. This is where an impassioned Patrick Henrydeclared, “…give me liberty or give me death,” on March 23^rd, 1775 as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington listened (hopefully so--they couldn’t text but they might have been doodling, who knows?). Though the interior looks nothing like the original, you can sit in the same spot where our forefathers wrestled with the idea of democracy and understand how we are the result of those fateful decisions. 

The Library of Virginia houses a Special Collections section, old books mainly, which might seem tedious and academic but hold on to your binding. They have handwritten letters of George Washington, books owned by Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry from 1733, and the smallest book you’ve ever seen, (no, seriously) holding five of Abraham Lincoln’s speeches. Best of all is the jaw-dropping book, handled gingerly with gloves, the only book that survived the crossing of the Mayflower dating from 1617. Yes, they are available to see, no, you can’t touch them.

Seriously, this is the smallest book...ever!

Richmond is also Civil War Central. It was here where Jefferson Davis set up his Confederate white house. The American Civil War Center, situated on the banks of the James River, is a 6 block walk from downtown. The museum is inside the Tredegar Iron Works building which produced cannons and firearms for the Confederate Army. The exhibits examine the war from political and philosophical perspectives and though heavy on text, it gives a comprehensive overview of the war. $8 gets you in and you can download a podcast to your I-phone. Richmond is one of those seminal cities where we begin to understand much of who we are in our present context. That we can eat, drink and walk in the steps of our founding fathers is of no small importance.

The Museum's old outer walls



GO

http://www.visitrichmondva.com/    

STAY

~The Jefferson Hotel, http://www.jeffersonhotel.com/

DO

~Poe Museum, www.poemuseum.org

~Monticello, http://www.monticello.org/

~Michie Tavern, http://www.michietavern.com/

~St. John’s Church, http://www.historicstjohnschurch.org/

~American Civil War Center, http://www.tredegar.org/

~The Library of Virginia, http://www.lva.virginia.gov/

~Wineries of Virginia, http://www.virginiawine.org/