Blog — heyLily

We stopped into Knoxville, TN on our way home from the Smoky Mountains, so we were only here for a couple hours. But here’s what we experienced:

Stock & Barrel
The courtyard (or square or whatever you call it) was packed with people due to a Chalk Walk (artists were drawing masterpieces on the sidewalk with chalk while spectators cruised through admiring their creations.) Stock & Barrel is located in the square. So naturally, there was going to be a wait. But we’ve been having a lot of luck with waits lately. So I worked my magic once again. (My magic consists of walking to the bar and seeing if there are two open seats beside each other.) Low and behold, my magic worked! So no waiting for us. :) We ordered the spicy crab dip and split a Greek lamb burger. It was delicious, and it was the perfect amount of food for two. The dip was more like queso with crab meat. The Greek burger was perfect for a lunch situation because the lamb was lighter than beef. I recommend this place if you’re in Knoxville!

Spicy Crab Dip from Stock & Barrel in downtown Knoxville, TN.

Frothy Monkey
The employees here rock. I would hangout with them outside of work they’re so cool. Maybe even too cool. But I digress. We stopped in after lunch and ordered Dirty Chais with oat milk for the drive home. It was good. I was satisfied. Note: Frothy Monkey is a chain, so unfortunately this establishment isn’t exclusive to Knoxville. It was still good though.

Strong Alley Graffiti Gallery
If you know me, you know I LOVE street art. We wandered down this artsy little alley after lunch. This street gallery is full of amazing local art/graffiti. You should check it out if you find yourself in downtown Knoxville.

So the main takeaway? I would definitely be down to spend more time in Knoxville in the future.

Destination marketing mural in downtown Knoxville, TN

Hello Tourist City. Pigeon Forge is nothing more than a tourist town. Its streets are lined with souvenir shops, museums, children’s attractions, amusement parks, and outlet malls. PF is centered around family vacation and children. There just isn’t that much to do in PF if you’re a couple of child-free adults. Gatlinburg, on the other hand, well it’s also a tourist town, but it thrives with more mountainous soul than PF. It’s got what you’d expect out of a mountain town.

Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg KOA

For this trip, we stayed at the KOA in our camper. The Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg KOA was impressive. And I’ll tell ya why… The other KOA’s I’ve stayed at were off the beaten path; they might be called the KOA of a nearby city, but thats the thing–they aren’t usually actually IN that city. This KOA, though, was in a great location. It was actually in Pigeon Forge, like the name suggests. Our campsite was right next to the Riverwalk, and it was walkable to many things. The Old Mill District was a 7 minute walk from our campsite.

Old Mill Pottery House Cafe

We walked to this cute little cafe after being seated at The Old Mill and realizing it wasn’t our vibe. And boy, am I glad we came here. Their lunch menu looked great. I had the lunch combo: a club sandwich with their famous french onion soup. I wanted to try the chicken salad sandwich, but I made the mistake of asking the server which one I should pick when I knew in my heart I wanted the chicken salad sando. You can’t ask the server what she recommends and then go with a different menu item! But the club was good, dipped in their ranch. The real star of the show was their french onion soup. WOW! I didn’t even know I liked french onion soup, but I had read so many Yelp reviews I just had to see what all the fuss was about. Needless to say, it did not disappoint.

Another day, we came back to this cafe for dinner. They have a different menu for dinner. Our party of 7 was underwhelmed. I had their fried pickles, salmon cakes, Cesar salad, and fried catfish. The fried catfish plate can feed 2 or 3 people. It’s nothing special though. My mom ordered the chicken salad, so I finally got to try it. I was not impressed, and I was thankful I ordered that club a few days before.

Moral of the story: go here for lunch, but not dinner. Order the French Onion Soup.

The Island

This is categorized as an amusement park, but it also has a bit of retail stores. There are kids running wild, darting through the crowd. It is a little over stimulating when it’s crowded, so be aware of that. Parking is absolute bonkers. Good luck finding a spot close. Wear walking shoes.

Ride the ferris wheel to get a great view of the city (and find solace in your party’s own little enclosed pod away from the madness.) Take a moment to remember what personal space feels like.
Do a tasting at Ole Smoky Moonshine to calm your nerves after almost being trampled by a fleet of wild children.
At night, find a chair around the water/light show and take a load off.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ahh… nature! This is the reason we came here. There are a ton of trails to hike. They range from easy to hard, short to long. Download the app AllTrails and find the trail that is right for you. We thought this would be a good way to get away from the crowds, but we were wrong. If you don’t want to walk, just take a scenic drive up the mountain. It is a beautiful drive. Either way, if you visit Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg please don’t leave without seeing a bit of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.