One of the few vehicular bridges over the Tennessee River, this is officially the James C. Ford…read moreMemorial Bridge but is also known by locals as the "South Knoxville Bridge." It carries the James White Parkway and is wide enough for four lanes of traffic in each direction. It was built in 1983. James Ford was a school teacher, superintendent of schools, and postmaster. He also served as Knox County Attorney, Chancery Court Clerk, and Knox County Election Commissioner. Ford, while serving as school board superintendent, was instrumental in the building of Belle Morris Elementary School and died in 1923 while delivering an address at an anniversary celebration there. His grave is in the Woodlawn Cemetery. Some of his family's land was taken for the construction of the bridge. [Review 1194 of 2024 - 510 in Tennessee - 22217 overall]

We visited the historic Graphite Reactor here as part of our conference. It's a huge piece of…read morehistory, how we understood nuclear reactions and the development of isotopes. No photos were allowed outside so what I have is from inside.

Got a partial tour of the vast Oak Ridge National Lab. Got to see the site of the first nuclear…read morereaction during the Manhattan Project. Afterwards got to see some of the enormous Spallation Neutron Source. Tons of really technical stuff most of which was way over my head. The history of Oak Ridge is fascinating and it was great to be able to see some of the lab in person. There is much, much more to the lab including the Y-12 National Security Complex and the US Department of Energy. Maybe on another visit. Right now my brain is full.

Took a drive to take a walk @ the gardens with my mom yesterday. Yeah ironic to drive to walk, but…read morece la víe. It was a beautiful day...we had to do a little searching for a parking lot, but hey, not surprising, the students have priority right? We finally found an acceptable spot and started to stroll around. It really was/is a beautiful area with many cool statues and sitting areas. The shade is so valuable when walking around. The flowers and foliage was quite beautiful and fragrant...

I had a great visit here. There are lots of paths and gorgeous flowers, as well as art…read moreinstallations. There is a kids area as well, and lots of benches and some picnic tables. We were able to enter the environmental building for the restroom. The major downside is the lack of shade. There were some shady areas but it is so hot in the sun on the majority of the paths. Definitely worth a visit if you've never been before!

I was immediately awestruck by this imposing statue in Knoxville. Rachmaninoff: The Last Concert is…read morea tribute to the famous Russian composer and pianist, Sergei Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff played his final concert February, 1943 in the gymnasium at nearby the University of Tennessee. The sculptor, Victor Bokarov, donated the bronze masterpiece of Rachmaninoff in 2003 to the City of Knoxville and local sponsors contributed to the casting. I was inspired to learn more about Rachmaninoff, so I read his story. He started study of piano as a young child. By his twenties he was an accomplished composer, influenced by Tchaikovsky. He left Russia during the Russian Revolution. His life had many ups and downs, which influenced his work. On the statue, I see pain in the face of Rachmaninoff. He was very ill during his final performance in Knoxville. Bokarov elegantly captured Rachmaninoff's 6' 6" height. I love this work. The statue is worth a visit for art and music lovers.

Don't get me wrong, I love my local weather guy. Award-winning meteorologist and all around nice…read moreguy. But he's not a weather kiosk. I wish we had more of these things. This kiosk in downtown was installed in 1912 and was designed in 1908 by Professor Charles F. Marvin of the Weather Bureau's Instrument Division. It is four feet square and has 30-inch panels on each side that used to hold weather maps, forecast information, and instruments for measuring temperature, humidity, and rainfall. Unfortunately, the proliferation of radios in the 1920's and then televisions in the 1940's brought the end of the kiosk's role. Thankfully, while this one fell into disuse, it was restored and while it doesn't report the weather any more, it does have some interesting information on East Tennessee history. Worth a stop when you're downtown. [Review 19564 overall - 388 in Tennessee - 535 of 2023.]

David welcomed my wife and I to the Museum, gave us a mini tour and showed us a newspaper piece…read morefrom The Oregonian after seeing that I was coming from Portland, Oregon. It was nice to see his father in one of the old photos where he was a butcher for Y12 during the Manhattan Project. It was nice to see people from those days were still visiting and the generations after them as well. Definitely an interesting place to see for anyone passing by!

The visitor center is located in the Childen's Museum of Oak Ridge. To be honest, I was expecting…read moremore out of the visitor's center since a lot of the time there's a small associated museum or exhibits, but it was quite bare with only a small looping video. I liked the concept of the park in that you get to explore the community, but since the bus tour wasn't running with no plan or date when it would come back, it was hard to make a cohesive plan. I would say plan on visiting the K-25 history center + overlook and the American Museum of Science and Energy for sure, and then just wandering around the community looking at the placards. If you're into the stamps, there's a three part stamp (the rest of the parts are in Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico).

Friendly and helpful staff are always ready to help. The staff is always available and have gone…read morethe extra mile for me on different occasions. While I'm not involved with the children's programs, I see them to be an emphasis here. On occasion, my research into a local history fact was only successful because a staffer took the time to help.

Who doesn't love FREE? I know we pay through taxes for these glorious book havens, and dang, it is…read moreSO worth it. My family makes the most of our awesome local libraries. Both OR and Knox library systems have beefed up their digital offerings due to COVID and my Kindle has gotten a workout. The Libby app allows you to request putting ebooks on hold and OR Library website allows you to place physical items on hold for easy pickup. There are racks of free books in the entry atrium, too. My kids love the child room, full of learning toys, a fort to climb, rocking chairs, crafts, and of course, books galore. There is a gorgeous view of the courtyard with a fountain and the great playground that lies beyond. The staff is friendly, knowledgable, and helpful. They always have printables with puzzles, coloring pages, book lists, and schedules for events and story time. We love our library!

This is a smaller library but I was still able to spend a few hours here as my morning "office"…read morewith laptops set up and wifi connected. About four or so hours and I did a few calls, read a book and generally had a peaceful time. [Review 18853 overall - 376 in Tennessee - 2376 of 2022.]

Great place to study and work on my computer. Sat by the floor to ceiling window with the beautiful…read moreplants and got so much done! Also had a cute kids area that I will bring my kids to in the future!