Knoxville, TN with Bit Marine

This past week the dealership where I work (Chatlee Marine) sent Jason and I to a training class for the computer system we use. The meeting was held in downtown Knoxville, TN at the Crowne Plaza hotel and convention center. This was my first time visiting Knoxville so I was hoping I could squeeze in a little sightseeing during the trip.

We headed out around lunch on Monday and after a 6 hour drive through the beautiful North Carolina mountains we arrived in Knoxville just in time for some wings and Monday Night Football. The next morning we woke up and had meetings from 8-6. Afterwards, the president, Ed Mcfawn, took us out to dinner at a nice restaurant downtown. I have known Ed and the members at BiT for a few years now and always enjoy their company. After dinner a few of the guys from other dealerships joined Jason and I for a few drinks at a downtown brewery. (In the picture I was giving Ed some grief about being famous, He was voted one of the top most accomplished worldwide in the boating industry)

The next afternoon Jason and I spoke with the concierge about where to find a good dinner. He recommended that we try a restaurant on the waterfront that was renowned for their ribs. (Voted best in America) Before dinner we took a stroll downtown to try and see a few things before dark. We were especially interested in a giant gold object you could see from anywhere in the city.

The Giant Globe we were hunting for lead us to an amazing park. This park is called World's Fair Park and was the location of the 1982 world fair. The park contains several waterfalls, a restaurant, convention center, amphitheatre, an enormous lawn and has a stream flowing through the center of the entire park. We could have kicked ourselves for not bringing our camera, thus the pictures came from my iPhone. From the park we could see the Tennessee Volunteers football stadium, which is where we headed next. As we walked, we joked at how hilly Knoxville was, it seemed like we were always walking up hills or steps. As we made our way to the stadium, we found that all the gates were locked. But we happened to find a construction entrance that was halfway propped open. We knew we probably weren't supposed to enter, but we could talk our way out of it if we got caught, so we headed in.

Neyland Stadium is one of the largest football stadiums in the country. It seats over 107,00 excited fans. As we made our way down the stadium seats, we both commented on the erie feeling that we had. You associate football stadiums with thousands of insane screaming fans and never of quiet solitude. As I entered I couldn't help but imagine being a recruit walking into this enormous stadium and imagining all the fans that would be there to watch me. How great would that feel? We spent a few minutes walking around the stadium and enjoying the view. We were very tempted to run out on the field, but later found it was a blessing that we chose not to. (The stadium has sensors to detect trespassers and the cops would have been immediately called.)

Later that night we headed back to the hotel to meet with Adrian ( a BiT Marine employee and friend) and some of the other guests to head out for our last night in Knoxville. Adrian took us away from the city towards his home for a night out. We had a blast hanging out, as you often do with close friends. I think everyone was moving a little slow the last day and were kind of anxious to get home after a great trip.

Little Black Dress Party

Snow + Friends = Good Times

"Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall."~Oliver Goldsmith

There is something about snowfall that brings out the kid in all of us, especially for those who don't see it often. When I was teaching elementary school, I quickly learned that on possible snow days it was best to keep the window blinds closed. One snowflake sighting could take a classroom from quite to chaotic in an instant. The funny thing is that at the first sighting of snow most adults display the same childlike behavior. "Hey, it's snowing" sends everyone to a window or door in excitement. I saw my first snowfall of the season this weekend while I was visiting my friends Gavin Holt and Carrie Council in Boone, NC; and at 26 years old, it still puts a smile on my face.

I headed to see Gavin and Carrie on Saturday afternoon for a quick snowboarding trip. Gavin is a snowboard instructor at Appalachian Ski Mtn. and Carrie is finishing up her undergrad at Appalachian State. We loaded up our boards and headed for the mountain around 5:30. When we got to the mountain Gavin gave me a few short lessons on the basics of snowboarding and once we had assured that everyone witnessed me looking like a fool on the flatland, we moved up to the bunny slope. After several more crashes, bumps, and bruises he turned me loose. We all had a blast at the park and stayed until closing, leaving with smiles on our faces. We finished the night in similar fashion catching up over a few drinks and a lot of laughs.

There is an old Irish quote, "There are many types of ships. There are wooden ships, plastic ships, and metal ships. But the best and most important types of ships are friendships." Spending the weekend in Boone made me realize just how true this was.