JUST A HIPPIE GYPSY

KNOXVILLE: Where the Devil is among Friends. Part II

I began the morning by finding my way downtown. I traveled along the River and landed on the outskirts where the University of Tennessee begins. A little further on I cruised through downtown and found my way to a parking lot where I felt safe enough to leave the vehicle unattended and unpaid for. The Art Museum was directly across the street, but alas, did not open until noon. It was a little past nine.

I began walking. I immediately walked into The Worlds Fair Park and stood under the Sunglobe that shines its golden pseudo sun sparkle on the city. The city itself was totally without any one walking! I found my way to the River side and a marina walk way. I only encountered one lady pushing a baby carriage and a long grey bearded man wheeling a bicycle on the pathway. The woman was dressed in a fur lined suede coat. That made me smile, as it was in the high 40's at least! Southerners!

I came up out of the River walk and found the fort that James White first built on a bluff overlooking the valley below, now a criss cross of interstates, and the River towards the East. The fort itself seemed so old. The wood from the surrounding forests and erected in 1786. The trunks of the trees whittled to sharp points on the top to discourage the Indians from entering the homestead.

I enjoyed the venture into downtown, past the courthouse and into some sort of Mall area. It was being decorated for Christmas. A small sampling of the local inhabitants were milling and venturing outdoors now that the sun was higher in the sky and the day was warming to a sultry 50+.

I found myself taking photograph after photograph and thoroughly enjoying the day away from work, away from cares, away from Lexington.