Knoxville, Tennessee. Where bus ridership is skyrocketing!

Knoxville, Tennessee.

Nama Sushi West, in Bearden, Tennessee.

Knoxville, Tennessee.

Fountain City, Tennessee.

Harriman, Tennessee. He asked me to take his picture as I walked by, and made a point of removing the wrap from his knee. He wouldn’t tell me his name, though: “I’m just a farmer.” He said he lost the leg five years earlier, in an accident.

Knoxville, Tennessee.

Market Square, Knoxville, Tennessee.

UPDATE: Yes, it does have a slight Sex and the City vibe. That’s why I posted it today.

Fountain City, Tennessee.

Knoxville, Tennessee.

Trio’s, Market Square, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sullivan’s Fine Food, Maryville, Tennessee.

The Mellow Mushroom, Knoxville, Tennessee. Keen observers will note that she’s appeared on InstaPundit before.

La Costa, Market Square, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Northshore Brasserie, Knoxville, Tennessee. That’s the lamb shank with risotto. It was good.

Yeah, it’s a food theme this week. . . .

Leo’s Pulled Pig, Lenoir City, Tennessee.

Maryville, Tennessee.

Lest We Forget. Fountain City, Tennessee.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

UPDATE: Bob Krumm emails from Iraq:

I was glad to see that the picture of the flyer in the window in a Gatlinburg shop asked people to remember our Allies serving in Iraq. There are thousands of Allies from more than two dozen countries serving bravely and well beside Americans here. Scores have died here too. And of course, there are the Iraqi Security Forces, who increasingly are bearing the weight of the mission here. Let’s remember them all this Memorial Day.

Good point. In fact, the “allies” mention is why I picked this one for today.

Harriman, Tennessee.

Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yeah, it’s a flag theme for the photos this weekend.

Patriot Motors, Farragut, Tennessee. Because Uncle Sam would never give you a bad deal.

NO, IT WASN’T A PHOTOSHOP: The “flag disposal bin” pictured below is real, and stands in front of the City Hall in Lenoir City, Tennessee. I assume it’s for people who have old or damaged flags to dispose of, who don’t want to go through the appropriate steps but don’t want to just heave them into the dumpster. A plaque, which I couldn’t get a good photo of, says it was donated by the D.A.R. a couple of years ago. Here’s a broader view:

Lenoir City, Tennessee. Jeez, I thought we’d at least have until the Democrats took the White House before these things started popping up . . . .

UPDATE: More on this here.

Annie’s Alterations, Bearden, west Knoxville.

Indian Boundary State Park, southeast Tennessee.

Palace Theater, Maryville, Tennessee.

Knoxville, Tennessee.

Richy-Kreme Donuts, Alcoa, Tennessee. They start selling donuts in the morning, and they close when they run out. Best donuts I’ve ever had — sweet, fluffy, but not the least bit greasy. Yum.

Fire Station, Maryville, Tennessee.

Harriman, Tennessee.

Inside Brooks General Store, near Rugby, Tennessee.

Sunbright, Tennessee.

IT MAY BE the last Kay’s Ice Cream stand left, but the staff is still smiling.

SUBURBAN WILDERNESS: This pond sits inside the southeast cloverleaf at the Pelissippi Parkway / Kingston Pike interchange. You’d never know it was surrounded by bustling roads, except for the barely-visible bit of billboard in the background at the upper center-right.

Melhorn Automotive, near Oliver Springs, Tennessee.

It’s not just the original Freezo, I think it’s the only one. On Central, east of Broadway.

Lakeshore Park, Knoxville.

Cows, near Dayton, Tennessee.

Karate class, West Knoxville.

UPDATE: In response to various emailers, it really is a karate class, Isshinryu style, notwithstanding the patch.

Barber shop, Harriman, Tennessee.

From the Gay Street viaduct.

ANOTHER INTERIOR SHOT, from the last Kay’s Ice Cream shop, on Chapman Highway.

ADVICE TO REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT:

And yes, this is a real church sign; I took this picture on Highway 30 between Athens and Dayton back in 2004.

UPDATE: A big Wright coverage roundup from Tom Maguire.

MY FIRST SIGHTING of a SmartCar in the wild. Cute and little, but I think a Jetta TDI would be more practical, and I think they even get better mileage.

UPDATE: Various readers point out that the SmartCar is both (much) cheaper and (much) easier to park in an urban setting than the Jetta. Fair points.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More on whether the SmartCar is a good deal, here.

It’s not especially inexpensive — $11,590 for the base Pure coupe — $13,590 for the “loaded” Passion coupe (and $16,590 for the convertible). At least, not relative to what else you can buy for that money — for example, a Chevy Aveo ($10,235), Toyota Yaris ($12,225), Kia Spectra ($12,895), or Hyundai Accent ($12,925).

And those are subcompact sedans; they can carry four people. The so-called Smart car is a hypercompact two-seater. If you need room for even three people, you’ll need to buy another car. How smart is that, exactly?

But it gets great gas mileage — right?

Actually, not that great. EPA rates the Smart car at 33 mpg city and 40 mpg on the highway. That’s not bad. Then again, a Toyota Yaris (with four doors and room for four people, remember) gets 29 city, 36 highway. So the “smart” car gets exactly 4 mpg better mileage in town and on the highway. Big whoop. And unlike traditional subcompacts, which can be driven pretty much anywhere, the Smart car is only usable as an in-city commuter.

But you’ll be noticed, and for some that’s enough.

ANOTHER CAMPUS PIC: The Law School patio.

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING for more campus pics, so here’s one.

A FRIEND I MADE, while taking pictures down at Cherokee Park.

THE OTHER DAY, I PROMISED AN INTERIOR FROM KAY’S ICE CREAM. So here it is. Thanks to all the Knoxville expats who wrote with Kay’s memories.

DO YOU NEED A NIKON D300? No. I love the camera, as I said. But, as I also said, the other digital SLRs are great cameras, too. To prove it, here’s a picture from reader Patrick Wilson, taken with a Nikon D70 and the same 18-200 VR lens that I use a lot. (Click the image for a bigger version).

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR SPREADING POLLEN:

Shot in my front yard, using the Nikon D300 and the Nikon 18-200 DX VR lens. I think the D300 is as far beyond my old D70 as the D70 was beyond what I had before. Which isn’t to dis the D70: I made a 20×30 print of this picture, taken with the D70, and it looks great.

UPDATE: Various readers object that this is a wasp, and wasps don’t pollinate. Yes, it is a wasp, but in fact it was pollinating up a storm, going from flower to flower. Not surprising, as wasps are actually very important pollinators.

MAKING FUEL FROM OLD TIRES? Then I may have just found the next Saudi Arabia!

A DIRECTION, BUT NO LOCATION.

UNCLE EASY IS KIND OF LIKE UNCLE SAM, except that he wears green instead of red, white and blue, and plays a saxophone while standing atop giant bags of cash.

Is it just me, or is this an image with disturbing political overtones? Probably just me.

Anyway, I think this is the place where (when it was under a different name) my brother got a hot-rodded Fender Super Reverb for 30 bucks. Needed a little work, but it’s the single best-sounding amp I’ve ever heard.

Keen observers will note that this place is next door to the El Quetzal Taqueria featured yesterday.

KNOXVILLE EXPATRIATES MAY LIKE THIS, a picture from the last Kay’s Ice Cream still in existence. Once these were ubiquitous, but they began a gradual slide toward extinction in the 1970s and now there’s only this one, on Chapman Highway, still in business. It’s a full-service place, still featuring lots of different ice creams and a “Kay Burger” from the grill. But it’s a bit the worse for wear — the giant ice cream cone is supposed to have a kid on the ladder, licking the ice cream, but he’s disappeared.

And no, I’ve never tried the “Frozen Tamale.”

It was closed on Sunday when I drove by, but I took a picture. I’ll try to post some inside pictures from when it’s open some time.

Baskin-Robbins just isn’t the same, to say nothing of Maggie Moo’s, Cold Mountain Creamery, and the like.

James Lileks could no doubt do a more poetic job. I’ll just say that I’m glad there’s still one of these in business, somewhere.

ANOTHER fine Knoxville dining establishment, though alas I didn’t lunch there yesterday. It was closed.

EARLIER I LINKED to a photo of yesterday’s inexpensive lunch-counter fare. Today, lunch was fancier:

From the Northshore Brasserie. It’s braised short rib over truffled polenta. Nice place, and surprisingly reasonable for lunch (15 bucks), though still much more expensive than Long’s Drug Store. [What, you're taking up Althouse-style cafe-blogging now? -- ed. Relax. It's just a phase.]

FOR ALL YOU KNOXVILLE EXPATS OUT THERE, here’s a picture of Long’s Drug Store, still in business, and still serving old-fashioned lunchcounter meals. The Insta-Wife and I had lunch there yesterday; the total tab was $8.90. Here’s what I had.

ANOTHER KNOXVILLE PICTURE, but this one’s not sunny. It’s from the Downtown Grill & Brewery last night, where — though I may have appeared to the casual observer to have just been having a beer with my brother and his girlfriend — I was actually hard at work producing material for this blog. Successful blogging requires constant effort . . . .

PEOPLE SEEM TO LIKE the cheery photos from sunny Knoxville, so here’s another. Also a D300 shot, from Cherokee Park.

UPDATE: Yeah, the colors are kinda cartoony. I took these that first day when I was following Ken Rockwell’s recommendation to turn the saturation up. I’ve turned it back down since . . . .

PEOPLE WANTED SOME MORE PICTURES from World’s Fair Park. So here they are.

Keeping the fountains safe:

From the Cancer Survivors’ wall:

SUNSPHERE, with reflections.

These are nice pics, but they were taken with the D50 and when blown up to “actual pixels” size there’s a noticeable difference in sharpness and color as compared with the D300. On the other hand, the D50 (well, now it’s the successor D40 model) is still a hell of a great camera, and it’s a whole lot cheaper than the D300.

SOME MORE PICTURES, taken this afternoon when I managed to steal an hour or so at the World’s Fair Park.

We have the Law School graduation ceremony in this amphitheater sometimes.

ONE OF THE COOL THINGS about the D300 is its high speed — fast enough to stop motion indoors, as this picture from the Law School’s main rotunda shows:

SO I MET JARED AT THE MALL TODAY: Nice guy, but came across as kinda two-dimensional. I imagine his “ridiculously hot girlfriend” is, um, more well-rounded.