It was a crazy active weekend downtown. Urban Woman pointed out on Saturday that she’d had a hard time walking through the Market Square/Krutch Park area. One of the ripple effects of having game weekends in the fall, which are always crazy because of the game, is that the other weekends are targeted for every event imaginable. It makes for very layered Saturdays. This week followed form.
Friday was pretty laid back for us, we didn’t make it to the Movies on the Square, though we’d taken Urban Girl the week before and really enjoyed it. We stopped in at Five Bar for the Uptown Shrimp appetizer and happy hour-priced Jalapeno Margaritas. We took time to check out the parklet on Market Street. I learned that parklets are a national trend – usually taking up two parking spaces and popping up for a day. Typically they would be found in park-deserts, though our little UT Student-led experiment happened to be beside an actual full-sized park.
I also went to the Marc Nelson pre-opening party, thanks to a lift from a friend. The store looked great and the cash registers were ringing. The music started off with an Americana acoustic trio, but later shifted to dance music. Moonshine cocktails, courtesy of Sugarlands Distilling Company, beer, wine and cheese kept everyone happy. Some of my favorite people, as well as some new friends were there: Brent Thompson with Sugarlands, Becky Hancock, Executive Director of the Tennessee Theatre, Representative Gloria Johnson, renowned, award winning artist Jim Dodson, Kevin Grimac, Jennifer Coffin from Glowing Body Yoga Studio and many more. I hope some of you made it by there on Saturday. I’m really excited to have a retail presence on East Depot.
Saturday, probably due to the open date, hosted a complete glut of events. The Market Square Farmers’ Market is always busy enough. Urban Woman hit that while Urban Daughter, Urban Girl and myself walked to the Fort Kid playground where a work day was underway and Urban Girl gave out cookies and lemonade to the workers, thanking them for taking care of her favorite place to play in the city. Next, she enjoyed making pictures and doing other crafts as a part of the Arts Festival.
After shoring up everyone with some great black-bean burgers from Gonzo Gourmet and free ice-cream from Mayfield’s, we walked through the museum. Urban Girl had to show the others her favorite work (and mine), the glass piece in the entry hall, then the miniatures in the Thorne Room. We walked through the arts exhibited and enjoyed the gardens on each end of the museum. The motorcycles offered an unexpected and fun twist to the museum.
An Asian Festival, planned for Krutch Park Extension, highlighted the day’s schedule in downtown proper. I wondered how well attended it would be, given that we have such a small Asian population (2.1%). I need not have given it a thought as that part of Krutch Park was over-run with people of all ethnicities. Demonstrations of various Asian Arts occupied a stage at one end of the park. I heard an Asian vocalist and watched a tai chi exhibition there. Tai Chi aficionado Shaft was on hand to demonstrate his prowess.
Urban Girl found more crafts to make as she shaped a fan from a pattern. Much thanks to the patient girl who helped her struggle through it. Booths offered information on various related topics and, of course, food was on hand. The event was extremely crowded and I talked to several people who wondered – should it become an annual event – if it shouldn’t be moved to Market Square next time around.
The event many people had anticipated, the opening of Bar Marley came Saturday afternoon. They couldn’t officially open, so no money exchanged hands, rather patrons were offered drinks in exchange for sea shells (which will be used for part of the decor) in what basically amounted to a big party. Beer was offered from coolers and a food truck sold food for the event, which was held outside because the interior of the building didn’t quite get finished. Restrooms had to be expanded at the last minute, I assume for ADA compliance, and other glitches delayed a complete opening. The official opening should happen sometime in early to mid October.
Roots of a Rebellion played an early set and by the time I arrived, a dj and a drummer pounded out reggae and similar music. A fire pit had been constructed on the slab that held a building until two weeks ago. One end of the building still stands and it served as a band shell on Saturday night. Easily a hundred people enjoyed themselves while I was there and I understand several hundred others came through at various times.
As you can see, I did get a peek inside the restaurant and it is very cool. The mural being designed and painted by Chris Cornett is pretty spectacular and owner Caleb Boyers says it will have an LED light component that will take it over the top. It already looks very cool with the boat/seating and wave pool in the foreground. In short, the interior is awesome and very near ready to start operation. Manager Reida Gillespie says the kitchen is in place and ready for action, but other things were lined up, so generators provided power for a fun night. I’ll look forward to the official opening in the near future.
A PS FOR TODAY: Antiques Roadshow will air tonight on PBS with footage from Knoxville. It’s the first in a series of three episodes and includes a behind-the-scenes segment after the show tonight. Be sure to tune in and watch for Knoxville treasures.