Tennessee Summer Vacation PART FOUR // KNOXVILLE
We finally reached the last leg of our fabulous Tennessee Summer tour. We woke up Friday morning, packed up and said our final goodbyes to Dolly’s Doorstep and the raccoons that raided our outdoor trash bins every night, no matter how well we thought we had it locked up, and that we had lovingly come to know as our “Trash Pandas”.
Our first stop was campus to take the kids through all our old favorites. Visiting campus is truly one of my favorite things to do when in Tennessee. It was such a scary, amazing, liberating wonderful and life-changing time and place in my life. Getting to take both our kids through campus together was very special.
The Torchbearer
The Rock
The kids weren’t nearly as excited as we were…. “It’s too hot, It’s so bright…” Insert eye roll.
I know I don’t look young enough to be a college student, but with her Starbucks and confident strut Isla sure looks old enough to be one! Side note, Isla now has Tennessee top on her list of schools. Not because of ALL it’s redeeming qualities, but because it has TWO Starbucks on campus. I’m pretty sure theres more than that now…. Also - No one tell her that most college campuses have Starbucks now, k? ;)
Hess Hall hasn’t changed a bit. I swear it still smells the same!
After our mini-tour of campus we headed down to Market Square to meet our friend Jessica and her kids Bennet and Evelyn. Our friend Chris, and Jessica’s husband was still at work, but would meet us later at their home where we were staying for the final two nights of our trip.
Lunch at Cafe 4
Lunch was delicious, and it was so fun to watch our kids play together. Of course the biggest hit, especially for Holden were the Market Square fountains outside our restaurant.
It was the perfect way to spend a really hot afternoon.
The rest of the weekend was spent seeing good friends that we hadn’t all seen together in a while.
Thank you to the Barksdale family for their hospitality!
Some of our best friends Michelle and Carlos hosted us for a pool party on our last night. We ended up staying way later than we had planned catching up with each other. It was the PERFECT way to cap off our trip.
Our flight on Sunday was out of Nashville so we got one last chance to meet up with Nana and Papaw.
But of course, after a long trip, when all we wanted to do was just get home, our flight was delayed…
We finally made it home around midnight Sunday night, and all fell into our beds, saving the unpacking for the week to come. This was unanimously one of our most favorite family vacations EVER. I think a big part of this was because there was such a variety of activities and things that appeal to everyone in our family. We are not a group who likes to sit around on vacation. We like to get out and explore, and this vacation did just that. Another big plus? Holden slept GREAT, which definitely always helps! ;) Thanks to everyone who helped us make such unforgettable memories. We love y’all!