My wife and I live the valley of Eastern Tennessee about 30 minutes northeast of Knoxville, and about 60 miles southwest of Bristol... the home to a NASCAR racetrack. To our right (no more than 45 minutes) are the Great Smokey Mountains where some of the best moonshine is made and the best marijuana is grown and for the most part law enforcement simply ignores or tries to ignore what is going on.
What makes our location so perfect is that we are less than 10 miles from the interstate and about twice that distance located in between 2 lakes; Douglas and Cherokee, on which we used to go kayaking on the weekends. There is no entrance fee for either lake unless you want to camp or park a camper, trailer, or whatever... then there is a small daily or weekly rental.
In those Great Smokey Mountains are the homes and resorts of Gatlinburg and DOLLYWOOD which is quite an adventure all its own but too expensive for my tastes and what it offers. We used to get season tickets just to have something to do but after a few years of going once or twice a month, there simply isn't anything really new to see.
Just about everywhere one drives and parks the car, a scenic view of the Great Smokey can be found except in my driveway... however, if I walk through the open field, past a few not so reluctant deer, and to my neighbor's house up on the hill, I would have this view of which I speak.
In 1990, when I first relocated to East TN, I lived in Greeneville and every morning before going to work, I would stop by the local Hardees for a couple of cups of coffee (maybe more) and pick a table by the front windows where the amazing view of the Great Smokey Mountains was crystal clear.
Where we are living now is not too far from Morristown where COPPER HEAD ROAD can be found as it winds its way down to Knoxville....
Copperhead Road by Stevie Earle
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only come to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
Headed up the holler with everything he had
'Fore my time but I've been told
He never come back from Copperhead Road
Now Daddy ran whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
When the Sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road
I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first, 'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Columbia and Mexico
I just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
And now the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know
You'd better stay away from Copperhead Road...
While Knoxville is not considered to be the big city that Atlanta or Nashville is, it does have it fair share of traffic, especially in the mornings and afternoons during rush hour... although, if you hit it just right, you can breeze through the city in no time at all... but, that breezing does not happen very often... and, there is usually an accident at least once or twice a week, mainly because people ain't paying attention due to running late.
Anyway... on my way back from Knoxville, regardless of the time-of-day, I pass a Weigle's Convenience Store and Gas Station about a mile from the house and ALWYS STOP for a couple of large cups of French Vanilla Cappuccino. Your first cup costs $1.89 (largest) but if you bring back your cup, refills are less than a dollar... and two are $1.95 including tax. I keep two empty cups in the car just for this purpose.
I reinforce the sides of cup with clear box packing tape so the cups lasts longer than Weigle's expected but thy say nothing at all when I sit my refills on the counter to pay.
I can serve myself French Vanilla Fat Free, French Vanilla Alert, or French Vanilla Supreme... and, because I have tried all 3 and cannot decide which I like better, I fill up each cup a third of the way with each. Every once in a while, there are people behind me waiting but I never turn around to see their expressions.
As soon as I get home, I pour the contents of both cups into a larger plastic pitcher, rinse out the Weigle's paper cups and sit them upside down on the counter to dry, putting them in the car later for my next visit.
