We kicked off our summer with a trip to visit family, starting with Lexi’s brother in Knoxville, TN.

Lexi here. My brother and sister-in-law recently got the opportunity to move to Tennessee and work at Blackberry Farm, so we spent our Memorial Day weekend with them checking out their new digs.

From our home base near Tampa, FL the drive took about ten hours, not counting our minor breakdown in Macon, GA.

“Minor breakdown?” Things never go as expected, so on day two our engine overheated and we found ourselves on the side of the interstate.

After letting it cool off (how does something cool off in 100 degree heat?), Caza dove under the hood to find…

Our drive belt was wrecked.

Without a working drive belt, we were pretty much stranded.

We called around to a few shops in Macon to find someone who had the part we needed… and then we called around some more to find someone who would go pick it up and bring it to us, since the shop couldn’t.

The stars aligned and we found a mobile mechanic to join us on the interstate. From there, Caza got the new belt in a matter of minutes and we were back on our way. Lessons learned: a fray in the drive belt can escalate into a shredded drive belt quickly, and honestly, we should just keep a spare with us. Anyway, our top ten from the trip is below. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

1. Do a little foraging

Yep, we said foraging. My brother’s learned a ton in the past few months about what good food looks like growing in the wild, and a walk around his block came with tastes of wild green onions, strawberries, hemlock (don’t panic: the tips are non-poisonous and fully edible), dandelion greens, and more.

Depending on the season, this will vary, and obviously don’t set out on your own just snacking on whatever you find. Do your research, go with someone who knows edible plants and the area, and keep sustainability and posted signs in mind.

2. Cool off at Cruze Farm Dairy

We hit up the downtown location, but it sounds like this local staple has spots all over. Huge fans of the pineapple sorbet, sweet cream, and the cherry chip, but it doesn’t seem you can go wrong with any options.

3. Snack & drink at A Dopo Pizza

This sourdough crust pizza was next level after a long day. Lots of vegetarian options (Beetroot!), but with the Funghi pizza, I’m told the meat made it even better. Hard to say.

4. Hike out in Cades Cove & Abrams Falls

This one is a little complicated. Abrams Falls was the 5-mile out-and-back hike we did up and through the Great Smoky Mountains, that deposited us at the base of a gorgeous waterfall (pictured at the top of this post).

Rated for moderate difficulty: our whole family had a good time on it. No mud the day we went, plenty of tree cover, and only a few spots (single-log bridges) where you’ll need to be especially cautious moving through. The only real con was leaving John at home (no pets allowed). That said…

The drive through Cades Cove is a little rough. It’s a one-lane, one-way scenic loop drive, and this trailhead is about halfway through. Maybe it was just the traffic that day, but it took us one hour each way to drive the couple of miles through Cades Cove before and after the trailhead. It’s definitely pretty, but adds a lot of time onto the commitment for this hike.

I still recommend it – pack snacks and decide for yourself.

5. Start a tab at Pour Taproom or The Casual Pint

Strongly recommend The Casual Pint if you’re out & about downtown! Huge selection of bottles and cans you can combine into a custom six-pack (if you’ve never tried a peanut butter porter, this is the spot), plus a solid draft selection.

Unfortunately we didn’t actually get to Pour, but it was a wishlist item for us. You can open a tab here and try as many of the 68 on-tap options (beer, cider, mead, wine) as you’d like, just pay by the ounce. We’re told they even have a dog-friendly patio.

6. Pick your whiskey at Stock and Barrel

The whiskey list at this restaurant was no joke. It had me rapid-fire Googling “Best Tennessee Whiskey” … “on a budget” before the server came for our orders. I went with George Dickel #12.

For vegetarians they had a black bean + quinoa burger that went pretty hard (the Deadhead) and for the rest of ya, Caza says those Mitchell Family Beef burgers went harder.

7. Sip on Blackberry Farm Saison

You can get this beer at plenty of spots throughout Knoxville and Maryville, and obviously at Blackberry Farm as well, but it gets its own list item for being a classic and delicious staple. 6.3%, light- to medium-bodied… who are we kidding, it’s just a great Tennessee beer that we think y’all should drink, alright?

8. Stroll through the UT Botanical Gardens

Fun fact: this is the official botanical garden for the state of Tennessee. These are open seven days a week, from sunrise to sunset, and admission is nearly always free. No foraging, but definitely drop in for a walk around!

9. Snap the World’s Fair Tower (aka The Sunsphere)

This tower is easy to spot driving in to downtown Knoxville. It was built for the 1982 World’s Fair, held in Knoxville, and got top billing as an engineering feat at the time: a hexagonal truss tower 81 meters tall, with a gold sphere on top that’s another 23 meters.

Go up to the observation deck to see an aerial view of the city, or just get it in the background of your iconic Knox pictures.

10. Snag a reservation at The Barn at Blackberry Farm

Our last item on this list is a dream, but we did want to share it with you: having dinner at the James Beard-award winning restaurant where my brother and sister-in-law work.

Rotating seasonal menus made with fresh, local ingredients (some grown on-property), artisanal cocktails and farm-brewed beers, a collection of over 160,000 wines (9,000 of which are available to the public), and true Southern hospitality set it apart.

Celebrities are ’gramming about their time here. If you’re lucky enough to get a reservation (and, full disclosure, aren’t on a budget), please, please, please, go here. Then tell us all about it.

Honorable mentions go to Asia Kitchen, Chivo Taqueria, Maple Hall, and Kefi. We just didn’t have enough time to get to all of these, but they came with strong recommendations.

What else do we need to go back for? Drop your favorites from Knox in the comments!