Hometown Series - Nikki of the Pink Growl

I don't have a fancy intro except I am a little sad that the Jayhawks lost last night. I don't know how much I have mentioned the different places I lived growing up but Lawrence, Kansas was one of them. I lived there for 1st through 3rd grade and my dad did attend the University of Kansas to get his PhD so we went to several basketball games and definitely Jayhawks fan. 

I have just a few more posts for this hometown series before I take a bit of break to concentrate on other topics but I will resurrect the series at a later date.

Seriously you all who have contributed to this series, you have blown me away with your posts, the quality has been amazing and to provide people a look into your hometown and I have had several bloggers mention they use the series and your suggestion when they are visiting any of the cities written about. Today we have another city I would love to visit one day, well the state in general, Tennessee.

If you have been following the series, you know the premise of the post, but if you are new then welcome. For this hometown series, I asked bloggers to write the post from the perspective that if I was coming to visit them, what would the blogger plan for us, where would we do, what would we do, see and eat.

Take it away Nikki!

Hi y'all! My name is Nikki and I blog over at The Pink Growl.

I currently live in Knoxville, TN. However, I grew up in Clinton, TN - a small town about 30 minutes north of Knoxville. I wasn't sure if I should display my tiny hometown or my beautiful Knoxville. I decided to take the road less traveled. Knoxville is a major city in TN, and home to the University of TN, so I assumed that more people would be familiar with it.

I want to take this opportunity to tell you all about my precious hometown, which I'm positive you've probably never heard of. It's your typical Southern small town where everybody's mama knows everbody's business. Population of Clinton is about 9500 people.

Picture of Downtown Clinton

The first place that we would go is to a little drug store diner downtown, Hoskins Drug Store. It might not look like much, but their food is AMAZING! It's very retro style, with a soda fountain and a diner counter. We could grab some breakfast here to start our day off the right way! This is a family owned restaurant and you will definitely get a dose of Southern Hospitality.

Hoskins diner counter

 Once we were sufficiently stuffed, we could take a stroll down Main & Market Streets and do some window shopping in the cute boutiques and antique shops. If you like antiques at all, downtown Clinton is the place to find some real steals. Hopefully we won't end up here during the Antique Fesitval or else we would run into quite a crowd.

Downtown Clinton during Antique Festival

Once we were tired from walking around window shopping, we would probably need to rest our poor feet. I would recommend that we take ourselves right back up beside Hoskins and maybe catch a matinee at the historic Ritz Theatre. Back in the day, the Ritz theatre was and actual theatre for live plays and was home to many protests surrounding the Clinton 12 and the desegregation of the local high school in 1956. Nowadays, the Ritz has been turned into one screen movie theatre and they show the newest movies for only $3. We could pop in here and watch the new Hunger Games movie!



Ritz Theatre picture from Life Magazine - Protest for the Clinton 12 being integrated into Clinton High School.





Current day Ritz Theatre - the inside has been renovated and it looks much nicer than this!

 I bet after all this talk about the Ritz Theatre being all involved in the Clinton 12 incidents, you might be curious to learn more about my hometown's historic past. Clinton High School was the very first state supported school in the South to allow the integration of black & white students. It was a huge deal in a small town - they had to bring in the National Guard because of all the threats. The high school actually ended up being bombed. We could take a very short drive up the hill to the fairly new Green McAdoo Cultural Center - near the location of the old Clinton High School site that was bombed - so you could spend a few moments taking a walk down memory lane.

Whew - enough with the serious business! Let's get back to some fun time! After I have enriched your Clinton experience by involving you in the some of the culture that makes this town unique, I want to show you some of the reasons that I love to call this place home. First off, we would take a 10-15 minute drive to Norris Dam. Norris Dam was built as part of the TVA projects during World War II. I grew up on Norris Lake and it's the second cleanest lake in the state. To me, it's the ideal picture of beauty and relaxation. This is where I gladly spend all my free time in the summer! We could take a quick boat ride if we had time.

Norris Dam

Norris Lake - view from the back of my boat

By now, it would be getting later and we would have to be making our way towards the final stop. I would choose the Museum of Appalchia. And despite the name, it's much more than just a museum. Coming to visit here, is like taking a literal step back in time. It's a gorgeous estate that has preserved life in the Clinch River Valley just like it was before the area was flooded to create the Norris Dam area. I know again, with the history lesson, but this area is so rich in heritage that you can't avoid it! Plus, there are so many cute animals we could look at, and even peacocks walking around that we could get our pictures taken with. Then we could mosey on into the main house area and grab our dinner, which I'm sure would be the perfect example of a Southern meal.

Clinton might not be much, but it's where I call home. It's an interesting experience to grow up in a small town, but sometimes you just need to get away - which is why I moved! :) When I lived there, they didn't even have a Wal-Mart.

Oh yeah and on your drive home you must drive back through town and pass over the infamous green bridge. It's a Clinton landmark and one of the two ways out of town and back towards civilization!

You can't really tell here, but this bridge is GREEN and it sits strong over the Clinch River.

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to come back and see us again real soon! Take care!

XOXO,

Nikki @ The Pink Growl

Oh that antique fair, I am so in Nikki and so glad you planned that for the trip and I love the side trips you mentioned too, seeing the dam and that museum. It sounds great.