Heading to University of Tennessee in Knoxville!

I have definitely entered a new stage in my life.  I am now officially the mother of a college student.  My husband and I recently took our first born out of state to be part of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville Class of 2024!  Go, Vols!  (During this “getting him to school” part of the adventure, my daughter spent the week with her best friend.  She most likely enjoyed that more than she would have enjoyed travelling and doing college stuff with us.)  (If you want to read about how this all really began, check out this post from last year’s college tour!)

In my family, I tend to be the one to try to keep people on schedule, but I am not the one to pack up all of the stuff, either for transport or into the car.  My son was in charge of packing his belongings, and my husband is in charge of packing the car.  Everything did get packed successfully both in our car as well as on a platform in back and on top of the trunk.  (A television set was padded, wrapped in a trash bag, and secured on the back of the trunk.)  My husband is very good at “Packing Tetris.”  Unfortunately, the men-folk, after all was said and done, did not want me to take photos before driving away.  

Well, they did not really listen much to my scheduling recommendations, and we left much later in the day than originally planned.  We should have paid more attention to the weather report.  On the drive, we heard about storms in our area (northern Illinois).  We tried to stay ahead of the storm; we weren’t terribly successful.  Long story short, we were driving in the front portion of a derecho for approximately an hour.  It was terrifying!  Once we got past it, there were still lots of delays on the highway due to the storms.  As a positive, we were at a standstill due to an accident at one point relatively early in the drive which gave us enough time sitting still to sign up for Sirius Radio.  Considering that part of the drive was through the proverbial “middle of nowhere,” this worked out well!  My son had the chance to hear HOURS of 80’s music that day!  I am happy to say that my husband very safely got us to our destination.  It took 12 rather than the expected 9 hours, but we made it safely and soundly to our hotel!  

We had a reservation at Comfort Inn in Powell, Tennessee.  This worked out very well for us.  We have always had good experiences at Comfort Inn (and the other hotels in that family).  We were approximately a 15 minute drive away from the university.  The hotel was in a safe area which was very important to us since we had several items out on the back of our vehicle.   Considering how my family tends to do things, it also worked out well that we were not at a hotel with valet parking since we would go back and forth to the car for various reasons.  (We did take the TV off the trunk and brought it into the hotel until the dorm move-in day.)  Here is something EXTREMELY impressive:  The TV stayed dry and intact despite the horrible weather!  My husband did quite the thorough job protecting and attaching it!)  An additional benefit of the location was that, because it was not right next to campus, we had no trouble finding other last minute items for the dorm at nearby stores.

We left home on a Monday, and the scheduled dorm move-in day was Wednesday.  On Tuesday, we were going to take it easy and take care of a few things on campus.  Due to the pandemic and related safety measures, the hotel did not have the regular breakfast buffet, but it did provide breakfast to-go bags as well as access to the juice and coffee machines.  The breakfast included a muffin, granola bar, applesauce, and string cheese.  Honestly, it did not look like much, but it really was plenty of food, and I often had something left over to snack on later.  We all left the hotel properly satiated and energized, and we then made our way to campus.

The big task to accomplish was to pick up the laptop computer that we ordered for my son.  We decided that it made more sense to order through the school bookstore where he might get additional assistance as opposed to buying it locally.  (It also meant one less item to pack and transport from home.  Plus, we ordered it during a tax holiday weekend in Tennessee which, for an expensive item such as this, was beneficial.)  Not surprisingly, we made quite an additional “donation” to the university via the campus store that day.  My son now has a new keyboard and mouse to use (I plan on him using his new Dell computer for a LONG time) as well as some UTK gear.  (We had promised when visiting the different colleges during his junior year that we would invest more in the school swag once he had a final school locked in.  We had to follow through on that promise.  My son does look good in his UTK attire!  My husband and I look really good in Tennessee orange, too!)  We also spent some time that day just walking around Knoxville.  My son had this huge grin on his face because he knew he was where he was meant to be!  

Wednesday was dorm move-in day.  Kudos to the University of Tennessee for how this was organized.  We had a scheduled date and time.  We drove up, emptied the car, and I stood watch while the car was parked and while my son entered the dorm to get a cart.  Easy peasy as the phrase goes. He was allowed two helpers for the move in, so our crew of three was all clear to enter.  After two trips, we had everything in the room.  It worked out well that my son moved in first; we spread out (but everything had been removed from the roommate’s desk and bed before we left)!  Being that I have a son rather than a daughter, we did not have nearly as much stuff as some other families.  Our “time sucker” was getting technology (ie TV, computer) set up.  My husband is extremely tech savvy.  I am not the least bit tech savvy.  My son falls somewhere in the middle.  I don’t know exactly what they were doing and setting up on the television and computer, but I guess that they accomplished at least enough (but apparently not everything–some types of cords had to be acquired later that day.  I left this part up to my husband).  Wiping down surfaces, putting away towels, helping to decorate the walls, and making the bed were much more up my alley.  In the end, his room did not look like the female Pinterest quality rooms, but my son loved his new room!  We had dinner together that evening and then left my son in his dorm for his first official night at college.  It was nerve-wracking for him initially (he ate way too much at dinner which did not help), but we later got the text update that he was feeling better and starting to make friends in his dorm (masks and all).   He felt better, thus I felt better!

On Thursday and Friday, my husband and I played tourist a bit during the day while our son started exploring campus and meeting new people.   We opted to spend some time simply getting a look around Knoxville, so on Thursday afternoon,we rode the free trolley around downtown and went on each of the three routes.  The Blue Line went to Knoxville Station, The Civic Coliseum and waterfront pathway.  The Green Line  went to The Old City and Gay Street, and finally, the Orange Line went to University of Tennessee and Downtown.  This was not a tour, but we were able to get a little overview of the area.  Here is the free trolley map for those who might be interested. 

On Friday, we opted to learn some history, so we visited and toured Blount Mansion.  This was a guided tour, so my husband and I ended up having a private tour with one of the tour guides.  It was fascinating, and our guide was terrific!  We learned a lot about the history of the area as well as the Blount family.  William Blount was one of the signers of the United States Constitution as a representative of North Carolina.   North Carolina ceded some of its western land to the United States, and that area was later known as the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio.  President George Washington appointed William Blount as the governor of that area.  The home that Blount built was in the area later named Knoxville. Blount Mansion is considered to be the birthplace of the state of Tennessee!  Knoxville would become its first state capital. (The current capital is Nashville.)  In the past, I was never a history buff, but as an adult, I have really come to appreciate learning about history (despite being embarrassed by how little I know–I am trying to change that).  I now better appreciate the connection between the past and present and continue to try to learn more.  (As an adult, I also do enjoy learning for the sake of learning when no grades or tests are involved.  The learning is stress free.)   After the tour, we spent quite a bit of time simply talking with the historian who is in charge of the Blount Mansion.  I hope that none of you forget the value in and enjoyment from having personal discussions and conversations.  If any of you visit Knoxville, I highly recommend visiting the Blount Mansion.

After our tour, we treated ourselves to a delicious afternoon snack.  Earlier in the week we had seen an ice cream shop on Gay Street that always had a long line.  We had a nice walk from the Mansion to Cruze Farm Ice Cream where we found only a short line (it was the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday, so this was not a huge surprise).  My husband and I chose to share a chocolate shake.  OMG!  IT HIT THE SPOT!  IT WAS DELICIOUS!  My mouth is watering as I type this.  The only reason we chose to share was because we had plans for an early dinner that night.  (I could have easily finished it myself.  I may have regretted it afterwards, but, I suppose it is now a moot point.)

Throughout our time in Knoxville, we also came to appreciate the amount of local art and history which you can see and experience as you travel around the area.    At the Knoxville Visitor’s Center, we picked up a “Downtown Knoxville Walking Tour” guide as well as a “Downtown Murals” map. Not only did we find and look at some of the murals listed on the tour, but there was a lot of other art around the city.  This included more paintings in the alleys as well as sculptures and other displays of artwork on the streets.  We enjoyed many of the sculptures as we walked around Market Square, a very popular area to visit in downtown Knoxville.

We travelled to Knoxville to take our son to college.  My husband and I added a few days to our travels so that we could play tourist a bit (and see our son a little more before heading back home).  We also had the chance to connect with others.  More important than which restaurants we enjoyed was the company with which we enjoyed them.  Just before heading to Knoxville, my family made plans to have dinner with my son’s roommate’s family.  Fortunately, my son was able to connect with and become roommates with another out of state student.  So far, it looks like they will be a great pair and will hopefully remain good friends.  His mom and I connected (via the wonderful world of Facebook) over the past few months, and we seem to get along great!  If our boys get along as well as we do, everything should be fine!  The six of us (siblings were back at their respective homes) enjoyed a dinner right by campus at Copper Cellar where we all really enjoyed our meals, and we had a great time getting to know each other a little better.  This seemed like a very good start to the school year!

On our last night, my husband, son, and I met up with some of my husband’s friends who moved from Illinois to the Knoxville area fairly recently.  We all had fun catching up, and my husband and I felt a little better about leaving our first born away at school knowing that there were adults near-by that we could trust and call on for help if necessary.  (Ideally, there won’t be any calls for help, just invites to my son for dinner off campus. : ) )

As I write this, campus is still open, and my son has a mix of on-line, in person, and hybrid classes.  (One of his classes required for his major is public speaking.  You probably can’t do that class nearly as well on-line.)  I am wishing all of this year’s college students a great year, whatever it may look like, and it will hopefully help prepare them to be future leaders.  The college experience, for better or worse, is much different this fall than the experience any of us ever had.  Ideally, these kids will now be the ones who can better handle crises in the future because they are learning what does and does not work.  Stay safe and healthy, everyone!