What to See & Do: Knoxville

More on Knoxville
>City Portrait: Knoxville
>Where to Eat & Drink
>Meet the locals
>Photos from the story

Where to Sleep

The Oliver Hotel
Formerly a louche hodgepodge of apartments and rental rooms, the 1876 building is now a stylish, modern boutique hotel located a can’s kick from most of the area’s best bars and restaurants. Just as fresh and hospitable is the hotel speakeasy, located behind a discreet sliding door in the library (or via a secret entrance in the alley). Cocktails are designed and named with literary flavor—the Atticus Finch mixes enough gin and ginger to leave you less upstanding than its namesake—and the mood combines twenties jazz decadence with nerdy bookishness. 407 Union Ave.; theoliverhotel.com

Where to Shop

Central Street Books
Everything you want in a used bookstore and nothing you don’t. Fine selection with enough stock for unexpected discovery. Rare collectible volumes that don’t require a second mortgage to purchase. A scholarly, slightly off-kilter proprietor. Nooks to get lost in. Drinks allowed. And a local section that makes you proud to live here. 842 N. Central St.; 865-573-9959

Morelock Music
Morelock Music is like the cool older brother we all wish we had. Inside the shotgun space, an embarrassment of musical riches: handsome vintage guitars, mandolins, and banjos (fifties through seventies Silvertones, Teiscos, and Harmonys are plentiful), a snug mini-stage for impromptu jams, a discriminating selection of hats and Round House overalls to complete your stage look, art, kitsch, historical ephemera, and a buoyantly happy staff of instructors and performers who stay miraculously low-key while keeping you (or your kids) on key. 411 S. Gay St.; morelockmusic.com

Räla
A gift shop with soul, Räla sells the handiwork of regional and local artists: John Denver coasters, luxe hand-bound journals, paintings, ceramics, groovy suitcases with Nixon painted on the outside, and the best T-shirts ever made. If you can’t find it here, you don’t need it. 323 Union Ave.; shoprala.blogspot.com

What to See & Do

Ijams Nature Center
This 275-acre park nestled along the Fort Loudoun Reservoir began more than a hundred years ago as a bird sanctuary purchased by pioneering environmentalists Alice and Harry Ijams. An oasis of wooded walks and serpentine riverside trails, it offers hiking, mountain biking, trail running, canoeing, and, of course, bird watching, close enough to the city that you can squeeze a little higher purpose into your coffee break. 2915 Island Home Ave.; ijams.org

Knoxville Museum of Art
The KMA knows where it lives. Thus, cocktail parties with local swing and countrypolitan bands. Kid-friendly exhibits, camps, and student shows. Adult art instruction and education classes. It’s made it a mandate to be a part of the community, not a rarefied cultural orchid. That said, the art rocks. To wit, its permanent installation Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee, an internationally regarded show underscoring the long-neglected visual tradition of the region. 1050 World’s Fair Park Dr.; knoxart.org

Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
Nowhere can you find more ardent fans of women’s basketball than Knoxville, thanks largely to our homegrown Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, the winningest basketball coach in NCAA history and a figure of such integrity and old-fashioned class, the whole town wept at her recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis. While Summitt has stepped down, her legacy can still be enjoyed in the Hall of Fame, where women’s ball is celebrated via artifacts and multimedia presentations that put Cooperstown to shame. 700 Hall of Fame Dr.; wbhof.com