I'm coming through Tennessee in 2 weeks

[Ladybee]

So I'm moving to Los Angeles and I'm doing a big roadtrip to get out there--selling all my stuff by the end of the week and hopping in the car with my best friend LaRisa. We are driving down the east coast to visit friends in Philly and DC and Ocracoke and Chapel Hill, and then coming west across Tennessee on I-40 so i can visit family and friends.

Our plan is to get to Johnson City no later than the 20th, and we have to be in Memphis by the 24th. I'm guessing I'll be in Johnson City and Morristown visiting family for most of the time we are there, but i do want to stop in Knoxville on the way through.

LaRisa has never been to the South, but weirdly enough she really always wanted to come to Knoxville because she was a huge Judybats fan back when they were on Sire and doing national tours and such. I'm going to give her the drive-by tour of the Fort and the Old City, which should be fun. ("I puked on that sidewalk right there after a Pigface show in 1990!" "Oh, here's the street where i went sledding with drag queens on a cardboard box in the blizzard of '93!")

Recommendations of good restaurants and second-hand record shops and thrift stores in either JC, Morristown, or Knoxville would be appreciated--it's been 10 years (!) since i left so i am sure that things have changed. I know 11th St is still around because there's coffee nights there announced on this board.

Also, (and i am sure a lot of y'all will think this is lame, but i know that others of y'all like creapyrob will not) she and i are big fans of country music--not crappy pop country, but the old stuff, outlaw country, modern cowpunk, "alt-country"/y'allternative, western swing, bluegrass, ballad singing, etc. If there are any shows during the weekend of the 21st, we wouldn't mind taking in a band.

So um, yeah, that's it in a nutshell.

[karlaBOO]

I know that Jason would love to see you, if there is time while you're here. I'll tell him to get in touch.

[X]

I haven't seen/heard from you in like....ages......tell us more

[Synthpopalooza]

Ok, recommendations:

First off: Coming through Asheville, NC, be sure to hit I-26 west into Johnson City. You may miss it because it's a new interstate that's not on the map yet!

Second: In Morristown and Jefferson City I recommend you check out the CD SWAP shops. The one in Morristown is located on 11E right across from the College Square Mall. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it if you exit onto 25E north off I-81 and then turn left onto 11E. The one in Jefferson City is further south on highway 11E but still on the right side of the highway as you head south. Plus it's a nice non-interstate way of getting to Knoxville from Johnson City.

In Knoxville, there is Disc Exchange. You can either take the US 441 Downtown exit and get onto Chapman Highway (location 1) or take the Cedar Bluff exit off I-40 further west, and get onto Kingston Pike ... I think it's Walker Springs or Kingston pike. Can someone help me out on this one?[/i]