Sharing Tennessee

Character traits of your region become more apparent when you bring outsiders in. Mag took that 22-hour bus ride, the ultimate statement of friendship, and stayed in the ever-Southern Knoxville for five days.

Hospitality, kindness and overall friendly people were coming out of the woodwork to welcome my dear New Yorker. People sweetly asked what she was doing, wondered what we were going to do next and how she liked it thus far. Every time she met someone else she would turn to me and with her big eyes and Northern accent would say, "Everyone is so nice." And they absolutely were.

I proudly proclaimed this place as my own. Tennessee in all its heritage and tradition emerged as a really interesting place to show off. We sipped moonshine in Gatlinburg, and we lounged on the backporch of the Brown Cow. We had locals brews, proper Southern food and Waffle House, the King of late night dining in my book. We drove around with the windows down, the glorious sunshine warming us through the opened sunroof, and we introduced her to the wondrous Dolly Parton while driving through Pigeon Forge. It was impeccably perfect.