1/17/2024 0 Comments Nostalgia knoxville houirs![]() A couple of the fancier restaurants offered espresso drinks, but there was a rumor back then that one of them made its cappuccino from a mix. Some of us had heard of Starbucks, but it had never opened a store here. In most cafes, coffee was coffee, and Knoxville coffee was thin and cheap. It’s even harder to contemplate that in 1990, Knoxville didn’t have a single espresso coffee shop. We had no cigar lounge, no gelato parlor, no high-gravity bar, no restaurant that specialized in locally sourced food. We had no creperie, no brewpubs, no gastropub, no Scottish-themed pub. There was one small, obscure sushi place in West Knoxville, but most people didn’t know about it. In 1990, Knoxville didn’t have a single Thai restaurant, or a single Indian restaurant. Still, I think if any of us were transported back to Knoxville of 25 years ago, we’d be in for a bit of a shock.Ĭonsider our appetites. Of course, we’re all subject to nostalgia, and we all miss some things about Knoxville in 1990, like Saturday morning breakfast at Harold’s Deli, slow summer evenings watching minor-league baseball at Bill Meyer Stadium, late-night jazz at Lucille’s. Knoxville’s skyline has changed little.Ī Rip Van Winkle returning to Knoxville after a quarter century and viewing the city from a distance might be surprised at how familiar it looked. Our tallest buildings then are our tallest buildings now. Our major downtown office buildings are the same. Our larger entertainment venues were the same: The newest of them, Thompson Boling Arena, was already familiar to most by 1990. Our big four hotels are the same as they were then, though some have different names. Knoxville’s street layout is about the same, our buildings are about the same. Although Knox County has grown by about 100,000 since 1990, the city population is not much bigger than it was then. Since the museum was built, a lot of things haven’t changed much. To those of us who remember the complicated Japan Pavilion, with its painting robot and bullet train experience–it was right here in 1982–the KMA will probably always seem new. And despite the hundreds of times I’ve visited, this clean, modern museum still seems new to me. For me, the 1980s does seem like a long time ago, but the 1990s seems like the beginning of the present time. You may have noticed, as I have, that as we get older, the period of time we think of as “recent” gets longer and longer. If you’re like me, 1990 may not seem all that long ago.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |