We had the pleasure of visiting with the owners of the Robert Daniel house here in Knoxville. The house was designed and built by James Fitzgibbon in 1950. I won’t bore you too much with words. The house is incredible. The owners say they regulalrly find architects at their door dropping by to see Fitzgibbon’s master work. Often they are old friends of his.

The rock is all local from the Candora Marble company, which supplied a lot of what you seein Washington DC.

The lucite triangle coming out of the roof is where a tree used to grow.

Upper deck area that used to be a childrens play area.

Above to the left is where the master bedroom is.

Through the bookcase you can see the step down to a study. Bedroom above.

Looks out to a gardwn and fountain area.

This little station was in a movie filmed in Knoxville. Anyone recall what movie? October Sky or Box of Moonlight? In the movie, I recall there were like 20 Highway direction signs in front of it.

Great vinatge lines.

A phone? I forgot to see if it had a dial tone.

These lights must have shined on a lot of classic cars getting gas…

Looks liek a very Deco design on this sign on Central.

I think this sign is still doing it’s groovy flashing thing at night. I need to go get some movies of the good stuff soon.

Okay, is it Terminal Garage Inc. or Service Auto Parts, or what? 24 Hour Service and AAA for sure. On Central near the Bell South Building.

Lusk Body Co. refurbished their sign I think. Great sign regardless. Happy Hollow, well, holler, is an infamous area of Knoxville and is rapidly gentrifying. I am trying to document some of it’s “glory” before it is gone.

Star Sales has just all kinds of stuff. But the sign is an icon.

You can see the neon of this sign from all over Knoxville. There are concentric neon stars that make the star “grow”. Love it!

Knox Glass

Knox Glass sign on Central. Looks like it could have gas tiki torches.

I’m not sure what this says about me, but a few months ago, this sign was un-retouched and showed it’s 50 plus years of service and I loved it. Now it has been refurbished, and, I’m not so thrilled. Sick?

I’ve had a couple of converible tops replaced by these guys.

Just a great old building and sign.

UPDATE: As luck would have it, I busted the back window out of my convertible top yesterday while unloading wood for bar construction. I called Lonnie’s immediately and the number was disconnected. Drove by to see a closed sign and the place cleaned out…

I picked up this new card of the Sharp’s Motel at the Clinton Antiques Fair today. For the complete story on this Motel, click here. A big postcard dealer. She will be at the postcard show with her complete collection. It was great to see a stack of just Knoxville cards. Other than my own stack, I’d never seen that before. I’ve had this circled on my calendar for months. I can’t wait to flip through all the cards and see what gems I can find!

OCTOBER 19-20, 2007- East Tennessee Postcard Show, Days Inn Convention Center, Central Ave. Pike at Merchants Dr. Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Milt Hinshilwood, 865-247-5767

On Wednesday I happened to be in the hospital emergency room and browsed the local Knoxville Magazine and they had this article on a great house in town. It was a teaser and did not give the address.

Saturday, we were out hitting some garage sales and turned down the street and I immediately spotted a thick growth of bamboo. We slowed. Then I saw more house and we were both oohing. Then I saw the modern beams on the side of the house from the pictures and I knew I’d stumbled upon the house!

It was an original Lustron home from 1948. There are 3 of these in Knoxville that I know of today. This one I did not know about. The problem today with these homes is that they are just too small by our standards. Gary solved this by very artfully adding on to his Lustron. The whole property is incredible and he carried the atomic theme even to his mailbox, which is a stainless steel Sputnik design

It is such a pleasure to just know this place is here in town. There are some drop dead gorgeaous modern homes near there. They are in a very upscale neighborhood and are classic and will remain for ages. This one is just over the top Mod.

You know I will be slipping an invitation in his mailbox to my next luau!

Part of why I like hanging out in old bars is the characters there, not the character of the place. I’ve been amazed by the stories of the old timers I have heard.

There is one old guy, Ed, who hung out at Opal’s a lot. He cleaned the place during the day and would be around in the evenings regularly. A real nice guy that I didn’t pay much attention to.

Then one night someone came in and handed him a framed picture of James Dean. Ed just lit up. After a while, he was sitting next to me and he told me just why he had this picture.

It wasn’t just a picture of James Dean. Ed had taken that picture. Jimmy was in a barn, cigarette hanging from his lip, leaned over a car. That was about the time Jimmy told Ed he was leaving their small home town to go to New York. Asked Ed if he wanted to go with him. Ed choked out that he wished he’d said yes.

You just never know…

I participate in this for one real reason: to promote Dixson’s Barbeque. There are a lot of people perpetrating BBQ on American, Tennessee, and Knoxville, but there is none as fine as Dixson’s. A real Knoxville original that goes back at least 60 years to Brother Jack’s.

1. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.

Dixson’s Barbeque is a little place off Magnolia behind the Dixie Tavern near the KAT bus center. Worlds collide! They are only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. An old tradition as they start cooking on Thursday and the first fruits are ready that afternoon. When they run out, it’s all over. They serve the greatest thing Knoxville ever created food-wise, the pigburger. A must. Generally you wanna get it to go as there is really no room to eat there. It’s good to call ahead too as you may find they are out of what you want. It’s the last of true Knoxville barbeque that goes back 60 years to Tip Jackson’s Dad. The cakes are great and their beans rock. The rib sandwich is the real deal if you want ribs. In true Knoxville barbeque tradition, it is several whole ribs with white bread. A sandwich in name only.

1201 Magnolia Avenue - Behind the Dixie Tavern
865-525-9305 - Call ahead to make sure they hold some pigburgers for you. With onions!

Down the road a little is Mary’s Hot Tamales which is another Knoxville tradition. At the same time I started loving Brother Jack’s pigburgers, I met Mr. Green and had his hot tamales from his cart down off Western Avenue. Mary’s keeps the faith.

1931 E. Magnolia Ave.
865-637-2033
King Tut’s is an experience. Their Greek and Egyptian food is awesome, Mo is a memorable host and it’s got all kinds of crazy charm. Go with a group for sure so you can ham it up with Mo all night. Truly authentic flavors like their Arabic coffee will impress. A real treat. Brown bagging booze is expected.

Harby’s Pizza off Broadway is a hidden treasure. Pizza? Yes, pizza! Get one of his cheese pizzas and you’ll know. It’s the best and damn cheap too! I have his number memorized, that’s how much I love it. Dining in there is a gas too. Friendly folks make you feel like family and odd eye candy scattered on the walls.

3718 Walker Blvd
865-688-5657

A couple of great meat and three type diners must be mentioned. Long’s Drugstore on Kingston Pike in Bearden and Sam’s Restaurant on Broadway across from K-mart. A great old fashioned feel, staple foods and lively people watching. Just good stuff, especially for breakfast. Why pay twice as much for processed foods under a warmer when you can go here and meet your neighbors and eat fresh made?

I cheated and listed 6, but two are take-out only.

2. Tag 5 Others

Folks I know explore and should have good choices:

Mr Bali Hai

Johnny Dollar 

Humu Humu

Hot Lava

Kono

3. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the city/state and country you’re in.

Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
Todd (Louisville, Kentucky, United States)
miss kendra (los angeles, california, u.s.a)
Jiggs Casey (Berkeley, CA, USA! USA! USA!)
Tits McGee (New England, USA)
Joe (NE Tennessee, USA)
10K Monkeys (Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA)
Big Stupid Tommy (Athens, Tennessee, USA)
Newscoma (Weakley County, Tennessee, USA)
Russ McBee (Knoxville, Tennessee, USA)
Atomictumor Mrs Eaves (Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA)
Oh Really? LissaKay (Oak Ridge, TN, USA)
Mark Steel blogitude.com (Knoxville, TN, USA)
Swanky The Swank Pad (Knoxville, TN, USA)