OK for those of you who didn't see, the NY Times did a piece in their travel section on our little city, or "Austin without the hype" as they so noted.
I'm sorry but all in all this piece was terrible. It starts off with the opening line of: "Knoxville is often called "the couch" by people who live there. The Couch? What on earth does that mean? Who calls it the Couch? Who did they talk to? And it kind of goes downhill from there.
K-town, Knoxvegas... they mention all of our nicknames, then swing into, "... Appalachia of roots music, locavore food, folk art and hillbilly pride." Hmmm. Need I say more.
There are some nice pictures of Magpies, and Yee-haw. We even almost get a mention towards the end when they are talking about our city's crown jewel and the Wigshop's inspiration (the Sunsphere).
The review goes over a bunch of local places to see and things to do, Tomato Head, Crown and Goose, Pres. Pub, WDVX, and Market Square stuff all get the nod. Even Litton's gets squeezed in there.
Over all though it was a comical letdown. Last time we were in the Times, Lumpy was what we had to offer to the nation as our best.
I'm not sure if i'm going to start calling K-town "the couch" anytime soon but I do know that I won't be looking to the NY Times for travel advice anymore.
Write-In Spellings, He has loads of Hillbilly Pride.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sunday NY Times on Us
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9 comments:
the write up was great, you guys are just pissed because your insignificant little blog wasn't mentioned.
not to cause any intra-blog strife, but i thought the piece was great as well. my only beef was that the author only gave readers a 36 hour snapshot.
it was well-written and informative--despite the couch metaphor (one that writers of a blog about knoxville are sure to turn our noses to--we ARE shouting about this city--and at the same time appreciate, many love this city's laid back nature).
i didn't even know about the museum of appalachia (which probably reflects more on my own ignorance than the merits of the article's discovery).
anyway, whether you like it or not, pol, i'm glad you posted about it. it's always good to hear what others think about our city.
I actually really liked the article too. It did what any travel piece aims to do: give a glance at a town knowing that any tourism piece is never, ever going to uncover everything. That's just not possible. And I didnt mind that it was only 36 hours...just nice to give this town a little exposure.
I did not understand the couch reference myself, never heard Knoxville referred to by that name. Whatever. I'm sure that most New Yorkers don't really go around calling the city "The Big Apple." My friend Holly, from here and now living in Seattle, wrote a sweet little impression of the piece on her blog: papawjeans.blogspot.com
If Allison really did make WDVX her first stop, it's no wonder her impression was of hillbilly pride and banjo-pickin' locals. And as far as the couch reference is concerned, it wouldn't surprise me if one of the regular "colorful" attendees of the blue plate claimed it as a city-wide nickname.
who wants to have a giant, impromptu party tonight?!?
The couch metaphor was apt. Although I have never heard anyone use it. I thought the article was very flattering. I thought it focused on Knoxville's strengths and avoided mentioning Turkey Creek.
Shawn did a nice job with the photos.
I've spent the last 24 hours asking everyone I know if they've ever heard Knoxville referred to as "the couch." That stupid reference aside, I think she did a great job of picking places to represent Knoxville. Usually with those 36 hours pieces on places I know, I always say "why the hell would you put that on there?" But I didn't do that here.
I do wish she'd mentioned the Downtown Grill and Brewery, since I feel that's more Knoxville than the Crown and Goose at the moment, having been around for several years and oozing the Knoxville vibe.
i thought it was alright. apparently living in knoxville gives you magical banjo playing abilities!
the museum of appalachia part was stretching it a bit- i wish they'd put sassy anne's or something as an example of our funky nightlife instead of a water mill.
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