Monday: A Tour of Downtown Knoxville

On the day of Martin Luther King Jr. holiday we made a trip to explore downtown Knoxville to better understand the area we were serving and to enjoy an afternoon with one another.  We decided to visit the Mast General Store to find some potential souvenirs and to enjoy some candy.  From the Mast General Store we headed to the Market Square to see the great local stores Knoxville had to offer.  While we were running from store to store we met up with some of the members of the Catholic Student Association of the University of Tennessee.  With the help of the CSA students we were guided to the World’s Fair site to see the famous Sunsphere.  From there we continued to stroll around the city. We decided to enter a visitor center to find out a few more places to visit and learned of “The South’s finest Chocolate Factory.” Considering the title the participants thought it would only be logical to put the title to the test. Upon entering the store the unique creations of truffles caught our eye.  We spent a good amount of time in the chocolate store fascinated by some of the items they had to offer.  After being satisfied that the store truly was the South’s finest we made our way back home to do a reflection and some fun team bonding time. 

In retrospect, our time in downtown Knoxville was a great time for all the participants. Walking around the city we had the chance to see the difference between Washington, DC and downtown Knoxville.  Many of the people we met in the stores were quite friendly and interested in why we were visiting Knoxville.  The overall positive vibe we received from the people we met and the CSA students really fed the participants.  The amount of laughter and overall silliness increased as we became more comfortable with one another.  The dark grey sky never at any point brought down the spirits of the participants and the walking around the city seemed less like a hassle and more like an adventure. The idea that a service trip must be filled with service activities prevents groups from encouraging a sense of comfort with one another.  There needs to be a balance and during a visit to downtown Knoxville on Monday turned out to be a great opportunity to become more friendly with one another.