Adventures in Tennessee
Part 5
On Sunday, October 16, we got up super early in order to meet up with Elyse’s birth father, Marc, at our hotel for a 7 AM breakfast. Fortunately, I had recovered from my bout of food poisoning overnight, and so I was good to go again. We stayed in the breakfast room visiting until about 9:00, and then the three of us headed out. Our first stop was the Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department, where Elyse wanted to photograph a siren.
The siren on top of Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department in Kingsport.
Elyse and Marc. Elyse is holding up a pinecone that she found on the ground.
We then headed over to a nearby Price Less Foods store, where we checked out another new brand of grocery store that we didn’t have around us. Regional grocery chains are fun to check out, both for the different brands’ presentation of the same general idea, as well as seeing what products are sold in different regions.
Price Less Foods.
We then all headed over to the Tri-Cities Flea Market. That was a pretty uneventful drive, save for right at the end. Elyse and I were sitting in the left turn lane, about to make the turn into the parking lot, when we felt a bump from behind. Crap: we had just been hit by another car. I had just been in a major car accident only a week prior, so I was starting to wonder if my luck was starting to run out or something. Plus this was a rental car, and I didn’t know the protocol for an accident in a rental car, nor did I want to deal with that for something that was not my fault. We all got out and looked at the two vehicles, and all I could smell was pot, as the other driver reeked strongly of it. Fortunately, there was no damage to either vehicle, and so we kept it moving. Enterprise’s car wasn’t damaged, so I was content. And remember, folks: don’t smoke and drive.
Arriving at the flea market, I dropped Elyse off with Marc, and I went to photograph the sign out front from various angles.
The sign for the Tri-Cities Flea Market, which was a pretty straightforward design, consisting of two steel beams with lettering stacked on top.
I then found a place to park and joined Elyse and Marc at the flea market. The place was amazing, with all sorts of unique items throughout.
Sticky note at a booth selling diecast race cars that states, “Race car spelled backward is race car.” I never thought about it before, but, you know, they’re not wrong.
This yellow button surprised both Elyse and me. The button promotes the Howard County Fair, which is in Howard County, Maryland, i.e. the next county over from where we live, and where Elyse grew up.
Pizza Hut font being used on a sign at the flea market. It’s not too surprising that someone would do this, because the font is easily downloaded online (it’s called “Hot Pizza”), but I never expected to see it in the field nonetheless.
A plastic model of a GMC Scenicruiser, in Greyhound livery. We bought this with the intention of donating this to Commonwealth Coach and Trolley, which is a bus museum in Roanoke that Elyse and I are both involved with.
A sign at one booth that advised visitors that security cameras were in use. I find those signs that say, “Smile, you’re on camera,” to be a bit obnoxious (vs. a more generic “security camera in use” sign), but this one wasn’t even spelled correctly. Generally speaking, a prerequisite to using surveillance cameras should be to know how to spell it correctly.
The juxtaposition of a few of these signs amused me. Ignoring the fire extinguisher sign, the “all sales final/no refunds” sign and “you break it, you buy it” (aka the so-called “Pottery Barn rule“) tells me that the money only goes one way with this guy, and he will do anything to get it. But then there’s that sticker with the Bible verse, Phillipians 4:13 (which the sticker misspells). That presented a contradiction, because when you read the verse that they’re picking in its actual context, the full paragraph reads, “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Right-wing political stickers in another booth. Like the other flea market, there were reminders all around that this was a red state.
Elyse poses for another photo with the Scenicruiser model.
We parted company with Marc during our time at the flea market, as he had to head off to Bristol to go to work. We would reconvene with him the following morning.
We also had lunch at the flea market. I ended up going to a food stand that sold Latin American food for lunch. It was good, with a combination of rice, beef, and some other stuff. My only complaint was that it felt really heavy on the salt. The salt flavor was so strong that it masked the other flavors in the dish, with the flavor’s being best described as salt with some beef on the side.
Finishing up at the flea market, Elyse and I headed over to visit our friend Jackson. He comes up to the DC area from time to time, and we typically get together when he does, so we were looking forward to visiting him on his turf. We met him at his house, and he took us around downtown Kingsport to see a few places there.
Vintage freight elevator buttons along with a third button in a building in downtown Kingsport.
Group selfie on a mirrored wall on an upper level at an art gallery.
Elyse and Jackson film the parking garage elevator in downtown Kingsport.
Kingsport Area Transit System (KATS) sign outside of the downtown parking garage.
Stop sign embedded in the floor of the parking garage.
We later headed over to a Food City store near downtown so that I could get a drink (all that salt will make you thirsty), and then we went over to the location of the Kingsport Farmers Market, where an event was going on. There, Jackson got lunch, and I got a chance to have my drink and get everything back in balance.
Gallon-sized jugs of distilled water at Food City, marketed specifically for CPAP machines. I find this to be a bit unnecessary. I have been a CPAP user for the past eight years, and I fill mine with regular tap water. Yeah, you get a little mineral crust in the water tank, but according to my doctor, if you don’t mind that, tap water is just fine. I’ve saved so much money by using tap water rather than distilled in my CPAP.
A Tennessee disability license plate. I was surprised to see the newer wheelchair symbol incorporated into the design.
The Farmers Market building, being used to host an event.
Tractors on display outside of the Farmers Market building.
I went up with the drone and photographed the Kingsport Press water tower (which is just there for looks, and isn’t a real water tower) in order to show Jackson how the drone worked. He was impressed. The gray sky, however, made the photos look less than satisfactory.
We then headed over to Fusion, a restaurant along the south fork of the Holston River. There, we got an appetizer, and Elyse and Jackson got a few drinks. We were surprised about the spiciness of the salsa, but it was still quite good. On the way back to Jackson’s house, we stopped at the original location for Pal’s Sudden Service for a few photos, mostly of the neon sign.
The original Pal’s location.
Halloween display at a house in Jackson’s neighborhood.
Returning to Jackson’s house, we visited with Jackson’s parents for a bit, and we also played Super Mario Bros. 3 on an original NES. That was fun, as Jackson played as Mario and I played as Luigi. Jackson hadn’t learned all of the tricks to the game just yet, and so I taught him a lot about it, like where to find the warp whistles, how to make certain moves, and the locations of a few hidden rooms. We played through Worlds 1 and 2, and then worked our way into World 3. Then when we got tired of World 3, we warped to World 7, i.e. the pipe world, where we eventually ran out of lives. All in all, fun times. Jackson recorded a lot of my performance on the game, which I found a bit flattering. I’m no Mario expert by any means, but if I can show someone a few extra ins and outs on a classic game, then that’s awesome.
Finishing up at Jackson’s, we headed back to our hotel, arriving just before 9:00. That was a fun day, even though I would consider our Kingsport day to be something of a rainout. Then we would have another early day on Monday.