Taking a break from our fall 2024 road trip, this time its all about an event followed by dining with friends.
Our friends Sue and Steve asked us to join them for a pre-Christmas musical event in the "Old Town" area of Knoxville Tennessee. We all decided to go somewhere for dinner after the entertainment was over.
The event was held in the old East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad freight depot. The preserved and repurposed depot was built in the 1880s. Active rail tracks still pass by it on one side.
Once we entered one of the old sliding freight loading doors as shown above, we got in line for the event. Entry was at the front left of the photo. Abundant candles were in place in the reception area and a temporary bar had been set up for those who wished to imbibe in alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages.
While in the reception area, Steve took this photo of our wives in front of some of the candles and that old re-tucked 130+ year old brick wall.
Once we entered the event area of the old freight depot, we encountered lights and more lights including a plethora of candles along the wall in front of the audience. I think that about 350 people attended this event. Note: The candles are not real but are battery powered, but still creating the desired ambiance.
Laurie took this nice photo of our neighbors Steve and Sue in the event hall with that bright and shiny Holiday reindeer.
Our Candlelight Christmas Concert was a Holiday Special featuring "The Nutcracker" and other appropriate classical pieces. The hour+ long concert featured the string quartet shown above. The instruments included 2 violins, a viola and a double base. The audience was very welcoming and appreciative of the performance. More importantly, so were our wives!
The Jackson Terminal Event Center is located in the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District in Knoxville Tennessee. At 213 West Jackson Street, it's adjacent to the Jackson Avenue Warehouse District in the Old City. To learn more about this event center, go to https://www.jacksonterminalknox.com.
The Candlelight experience can be experienced in many venues across the USA. To learn more and to perhaps find an upcoming event where you live, go to https://candlelightexperience.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/concertsbycandlelight/.
Following the concert in Old Town, it was time for dinner. At the entrance to our dining destination, we were greeted by very nice, seasonally appropriate decorations.
Laurie has decided that she likes mixed drinks involving Bourbon so she ordered the house special... It received high praise from her.
For an appetizer, we ordered the Crispy Calamari with pepperoncini, arrabbiatta sauce and lemon aioli. ($16.99) It was very nice indeed!
Laurie had a Chopped Salad with her pasta entree. ($8.99) It included chopped greens, cucumbers, red onions, olives and feta cheese, with a red wine vinaigrette salad dressing.
For her entree, Laurie ordered the colorfully named "Pasta Woozie". ($18.99) It included grilled chicken, fresh fettuccine, house-made alfredo sauce and fresh spinach. She really enjoyed her meal!
I just had to be different... I ordered the Spaghetti and Meatballs only without the spaghetti noodles and with marinara meat sauce instead of the usual straight up marinara sauce. I much prefer penne pasta over spaghetti noodles. Why? It's simply because I'm less likely to 'wear' the sauce from noodles that are sturdier and less likely to flop around. This entree without the modifications cost $18.99.
I was the only one in our group that was a little disappointed with their entree. There just wasn't enough marinara meat sauce to eat with all those noodles. I guess I'm not too traditional when it comes to Italian cuisine. I could have asked for more meat laden marinara sauce...but I did not. FYI, the 'Signature recipe meat sauce' was also made with ground beef and pork. It was very nice and I liked the house-made beef and pork meatballs too.
To be quite honest, I'm not sure which of the following entrees was ordered by Sue or Steve. I did decide that this was someone's Shrimp Alfredo...fettuccine alfredo tossed with scampi-style shrimp. ($20.99)
This is the mystery entree... Laurie took the photo of this healthy looking meal with grilled chicken, cheese, tomato, baby spinach and pineapple on a bed of risotto and drizzled with a balsamic reduction. It isn't shown on Bravo's on-line menu. I do know that both Sue and Steve enjoyed their meals...
As an aside, no one finished their entrees. Between the appetizer and 2 servings of bread with a seasoned olive oil dipping sauce, I don't think that anyone managed more than half of the their main dishes. Four to-go boxes were requested. Laurie and I had our leftover pasta entrees for dinner the following night...and after I added more marinara meat sauce it was a very satisfactory meal.
Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...
Thanks for stopping by to see what we've been up to recently.
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Nice to see old buildings being put to good use. The meals all look very good and Laurie is obviously much slimmer - way to go.
ReplyDeleteAwesome that you guys had a great time together! My husband prefers fussili or penne to spaghetti too.
ReplyDeleteGoodness gracious - of course you needed more sauce for your penne pasta!
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