Les Jones

East Tennessee > Kingsport, TN

We're back from Joseph's birthday party. It was a laser tag party at a place in downtown Kingsport. Fun stuff.

I'm always amazed at what a big downtown Kingsport has. It just goes on and on for blocks, and a big part of the city is built around it. It helps that it's on flat land, unlike Knoxville and Maryville's downtowns. Nearby there's the industries that underpin the local economy: Eastman Kodak chemical, Mead paper, and a military contractor called Holston Defense.

The downtown library is lovely. Kingsport is the only southern city I've ever seen with a rotary (roundabout). On the other side of the rotary there's Church circle, which is pretty. Melissa's cousin Charla got married there last spring.

Kingsport also has a really good downtown parking scheme on Broad Street. It's a wide boulevard with two strips of parking in the center. Melissa says they clear out the cars to have street fairs and concerts on Broad Street. It's interesting to see how different cities use their downtowns, especially the smaller cities.

On the way home we stopped at Pal's for sandwiches and iced tea. Pal's is a Tri-Cities drive-through chain that Melissa loves. They have good iced tea that's a bargain at 89 cents for the biggest size. For fans of Bojangles chicken, there's at least one left up there. Melissa has brought some home school, and we've stopped there on the way home from Kentucky. As I recall it's in Johnson City, but I get Johnson City and Kingsport mixed up, especially on the interstate.

Funniest thing we saw in Kingsport: a Christian club called The Fire Escape. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.