quarantine adventures (part 2)

One of my two best friends, Madison, and I took our self isolation time to explore the many places around our city that we had never been before, and it made quarantine 100% more bearable. (Click here if you haven't read part 1.

Continuing our explorations, we searched for and found a cute, rundown gas station in Tazewell, and grabbed ice cream from Frostee Freeze while we were there in the town. We took the {ultra} long way home from Tazewell and drove through at least 3 different counties surrounding Knoxville. We ended up all the way in Middlesboro (fun fact: we found out, while we were in the town for less than 20 minutes, that Middlesboro is actually a crater that was formed by a meteorite), and we stopped at every body of water we passed by because Madison has the debilitating need to stick her toe in any water mass she sees.

The next day, we drove to Friendsville (it was a much less exciting place than we had hoped). We didn't spend long there, and soon drove back to Knoxville so I could ride Madison's bike around Concord Park while she rode a Razor scooter. Yes, you read that right. She can't ride a bike, so she scootered around on bumpy asphalt. After our bike and scooter rides, we drove into Sevierville where there is typically something to do every ten feet, but, unfortunately ... Covid. So, we got ice cream and took pictures in front of a wall that was entirely made out of sequins.

It was April 25 when we bought our first masks. We actually bought them as a joke to look like the "crazy" people who were wearing them everywhere. They soon became necessities we took with us everyday. That same day, we shopped, jumped in puddles, and danced in the rain in a parking lot to Mamma Mia songs.

After these trips, we brought ourselves back to the heart of Knoxville: downtown. We found as many murals as we could and some cool painted stairs, walked the greenway to Volunteer Landing and all over downtown, stopped by the UT Botanical Gardens, and made our way up to the popular JFG Coffee sign. At the end of the day, we had walked at least 5 miles (important information: I don't like walking to my car from the store and Madison would willingly walk 10 miles a day if she had the time).

One day, we attempted to make crème brulée using the recipe from a High School Musical cookbook (it has recipes for all of the foods mentioned in each movie; yes, that includes Gabriella's mom's famous brownies that Ryan praises and Troy "has had"). Turns out, crème brulée is super hard to make correctly, and we created an utter disaster. My mom gagged at both the sight and the taste.

Now, don't think we spent all of our time out and about. When my brothers caught the 'rona, as well as, when my cousins caught it, we quarantined in my house. We even bought succulents and painted a bread pan to grow them in to pass the time. And one day, I even tried to teach her how to ride a bike. I failed.

Once summer had officially started, we took a trip to Charleston with my family and my cousins (my aunt crocheted a coronavirus particle wearing a mask to be our mascot for the vacation). We spent ample time on the pier fishing. This is where debatably the funniest experience of our lives occurred. Let's just say, I arrived at the beach with a phone, and when I left, the fish had one (click here to read the story).

Madison made a goal to try one new food each day, we played lots of cards, watched the sunrise (hot take: sunrise > sunset), took a horse-drawn carriage tour around Charleston, paddle boarded, showcased our food babies, found a huge tree, and visited a neat park with bridges to walk on with beautiful views all around.

As soon as we got back from the beach, we got 5 hours of sleep, then hopped in the car to watch a dance recital in Nashville. While we were there, we ate donuts at Five Daughters Bakery, took pictures with murals, went in thrift shops, ate some barbecue from Whitt's, and read Zac Attack, a short book all about Zac Efron, for entertainment since I still had no phone.

After that, summer was in full swing, we called our quarantine adventures to a close, and we began our summer ones.

quarantine adventures photo album

P.S. The links in the text lead to picture proof!