Shakespeare, belly dancers, art and PBR

Belly dancers attracted an appreciative crowd at The Emporium as they danced while balancing swords on their heads!

If you don’t have fun on First Friday in downtown Knoxville, you just don’t want to have fun! The sheer diversity of offerings and of visitors is amazing. There truly is something for everyone.

Held the first Friday of every month, this event is when gallery owners and shopkeepers of every stripe literally fling open their doors and welcome guests in to sample not only their wares, but snacks and libations as well. Live music ranging  from bluegrass to jazz to swing and country wafts from open doors on Gay Street, Market Square and Union Avenue.

We couldn’t even begin to hit all the places on our wish list to visit, but here are a few of the people and things we saw Friday night in the magical place that is downtown. Mark your calendar for Sept. 2, the next First Friday, and get downtown early so you don’t miss out on any of the fun.

We started our evening at Downtown Wine + Spirits on Gay Street. Every Friday — not just First Friday — they have a tasting of a few wines and a few cheeses. It seems that every time Alan and I sample these unknown bottles, we end up really liking at least one of them. It’s a great no-risk way to expand your palate. The cheeses come from Earth Fare and also often are types we’ve never tried.

Trying the samples at Downtown Wine + Spirits

If you are a regular reader, you know how much I hate buttery and heavily oaked Chardonnay. Well this one wasn’t like that at all. We ended up buying a bottle.

NoCo stands for the North Coast of California. This wine was aged in stainless steel casks. There is NO OAK.

We stopped by next to see the new art by Nathaniel Galka on exhibit at The Lunchbox Cafe and Market on Market Street and to visit with the proprietors, our friends Karen and Don Sproles. And to have a little wine and a few nibbles, of course.

Karen Sproles and Nathaniel Galka

He uses a lot of poppies in his artwork. This piece is called, "You Can't Hide."

He painted a dozen poppies on the walls, which The Lunchbox gets to keep.

Next stop was Union Ave Books. It seems they serve not only wine, but Pabst Blue Ribbon, at all their events. Ha.

Dentists Susan Barnes, left, and Walter Fain along with Walter's wife, Lynne Fain. (I was glad I had gotten my teeth cleaned the day before!)

There was something for adults at the bookstore. (That's City Councilman Charles Thomas at the right.)

And some things for children, too.

Isn't this the cutest chair in the children's books section?

Then, it was on to John Black Photography, a few feet east on Union Avenue, where a great band called Kelsey’s Woods was playing.

Kelsey's Woods

This is John Black. He made fun of my camera. He said it looked like a toy!

John had a great spread put out. Alan loved the strawberry mascarpone shooters at the front in this picture.

Market Square was crowded with a happy bunch who brought their own chairs to watch Shakespeare on the Square.

The cultured crowd braved the heat.

Actors from the Tennessee Stage Company perform the Bard's "The Comedy of Errors."

Backstage, those waiting to go on were sitting in front of a fan!

Then we ran into one of our favorite clients, Randy Boyd of PetSafe, having dinner with his wife, Jenny, at Cocoa Moon. Boyd was in a very good mood for three reasons: PetSafe had just awarded a $100,000 dog park to Huntington, West Virginia, after a very successful contest; Knoxville had been named the most dog-friendly city in the Southeast by Dog Fancy magazine; and work on a new pub the couple is opening in the Old City is nearly finished.

Happy couple!

On our way to the 100 block of Gay Street, we stopped by the Knoxville Visitor Center and found D. J. Morrison performing.

Guitarist D.J. Morrison

Finally, we made it to The Emporium Center where there were, of all things, belly dancers!

Folks were entranced.

Alan, left, with City Councilman Duane Grieve and Liza Zenni of the Arts and Cultural Alliance.

Across the street, there was much activity at the Finbarr Saunders for City Council gathering in the offices of Attack Monkey Productions. We stopped by. Saunders had set up a life-size cut-out of himself and was letting folks pose for photos with it. Each guest was provided a chance to write a remark on a conversation balloon in the photo. Very clever!

Here is developer Tom Weiss posing with the cut-out. His "balloon" says, "I shaved my head for Finbarr!"

Finbarr was beside himself! Har-har.

Another excellent idea: free fans! Wayne Blasius displays one of them.

Jeff Matthews was doing a great job playing old tunes on the piano!

Because I had been meaning to buy a new purse for ages, and because I’ve been wanting to check out Julie Apple‘s designs for ages, we dropped by her store in the 100 block. OK, the fact that they were serving champagne didn’t hurt, either! Thanks to the assistance of Amira Hagg, I found and bought one that I really like.

Amira Hagg models my new purse.

Then we realized we were starving. Many of our favorite restaurants were packed, so we headed somewhere a little off the beaten path, but still within walking distance — Chesapeake’s. It was fabulous.

Our waiter, Tom Park, had only been on the job three days, but he was great.

The Blue Point oysters were delicious.

After dinner, we made one last stop: the Bistro at the Bijou where our friends Kukuly and the Gypsy Curse were performing.

"Miss Lil," the signature painting at the Bistro.

Veronica brings my dessert: a chocolate martini!

Kukuly delivers some swing to close out the evening.

For the second time that night, we ran into our buddies Randall De Ford and Wes Goddard. They live in Fort Sanders, and they walk almost everywhere. It’s become kind of a running joke in that every time Alan and I see them, we laugh and ask, “Did you walk here?” Which, of course, they almost always have. But this time, Wes had a great retort: “No,” he said. “We came by hovercraft!”

Randall De Ford, left, and Wes Goddard

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