
Gayle Burnett enjoying a martini — I think it was a bourbon martini! — and a cigar in the cigar garden!
I love a martini. Especially if it’s for a good cause!
So “Martinis at the Mansion” was the perfect place for us last Thursday. It was a fundraiser for Blount Mansion — “the birthplace of Tennessee” — and it was a low-key good time. Blount Mansion is located in downtown Knoxville at the intersection of Hill Avenue and State Street, a few blocks from our condo.
Around 1792, work began on Blount Mansion which was to be the home to William Blount, one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution. Blount had been appointed by President George Washington to govern the Southwest Territory, which Blount shepherded into admission to the Union as our nation’s 16th state, Tennessee.
In addition to a family home, this fine wood frame dwelling also served as the territorial capital. Blount Mansion is Knoxville’s only National Historic Landmark and the city’s oldest operating museum, opening in 1926.
Over the years, we’ve been to quite a few fun parties at Blount Mansion, the building referred to by the Cherokee as “the house with many eyes!” Click here for a little more fun facts about Blount Mansion. But scroll through this post to see more recent fun times! Continue reading