I decided on a whim to take a road trip to Johnson City, Tennessee.

I’ve been several times but it was always arriving late for a show at the Hideaway that left little time to explore. Johnson City, as I recently learned, is called Little Chicago and there is a festival each year to back it up.

Combine that with a new exhibit at the Gray Fossil Site and craving for Rahmschnitzel from Freiburg’s German Restaurant, and it was the perfect timing for a visit.

My song for this entry is The New Lost City Ramblers’ with “Johnson City”

 

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Little Chicago
Johnson City is known as Little Chicago because Al Capone and his gangsters frequented the area back in the 20s. JC is located about midways between Chicago and Miami, and is a well-connected railway stop to other cities that were part of the moonshine distilling ring during Prohibition.

The Little Chicago Festival is held during August each year (dates vary) and spans all across the downtown area.

The Johnson City Farmers Market

The vendor alley has Hungarian, Korean, Southern, and Chinese food, pizza, kettle corn, pastries, dog treats, and one truck that specializes in fried EVERYTHING.

The Little City Roller Girls had several roller derby bouts throughout the day.

There was an auto show all along the boulevard, but with only a few real classics.

Founders Park is a nice urban park and greenway with rock structures, a creek flowing through it, and sculpture installations on both sides.

Downtown streets are lined with artisan, spiritual and fair trade goods, art, gifts, a comic book shop, and a really awesome barber shop+all around man store.

There is some irony that I would find the things I found today, but that is another story.

I wish the Fouled Anchor had a traveling operation. Guys- get your haircut, beard oiled and trimmed, buy yourself a nice shirt and some new boots. All at the same place. They make it so easy.

My favourite random discovery was this drawing of a woman with red lips, black hair, bangs, and cat-eye makeup, standing under the German flag. This is basically me in acrylic paint. Two different people stopped to ask if someone had painted me while I was taking a photo.

The Hideaway is a punk and rock dive bar that has hosted some really great shows over the years.

Awesome MLK stencil mural and graffiti art

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Milling About the Pliocene
The Natural History Museum at the Gray Fossil Site presents the fossils and skeletons of tapirs, saber tooth cats, rhinoceroses, red pandas, alligators, plants, and other creatures that once roamed the area.

This fossil site formed as a result of an underground limestone cave that collapsed into a massive sinkhole, and eventually served as a water reservoir during the Pliocene epoch between four and seven million years ago.

Under those ideal conditions, the damp and mineral rich soil preserved these remains quite well.

An impressive skeleton of the giant short-faced bear towers over my 6′ tall frame. This bear was the largest carnivore in North America during the Ice Age.

At last, I made it to Freiburg’s German Restaurant.

 

Dinner doesn’t get much better for me than an icy German beer and a chicken cutlet baked crisp and covered in cheesy caramelized onions.

Edit: I am looking forward to seeing how the festival and the city itself has changed in the last few years since I was there. Anyone have recommendations for things I missed?

 

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