Tennessee is quite a state. On one end is Memphis, a flawed but great old southern city with so much character that John Grisham can’t quit writing about it. In the middle is rip-roaring Nashville, the Austin of the South only with the tourism kicker. And on the east end is the Great Smoky Mountains, with Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge magnets for vacationers.
There’s probably all kinds of other great jewels in Tennessee – I mean, I’ve ridden a boat in the Vol Navy down the Tennessee River to the banks of Neyland Stadium, and seen the Volunteers play a rousing showdown against the Sooners; and I’ve been on Lookout Mountain outside Chattanooga – but on Saturday, we got to experience both Nashville and the Smokies, in small doses.