Since no one wants to read about that,let alone the fact that I don't want to write it and that one of our readers wants trip posts (!),I decided to get started.
I'll add a picture or two to this later when the official trip photographer sends me his shots.
It takes roughly seven and a half hours to hit Sevierville,Tennessee,which is a town built around tourism,about twenty miles outside of Knoxville,which is the capital of Rocky Top Nation (more on that later).
The trip down was pretty uneventful,filled with conversation that ranged from autographing,baseball and a lot of fantasy football talk.
We did not even eat anything major as we kept to snacks from the car to go with the occasional gas stop.
Tennessee is a massive state and I imagine a trip from Bristol on the eastern tip to Memphis on the western might take forever.
By driving distance,Bristol is just sixteen miles closer to Memphis than to Philadelphia!
If you are driving to Sevierville off of I-81,you have to be a real nitwit not to find it as you drive down I-81,get off at I-40 Knoxville,15 miles and you arrive,even the most flustered driver could find it from the I-81starting point.
From the interstate,you could see Smokies Park,home of the AA Tennessee Smokies and it was right off the exit,no urban parking pains here at all.
After a check-in at the Days Inn,we were given free tickets to the Smokies game as they are the official hotel of the Smokies and the visiting Birmingham Barons were staying there as well.
Had I known that,I would have purchased a Barons team set,live and learn.
If you ever want to hit this area,between the cost,the free Smokies tickets and the staff,I would recommend it!
After a trip to Krystal for a late lunch (Think a Southern version of White Castle),it was off for the game,where we hooked up with Bill Cover.
Bill was in the area for his son's diving meet and had worked the game the night before,so we got a scouting report from him on the layout.
Corey was doing the lesser amount of the graphing on this day with the Birmingham Barons,so I was with Bill doing the Smokies.
Both teams enter the field from the dugout,so you should be down the line a bit for your best chance at getting things signed.
I did passably with a really less than memorable evening as I got the main guys that I was looking for a few cards,but far from finished.
I did manage to get the starter Trey McNutt on 2 of 4,which is pretty good considering,Josh Vitters,who I had the most for signed two and Brooks Raley signed four as he charted.
Raley was one that I really wanted on his Donruss Elite in his Texas A&M jersey as I am a real mark for those cards.
Corey meanwhile wiped out the Barons,getting every card for me,him and everyone else signed before the game.
Smokies park is a nice place to watch a game,I thought that it reminded me most of Bowie's park that I had been to.
The seating was nice and the ushers helpful and friendly and made this a nice place to watch a game.
IF you dislike the whole "Rocky Top" thing,you might want to remember this-the song is everywhere!
Before,after and between innings-it doesn't stop.
I did not mind it as much as Corey,but it was a bit much.
Other than that.the place was like visiting Chicago for the night-from the Chicago beef sandwiches,to the White W flag flying to the Cubs theme song playing after the win,the evening felt like visiting a Southern Chicago and I enjoyed it greatly!
Corey met another local grapher named Corey,who agreed to help us with the Smokies after the game.
Corey and others proved very helpful with tips on Trey McNutt and Ja-hoon Ha,who like to leave through a different exit.
Mariano Duncan will sign and he did for us,but he is known by the locals to avoid,if he has his bluetooth in.Former Lakewood Blue Claw Matt Spencer signed,but was easily known to be the least popular player despite his being from nearby Morristown,due to his less than friendly nature.
Ha was sprinting to his car and after a stop was run down by Corey to sign one card which was not even ours.
By the end of the trip,I was calling Corey-"The Closer'!
We were really waiting for Josh Vitters to come out and time began to drag.
The local graphers were beginning to dwindle one by one and Vitters still had not come out.
We had about 15 cards for Vitters for me,Corey and others and we wanted to get those finished.
The Cubs never send teams to this area and Vitters cards had built up.
Here was a chance to take care of it,but the locals had told us that he usually signed just two or three.
Finally when Vitters arrived,we played the "Maryland Card"-drove eight hours,never see the Cubs,you will never see us again etc.
Vitters signed them all,spoke with us and could not have been more gracious.
In the end,a successful evening into morning as we left Smokies Park at 12:40 that night and prepped for a long day before the game and into Asheville for the Tourists and the Charleston Riverdogs.
Come back for pictures that I'll post here as soon as I get them!!
Photo Credit-Tennessee Smokies
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