I am a Fountain City girl, born and raised. My parents, my mother’s parents, her father’s mother all graduated from Central High School. There is fine pile of stellar Bobcat athletes in that lineage. But for all that, my first memories of organized sports have nothing to do with Central or even the Fountain City Ballpark.
Now, I am not saying that this was the first football game I ever went to, it’s the first one I remember. I don’t know what year, don’t know who they were playing, but it was a game at Carter High School. Because my father was a teacher there as well as a football coach for the Hornets. To this day, alumni who passed through those halls during his 30ish years’ tenure don’t call him Mr. Kinnane. He’s Coach, even to those who attended well after his coaching years were in the past.
We didn’t go to every Carter football game when I was young, but we went often enough. Pulling the route from Nottingham Road to Strawberry Plains from my mind’s eye is difficult since the completion of I-640 east from Broadway to I-40 when I was in high school. We’d meander our way to Asheville Highway via Greenway Road, Washington/Millertown pikes, Loves Creek and Chilhowee Drive.
Coming home after a game, we’d sometimes travel a bit further west, to where Asheville Highway becomes Magnolia Avenue in search of sustenance. That usually meant stopping at the Tic-Toc drive-in, which sat across Magnolia from Chilhowee Park. Again, I’m not saying the barbecue sandwich I had at the Tic-Toc is the first one I ever ate. It’s the first one I remember. And it was delicious. The Tic-Toc was my favorite not-in-Fountain City place to eat.
The key to the whole experience for a young family after a Friday night ballgame was the drive-in. It’s too late to cook, the kids are getting cranky, no need to wrangle them out of the car, just place your order with the carhop and have dinner in your Oldsmobile. I mean, yeah, we have Sonics now, but it’s not the same as the considerable number of drive-in eateries that existed when I was a child. Many Blue Circles and Krystals included drive-in space. Some stood alone as drive-in and carry-out only. Most also had a sit-in restaurant. And while fast food existed, it didn’t come with a drive-thru as it does today.
I remember one time we had to skip the Tic-Toc, probably because it was overrun. We went somewhere else nearby which meant having to go inside and get a table. I can’t tell you if it was an exclusively, allegedly Italian restaurant. I had spaghetti ordered for me, and I was not at all pleased with it. Because it wasn’t from the Original Louis, which was the extent of my restaurant spaghetti experience at that tender age.
The original, Original Louis was taken out by 640. But in my youth, it had a long drive-in out the back of the restaurant. About half the time we ate inside, half the time outside in the car, usually dividing up a pizza or two.
Many much beloved drive-ins across the county, some I visited, many I didn’t, have disappeared across the county during my lifetime, Cardin’s on Asheville Highway as recently as 2019. There was Bill’s on Kingston Pike, Babe Maloy’s and Jiffy’s on Chapman Highway, the Copper Kettle on Oak Ridge Highway, and Malcomb’s on Clinton Highway.
What were some of your favorites, and what did you love to eat?
Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.
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Glco’s BBQ was a drive-in on Alcoa Hwy at the end of the airport runway. My Dad lived the BBQ, but memories are of eating pizza burgers and cheesecake as the planes flew right over our car.
I too ate at Louis’ mostly dined indoor. The Orange Julius on Magnolia Ave, Blue Circle in Fountain City & downtown Knoxville, Archie’s in Fountain City was the place my family ate out at the most. There was a Jiffy in Fountain City on Broadway & Krystal on Broadway near Fulton High. I too like my dad, brother & sister, graduated from Central & my mom from Carter as did my husband & children. And we too miss Cardin’s as one of the places I took my children.
My family shopped at the Cas Walker Store on Broadway/ Old Broadway and enjoyed eating at Archie’s. I always thought it was cool that the county sheriff also ran a restaurant. (Archie Weaver)
Where was the Jiffy in Fountain City?
The Southern Circle, out on Chapman Hwy., was another great one. Fried chicken served with little packets of honey. On our knees in the back seat, looking out through that big window with the food on that little space between the window and back of the seat. It was a long drive from Lonsdale, but my Mom was friends with a carhop and we would go visit every once in awhile.
That’s a great memory!
Beth, thank you for your story about The Tic-Toc. It brings back quite a few memories. I graduated from Carter and your Dad was one of my coaches. I remember his quiet intelligence; his thoughtful guidance as a teacher (first) and a coach; his hearty laughter and big smile; and the way he could boom a punt down the field with seemingly little effort. I graduated from UT and taught for 42 years…a couple at Carter High. I’ve always enjoyed your writing, but never realized the obvious, that you were coach’s daughter.
Steve, please check your Facebook message requests, or shoot me an email by clicking on my name in orange above. Dad would love to talk to you. Glad you enjoyed the story! Thank you.