Downtown Knoxville's JFG sign is one of the icons of our old city. The JFG Coffee Company opened its facility in what is now Knoxville's Old City in 1926, and this big beauty followed soon after.

It's been blinking over the Tennessee River for decades longer than I've been alive, and will hopefully continue to do so for decades to come.

The fountains at Volunteer Landing

You have to love all the water features and fountains at Volunteer Landing. With fountains that come out of the sidewalks for playing in and larger features that invoke the falls that you see around every bend in the Smoky Mountains, and our grand ol' Tennessee River flowing just beside the landing - I find myself immediately calmed and smiling when I stop for a walk on the landing.

If you've never been, I recommend combining your trip to the landing with a ride on the 3 Rivers Rambler excursion train and/or a meal at Calhoun's on the River. Kids of all ages love the train and the fountains, and Calhoun's has great barbque and a nice selection of their own beers on draft.

On the James White Walking Bridge with my first digital camera - on the first day I had the camera.

It was spring, 2006 - a beautiful day. I was standing on the bridge taking pictures of downtown Knoxville when a guy walks behind me and across the bridge.

He was wearing all black leather, and had an amazing Afro that swayed in the breeze as he walked. I waited until it was almost too late to catch him, but you can still just barely see him at the end of the bridge.

It was an awesome moment for first time out with a digital camera.

The Sara Lee bread loaf on top of the Kern's Bakery building in South Knoxville is one of those Knoxville icons that everyone knows and (mostly) loves.

Being a South Knoxvillian myself, I drive by the Kerns Bakery quite often, and always enjoy the smell of freshly-baking bread coming out of the building.

At night, the sign is lit up by neon lights that border the slices of bread, and they go in sequence for each slice, bringing to mind slicing bread, making a sandwich, or - of course - bringing you attention to the idea of buying Sara Lee bread.

Personally, I don't care for Sara Lee, but I do like their sign!

This Knoxville Tennessee Pictures entry is of one of my favorite Knoxville activities -- the 3 Rivers Rambler. It's an excursion steam train that runs out of downtown Knoxville, and takes passengers to the Forks of the River Bridge in South Knoxville -- where the Holston and French Broad Rivers meet to become the Tennessee River.

It's a beautiful ride, and is one of the few opportunities in Knoxville to really feel like you're going back in time.

The cars are old passenger cars. The steam engine, Lindy, is nearly a century old. It even has a red caboose! If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend the 3 Rivers Rambler.

If you're looking for some Knoxville pics that are a little different, I'm kind of partial to the pics that are at my Knoxville Business Mom and Pop pages.

You might also enjoy the Knoxville pics in my Knoxville Music Scene page.

As my fellow-Knoxvillians know, we had a brief - make that very brief - taste of winter recently.

I've missed our old snowy winters of late, so I stepped outside and took a few evening snow pictures while the opportunity was ripe.

This is a pic of my favorite Knoxville, Tennessee snow-sprinkled yard. It doesn't matter where it is, I just like the place. :-)

From the looks of the still-black roof and snowy yard, it looks to me like they don't have much in the way of attic insulation. I bet their heating bill is a bear!

These next two pictures are of one of my favorite places to stop and take a few quick shots on the way into or from work.

I just love this place! The river and the railroad bridge, and the trees and hills around it...Nice, peaceful Knoxville waterfront location. A shame I can't afford such property!

On this particular morning, there were actually little sheets of ice all over the river. You can see them as darker spots on the water. That doesn't happen too often around here any more!

And the water was so peaceful, it was like a mirror. No boats, no birds, no fish jumping -- just the river looking for all the world like it wasn't moving at all.

It was a great Knoxville nature moment, if I do say so myself.

Speaking of which, if you're a Knoxville nature lover, and you'd like to submit some of your pics to this photo blog, I'd love to see them.