In Paris it was the Eiffel Tower, in Seattle it was the Space Needle and in Knoxville it was the Sunsphere. I noticed the goden globe on entering the city. I slowed my van to snap a picture and thought about its wild origins as I drove into town. It was visibile from just about every light.
I wondered why and how this small city buried in the Southeast would erect such a monument. First, Knoxville like Chattanooga didn’t ring specific bells for me when I chose the destination. I thought it might be the home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers but not much else and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure on that either.
The deeper I drove into the city the more interested I became in the glowing golden ball. It was early afternoonm, with the southern sun pitching a soft orange light on everything. The Georgia peach looks tastier in this sunlight and the Florida orange practically burst open with juice.
At one light I stopped and tried to snap more photos of the orb but couldn’t because the 
view was blocked by trees at another I could see the ball and its light but didn’t have time to click. In the end IÂ eventually found a parking space and started my wander of the city but the golden ball lingered in my head.
I didn’t know what I was looking for in Knoxville as I started my walk through the city but I was quite certain I would know when I saw it. I walked down mainstreet and noticed a sign for the tourist office. That little italic I is famous the world over for the knowledge it gladly imparts to visitors of any city. It was there I wanted to visit first and so I slowly made my way there.
On entering the office I noticed a few things were different than past tourist offices I had visited. It had the usual tourist trinkets, stickers and snowglobes but it also looked as if were a music recording studio. I strolled the small aisles and eventually made my way to the desk. A nice young girl with a soft drawl offered help and answered my myriad of questions.
My first question was “what’s the golden ball for?”
“The Golden Ball is leftover from the World’s Fair of 82.”
I stopped, mouth open and pondered my destiny. I never chose to follow exhibits or love amusement parks but my life and experiences have lead me there and I feel much the better for it. It started with an early move from the Georgia/Alabama border to Florida to live in the shadow of Walt Disney’s Dream World.
From the first day I visited Fantasy Land, sang Small World and got sick on Dumbo I was enthralled and decided on living and leading a life of permanent amusement. It was then that I put a blue bird on my shoulder.
During other times it was my parents who would load the family into the station wagon to visit amusement park ‘x’. Gladly, as a family we would visit the chosen park and discover what was meant to be discovered.
On moving to Paris I couldn’t miss, nor did I question my fate of living in a once World Fair city. I’ve paid tribute the beaming beauty of the Eiffel Tower on a daily basis for years now.
In 1998 and again in 2005 I not only visited but worked World Expos. Simply feeling I had a story to share with the world and my earlier experiences were training for future stories and telling them properly.
So when I road into Knoxville and saw the globe it is no surprise to me now that I snapped that picture. Its no surprise that I fell in love with Knoxville and its people and its no surprise that the glass panels layered in 24-karat gold burned itself into my memory.
World Expos are moments when the globe comes together to present its best, cooperative, collaborative side. These parks give us time to reflect, learn and view things we wouldn’t otherwise see. They are ephemeral but those who know the magic of Expos and Amusement Parks understand what I’m describing and those that don’t need to get a ticket and get in line for the next one.
I discovered a great deal of SFC (Southern Fried Culture)Â in Knoxville, crispy and battered in gold. Depending on your taste and mood, dig into the bucket and read a story or two from the next entries, its finger lickin’ good.