Activities and Entertainment Covenant Health's service area covers sixteen counties in East Tennessee. It is centered on Knoxville, a medium-sized city, and includes several smaller cities, well-tended suburbs, resort-like developments, and rural areas. The area has a four-season climate, with mild summers and winters, glorious spring blossoms, and blazing fall foliage that visitors come hundreds of miles to see. There's skiing in the mountains, boating on the area's many lakes, more than a dozen golf courses, great fishing, hiking through some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere, biking, backpacking, rock climbing, spelunking, soccer leagues, trap and skeet ranges, equestrian centers, and even a rugby league. We have two symphony orchestras, a chamber group, opera, country, jazz, alternative, Afro-Caribbean, indie, blues, bluegrass, rock, and more. Plus theater by community groups, university drama departments, and touring Broadway companies. And just about every act from Kris Kristofferson to the Chinese Acrobats to the Dresden Dolls comes to play the Bijou, the Tennessee Theater, or the Coliseum. The NASCAR track up the road a bit in Bristol has some of the most exciting races on the circuit. There's minor league hockey and baseball, amateur rowing, and a lot of collegiate teams that tend to rank high up in the standings every year. If you enjoy college football, the 105,600 fans in Neyland Stadium can squeeze over just a bit to make room for you. This is a wonderful place to have dinner. As you'd expect in this part of the world, the pork barbecue is sublime. And of course there are great steakhouses, Italian places, fern bars, Chinese restaurants, delis, and sushi spots. But you might be surprised by the Korean restaurant or the tapas bar. And one of the best Polish restaurants this side of Szczecin is a block down the street from a Covenant Health hospital. There's extensive shopping in regional malls, small boutiques, and the many area artisan stores. Fairs and festivals bring in the best craftspeople from the region with beautiful hand-crafted wares. Local galleries feature artists from all around the country and the world.

Area guides: Knoxville Oak Ridge Sevierville Gatlinberg Pigeon Forge Smoky Mountains Loudon County