Somewhere in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains, twelve little newts were born in a quiet, shady pool. Each one grew—and, as all newts must do, crawled onto dry land for a spell before it was time to return to the water forever.

But these twelve newts were incurably curious. They took one look at the Sunsphere rising boldly into the sky and decided: we have only a short time to be land dwellers. Let’s head to the big city and see what Downtown Knoxville is all about.