Nightlife in Maryville

After much experimentation, Fort Sanders Yacht Club stumbled upon the perfect formula for a good time: 17 arcade games to the power of 70 beers multiplied by free WiFi and a menu of bar eats. Behind the bar gather drafts, bottles, and cans, ranging from craft beers from Sierra Nevada and New Belgium to old favorites such as Yuengling and Pabst Blue Ribbon. While sipping on their beverages of choice, patrons can immerse themselves in old-school arcade games such as Space Invaders, Tetris, and Donkey Kong for 25 cents a pop, which is the minimum wage for a digital character. Late-night guests hungry after their electronic competitions can check the club's food menu for bar classics that include personal pizzas, egg rolls, and hot dogs.

Hogg’s & Honey’s Saloon serves up a menu of barbecue, wings, and down-home eats within the fun atmosphere of its two-story, fast-casual restaurant. Diners gnaw on half racks ($10) and whole racks ($17) of pork ribs and savor the honey-barbecue, hot, medium, and mild sauces that ensconce orders of bone-in or boneless chicken wings ($7 for 10 wings). With billiards, a fully stocked bar, and daily drink specials, the saloon is a place where families and friends come to have a good time and settle differences with games of billiards dodge ball.

The Bijou’s origins stretch back through American history, but it didn’t become a theater until relatively recently: 1908. For nearly a century prior to its dramaturgical reinvention, the building was a high-class hotel that housed high-ranking military commanders, influential civic leaders, and even President Andrew Jackson for a spell in 1819. When General Ambrose Burnside took the town of Knoxville during the Civil War, the hotel was converted into a hospital, makeshift war room, and oil-wrestling arena for Generals William Sherman and Phil Sheridan. The latter portion of the 19th century showed the building more favor, and during the lavish 1870s another president—Rutherford B. Hayes—paid call, and delivered a speech from the hotel’s balcony.

The early 1900s saw the hotel’s biggest renovation to date when it was purchased and upgraded by the Auditorium Company. The newly rechristened Bijou Theatre opened to a sellout crowd, and was a major outlet for vaudeville from 1913 to 1926. Hard times began to pile up soon afterward, and the lapsed theater would have been demolished in 1975 were it not for its eleventh-hour listing on the National Historic Record. Since its most recent renovation in 2006, the stage has hosted pop stars and musical blockbusters.