Tag: Kodak

Tennessee Smokies Baseball

The Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball team begins play in April at Smokies Park in Kodak, Tn, just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Based out of Knoxville, Tennessee, the Tennessee Smokies are the Double-A minor league affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs.

The team’s ballpark, Smokies Park, is located between Knoxville and Sevierville, Tennessee in the small town of Kodak, just off Interstate 40. The park officially opened in 2000, and seats up to 8,000 fans.

The team’s nickname, “Smokies”, refers to the mountain range for which the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is aptly named. The Great Smoky Mountains are known and often seen clouded in a hazy mist that gives the appearance of smoke rising from the forest. The Cherokee Indians long ago gave the mountain range the name “Shaconage” for the blue-gray haze.

As for area’s minor league team, the Smokies were the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals prior to 2005 and before that the Toronto Blue Jays. However, when the Cardinals purchased the El Paso Diablos, which had been the Arizona Diamondbacks’ AA affiliate, the Diamondbacks retained the Smokies as their new AA affiliate. On September 21, 2006, the Chicago Cubs reached a two-year player development contract with the Smokies through the 2008 season. The contract was renewed before the 2009 season and renewed again following the 2012 season.

Prior to 2000, the team was based in Knoxville, Tennessee and called the Knoxville Smokies for many years before moving and changing its name.

For scores, schedules and other information about the Smokies, visit their website here.

Del’s Pizza in Kodak

Del’s Pizza in Kodak, Tn is some of the best authentic Italian pizza in the Smokies.

If you’re like most people around here, you love pizza. There is so much pizza love in the area, that besides the big chains, you can probably find around a dozen local establishments that serve their own brand of pizza as well. If you’re looking for some great local pizza let us suggest Del’s Pizza in Kodak, Tn.

Del’s is a sit-down restaurant where you can order take-out or just wait for your pie while it bakes in the oven. And it’s not just pizza pies either. You can choose from hot baked subs, cold cut subs, pitas, calzones, hot dogs, pastas, and salads off their menu. It’s a wonderful Italian eating experience. If you’re asking us, you really can’t go wrong with any of the specialty pizzas. Our favorite is the Chicken Ranch. Others include meat lovers, veggie lovers, Hawaiian, pepperoni lovers, Philly steak, and Del’s (All the way) – which includes pretty much all the meat you can cram on one pizza.

Their hot Italian subs are extremely tasty in their own right. If you like fresh baked bread and some of the finest in Italian meats, stick to this category. Del’s menu consists of such Italian favorites as Chicago Italian beef, Italian beef marinara, meatball parmesan, eggplant parmesan, chicken parmesan, and sausage parmesan. And as far as hot dogs go, it’s hard to beat Del’s selection – the Chicago Style with mustard, relish, freshly chopped onions, sliced red ripe tomatoes, a Kosher pickle and peppers piled into a poppy seed bun, the New Yorker, the Texan, the Tennessean with chili, cole slaw and a Kosher pickle all on a poppy seed bun, and the Wisconsin.

Del’s also has a great set of side items that can also double as a meal in some cases, starting with buffalo wings. Order 12 buffalo wings in either mild, hot, honey mustard or BBQ. You can also choose from garlic knots, cinnamon sticks, bread sticks, and cheese bread. Whatever you choose, you won’t come back hungry that’s for sure.

The next time you’re in Kodak, don’t just blow by on your way to get to I-40, or the Smokies, stop by Del’s and get an authentic Italian pizza pie and stay awhile.

Del’s Pizza
2946 Winfield Dunn Parkway Suite 110 (Bryan Crossing)
Kodak, TN 37764-4309
(865) 933-0900