Foothills Parkway, top down, no itinerary

You don't need a plan, but a loose one helps. The classic anniversary drive from the Maryville/Knoxville area: pick up the car Saturday morning, take the Foothills Parkway west section from Walland to Chilhowee — 17 miles of ridge road with no stops and uninterrupted views into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Pull over at the overlooks. Top down on the Miata. It's a short stretch but it's the kind of drive that makes the whole day feel intentional.

From the western end of Foothills Parkway you're 20 minutes from the Cades Cove entrance. The loop road is 11 miles of pastoral valley — open fields, historic homesteads, deer everywhere if you go early. It's not a driving road (20 mph limit, not designed for it) but it's one of the most scenic morning loops in the region. Do it before 9am and the crowds haven't arrived yet.

Dinner in Gatlinburg or Townsend is the natural endpoint. Townsend is quieter, more local, less tourist density. Gatlinburg has more options and the energy of being in a small mountain tourist town at night — which is its own thing. Either way you're 30–40 minutes from the Maryville return.

The Miata is the anniversary car. It's not complicated: two seats, soft top down, warm spring or fall evening, winding road. The top-down intimacy of a small roadster on a mountain road is a specific feeling that you don't get in anything else. Book this for a couple who hasn't driven something like this before and watch the energy change ten minutes in.

The Supra is for the anniversary where you want it to feel like an event from the first look in the morning. You pull up to the hotel in a 382-horsepower Toyota with the exhaust note, and the day has started correctly. It's more impressive to the outside world than the Miata, it has more power on the highway stretches, and it's comfortable enough for a full day without the intimacy of a small sports car.

The 1994 MR2 GTS is for gearhead couples. If both people in the relationship know what a mid-engine layout means, if they've said 'I'd love to drive an MR2' at some point in the relationship, this is a meaningful gesture rather than just a nice car. It's the story car — the one you'll describe to people at dinner that night. 'We rented a '94 MR2 for our anniversary.' That lands differently than 'we rented a sports car.'

Pick up the car the evening before if possible. That way Saturday morning starts from your hotel with the car already in hand, not with a drive to the pickup point. Evening-before pickup doesn't cost extra — the rental period just starts then.

The contactless lockbox at TYS Economy Lot C works any hour. If you're flying in Friday evening for a weekend anniversary trip, the car is there whenever you land. Maryville pickup is coordinated in advance but can usually be arranged for Friday evening as well.

Weather matters for convertibles. May and October are statistically the best months in East Tennessee for top-down weather — warm but not summer-humid, blue skies more often than not. June through August works but is hotter. Spring can surprise you with rain. Check the forecast and have a flexible itinerary; the region is worth visiting in rain too, the car just becomes a coupe.