KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Many of you celebrated the Fourth of July right here at home, which was good news for local business.

In a tough economy some people skipped the vacation, taking a "stay-cation" instead.

We told you last week that AAA expected less people to hit the road this year for the long holiday weekend, but that didn't keep some people from taking a short drive around town to celebrate on a smaller scale.

Downtown Knoxville became a good source of entertainment for families from around East Tennessee for the Fourth of July, fun on the water, entertainment, food, and of course fireworks.

"It was a busy weekend downtown," says Rhonda Rice, Executive Vice President of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce.

And the Chamber expected those crowds around the region, as some people cut back on the vacations.

Rhonda says, "I think stay-cations are something families have certainly looked at this year, for a lot of people having a long weekend provided them an opportunity for them to get out."

But, with thousands sticking around town for the holiday, that meant a lot of business for restaurants like Cafe 4 on Market Square.

Lisa Cyr, Manager for the locally owned restaurant, says, "I think that people in this economy, people are wanting to get out, they still want to have fun and going out to eat is an easy to way to do that."

Lisa found families using the downtown festivities as a way to get away, even if it was only across town.

Lisa says, "It's easier to spend just a little bit of money to take your family down to Market Square, and there's all kinds of things to do, there's shopping, there's all kinds of food, there's the fountain."

But the "stay-cation" option has it's down-side for businesses like hotels.

"Typically for a July Fourth weekend you plan on being considerably busier than what we were," says Derek Cardinale, manager of the Country Inn and Suites off of Cedar Bluff.
They had plenty of vacancies over the weekend, but Derek planned for the worst, for an already slow year.

Derek says, "I think a lot of people were either traveling through town, or the couple of people that did come into town were just coming to see family that were here."

But with slow business, Derek offers the best deals he can, and hopes the amenities of the newer hotel will lure some people in.

Derek says, "I think more people are just staying home, thinking if we don't have to spend it, we're not going to spend it."

Several of the businesses Volunteer TV spoke with saw mostly locals out having fun this weekend, and the few out-of-town guests were mainly family members of locals who were taking a cheaper vacation by visiting family.