Great Smokey Mountains, Tennessee
Well, 'up' we went, as I mentioned in the previous post.
Back into Alabama for an uneventful 198 miles on the I-65, until we stopped for the day in Clanton, AL.
We'd found a very convenient campground, the Yellow Hammer RV Sales and Campground, right of the Freeway.
It was a dealership that sold various RV brands, and was not bad for an overnight stay, but otherwise nothing to speak of.
The next day we had another 193 miles to go, before we reached our next destination in Chattanooga,Tennessee, the Chester Frost County Park.
Now, this was a really beautiful park, not too far from the sights we wanted to see in Chattanooga, but situated on a pretty lake, away from it all. It was fully booked for the weekend, we had only just managed to snatch up the last site available.
It was another beautiful one, although a bit tight, as in short, for us. We barely fit. But barely counts, James would say ..
He and Merlin made themselves quickly at home as usual ..
The next day we played golf at the Lupton City Golf Club.
We had some problems finding it, and when we arrived we weren't sure if we were in the right place.
Talking about rustic ..!
The inside was even more 'Hillbilly'!:
It turned out that the place was about to close, sold to a developer. It didn't make enough money for the current owner to keep it going, and his dad, who was the one and only maintenance guy, was getting too old to keep it up anymore.
Too bad though, because it turned out to be a sweet little 9-hole course with beautiful old trees, short but challenging because of the hilly terrain and narrow fairways. What a shame to have it disappear!
After a relaxed and fun round, we drove into Chattanooga for some lunch and from there went to see 'Rock City', a popular attraction on top of Lookout Mountain, 1700 feet above sea level.
It actually is in Georgia, there's several states coming together here!
We didn’t know what to expect from this attraction but it was charming!
An Enchanted Trail took you along the woodland path, with beautiful rock formations and gardens. It was a beautiful winding stroll on rocky paths through some very tight formations.
Even a rope suspension bridge ....
And a Lover's Leap, a rock bridge, with a tragic tale of lover's leaping to their death (there's a lot of that going around):
That's James over there! Yikes!
The trail back leads you by this beautiful roaring waterfall and into the 'Fairyland caverns' and 'Mother goose land'. Very cute with beautiful old dioramas.
All in all, well worth the money of $20/pp (which we thought initially a little on the steep side).
Aren't we a cute (Texan) couple .. still, after all those years ..
So, that was Chattanooga. Been there, done that.
Next up, Pigeon Force, 138 miles to the East, in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains!
We were staying a little outside the craziness of this little town, thank goodness, at the Eagle's Nest Campground.
Not a bad spot, with a little bit of a view towards those 'Smokies'.
We decided to leave the town for the evening and went into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park early the next morning to drive it's most popular scenic route, the Cades Cove Loop Road.
The Smokies encompasses over one-half million acres of Appalachian wilderness.There are 270 miles of road and driving a couple of the scenic drives is probably the best way to see some of the best and most different areas in a short time.
That's the town of Gatlinburg, as seen from one of the overlooks along the windy spur road.
With a drive of just 11 miles one way (22 miles round trip), Little River Road is hands-down one of the most traveled tourist attractions each year.
It can get very busy during the day, sometimes the traffic will come to a complete halt, so we went early.
There's a lot of historic buildings and structures you
can see along the way, including log cabins, churches, barns and a grist mill.
Of course we took a coffee break, and sat down in one of the picturesque meadows ..
At this time the bears are out for their spring-foraging and we were lucky enough to see four of them!
Not really up-close, but I guess you shouldn't want that anyways ..
We also came across a deer, several turkeys and a whole bunch of butterflies!
About halfway through the loop we parked the car and hiked to Abrams Falls.
The hike takes you along Abrams Creek and follows the beautiful rushing water for 2.5 miles.
You work your way up and down the hills, giving you "from above" views of the water and of the mountains along Cades Cove.
Spring flowers were in full force ..
I's relatively easy and moderate compared to some other hikes you'll find in the park, only a 5 miles round trip and very easy to follow, since it basically just parallels Abrams Creek the whole way to the falls.
Our reward at the end of the trail were these beautiful falls.
While they're not the tallest falls we've ever encountered, they are some of the most powerful.
In terms of volume, Abrams pumps out more water than any other set of falls in the park.
We'd worked up quite a sweat by the time we arrived here and we took some time to cool of in the shade before heading back.
But the day wasn't over yet! After driving back home to feed the cat we 'went to town' for dinner.
Pigeon Forge, a mountain town and vacation area in eastern Tennessee, is the home of Dollywood, country singer Dolly Parton’s Appalachian-themed park consisting of rides, an adjoining water park and a museum of her costumes and memorabilia.
The city’s other attractions
include country music revues like the Smoky Mountain Opry, dinner
theaters such as Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede and outlet malls.
Most of the big hotels resemble Vegas-style casinos, we especially liked the upside-down Wonderworks Science Museum (top left).
It will get pretty crazy in the summer, fortunately we were still pre-season, so it was just .. well, busy ..
We headed for 'the Island', in the middle of town. A huge (pedestrian only) family fun center and entertainment complex with a Ferris wheel, rides, restaurants, retail shops and more ..
I'd hoped to find some 'live' country music and we lucked out at the Ole Smokey Moonshine Store:
These guys were so much fun 'picking' their way through traditional Appalachian bluegrass folk songs.
We ended up grabbing some dinner to-go at one of the restaurants, and enjoying the music in the rocking chairs that were set up in front of the little stage.
After a while we toured the Moonshine Store 'Ole Smoky', the leading distiller of premium moonshine in the U.S., which features a distillery, tasting bar, and retail store ..
Moonshine was originally a slang term for high-proof distilled spirits usually produced illicitly, without government authorization. In recent years, however, moonshine has been legalized in various countries and has become a commercial product.
We didn't do any tasting, but it was fun to watch. They made quite a show of it ..
They have moonshine in many interesting tastes available. How about Tickle’s Dynamite Cinnamon (70 proof), Butterscotch Gold (40 proof) or Appalachian Apple Pie (50 proof).
In the evening a multi-tiered fountain, also surrounded by rocking chairs, features water dance and light, choreographed to 14 pieces of music ..
The next day it was high time for some .. yup, you guessed it .. golf!
We'd booked a Tee-time through Golf-Now at the Bent Creek golf course in Gatlinburg.
What a beautiful course, with lots of running water (a creek runs through it) and huge height differences at the back 9, where you have to climb some steep stairs to get to the 14th Tee!
Lots of pretty butterflies here!
After lunch we went back into the Smokies and drove the Clingmans Dome Road.
This beautiful winding road climbs through the evergreen forests of the lower elevations into the sparser spruce-forest areas of the “high country”, as you drive
right up and into the tallest peak in the mountain range.
There's lots of differences in temperature and climate in the highlands and
lowlands. It's fairly normal to encounter differences of up to 15 degrees during
the drive!
At the road's terminus, at 6,634
feet above sea level, Clingmans Dome is a scenic lookout point.
The panoramic views from this highest peak in the Smokies are just stunning!
If you are so inclined, you can get out and walk the extra half mile up the steps to the lookout point, which gives you 360*, unimpeded views of the entire Smoky Mountain region.
Which we were .. so inclined, I mean, so we hiked all the way up ..
The weather was turning, which made the sky look very dramatic ..
♫ On top of Ole Smokey, all covered with snow .. ♪♬
(well, no snow today, but you get the gist)
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful ..
Sigh .. Hess's are such joke-sters ...
So that was Pigeon Forge. We never made it to Dollywood, shame on us, but we still had a good time!
And that concludes the second installment of our Spring-trip north. Two more to follow!
Here's an 'the-end' shot of the sunset at Chester Frost park on Chickamanga Lake in Chattanooga (Hixon actually), Tennessee ..
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