The Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A blue-gray mist often hangs over the mountain peaks like smoke, which is exactly why they call them "The Smokys!"
We are quite certain that most, if not all, of our faithful readers have visited this beautiful National Park at least once in their lifetime. It is, after all, listed as "America's most-visited national park" and, fortunately, it is within a day's drive from South Louisiana.
Our first vacation ...
In June of 1978, we were twenty-three and had never heard of Gatlinburg or the Smoky Mountains, but while trying to figure out where to go for our honeymoon, my (Bonnie) grandfather, who gave me away at my wedding, highly suggested it. Since we had no idea how to get there, Grandad gave us an atlas and highlighted the entire route. You could say his navigational skills became our very first GPS -- a Grand Parent Satellite!
Paradise found ...
Arriving at this beautiful National Park felt like finding paradise in comparison to the swampy flatlands of South Louisiana! Since our honeymoon, we've vacationed in the Smokys so many times that we've lost count. We can imagine that you probably have, too!
Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville are familiar places to us; however, since our last visit, they seem to have all merged together to form one ginormous tourist attraction. You could spend a month there and still not see and do it all!
Mixing the old with the new ...
As we previously stated in an earlier blog, we have been totally "free-styling" our first big RV road trip. In other words, we have planned our entire route on the go, targeting states we had never been to together.
We have had so much fun charting each leg of our journey together. Sometimes we only planned one or two destinations in advance. Every time we booked a campground reservation, we felt like we scored huge victories and celebrated them with high fives!
We've been blessed to explore so much new territory on this road trip. But once we realized we’d be passing through Eastern Tennessee on the way home, we put a bullseye directly on the place where it all began for us forty-eight years ago.
Experiencing the Smokys differently ...
In all our previous trips to the Smokys, we’ve stayed in a cabin. This time, since our lodging rolled right in with us, we just needed to find an affordable site close to everything we wanted to see and do.
Thankfully, we found a small family-owned campground, Smoker Holler, in Wears Valley within our budget, and it was a great "in-between" place to stay. It didn't offer many amenities, but the mountain views were fantastic. Knowing we would be out and about most days, we didn't need anything more than a level spot in a quiet park.
Let's cut to the chase ...
Knowing that most of you have been there before, we won't bore you with a day-to-day itinerary. However, here are a few things we'd like to highlight as our most memorable moments during our week's stay:
1. We drove through the National Park, stopping at a few overlooks along the way to Newfound Gap, located at the Tennessee/North Carolina border. We do this almost every time we go, but the view never gets old.
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| Morton Overlook |
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| Chimney Tops |
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| Newfound Gap |
2. This time, we continued our drive across the border to Cherokee, North Carolina. We haven't been there in over thirty years.
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| "Out of Hiber-Nation Bear" Part of the public art display known as the Cherokee Bears Project. |
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| "Eagle Dancer Bear" |
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| Mingo Falls written in Cherokee syllabary characters. |
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| Just one set of steps leading up to the falls. |
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| Just wish it would've rained lately, but we still enjoyed the view and the sounds. |
4. On the way back from Cherokee, we drove to Bryson City and took a very strenuous, calf-stretching, steep, uphill half-mile hike to the Kuwohi Observation Tower (formerly known as Clingmans Dome). Thankfully, a few benches were provided along the route, which we took full advantage of.
At 6,643 feet, it is the highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is one of the highest peaks in the eastern US.
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| The path may not look steep here, but trust us when we say it was a very strenuous hike. |
A light rain started falling on our way up to the tower, but we decided we weren't stopping -- no matter how soaked we got!
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| Thankfully, the path was not slippery when wet! |
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| Taking refuge under a tree by the path. Laughing about the fact that we have an umbrella in our car and wishing for wipers for eyeglasses! |
The observation tower takes you above the aromatic Fraser fir treetops for a 360-degree view of the Smokys.
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| The ramp leading up to the tower. The sun came out for just a short time. |
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| Their fragrance was amazing! |
A heavier rain came while we were on the tower, so we lingered until it was almost over.
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| Such a colorful surprise in the midst of all the mist. |
Our nephew, Jim Delino, and his family arrived in the Smokys two days before we left. They did a lot of hiking while there, and when we asked if they were going to Kuwohi, they replied that it was on their itinerary. We requested copies of some of their pictures since ours did not come out well because of the rain.
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| (Photo courtesy of Vi Delino) What a difference a few days make! |
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| (Photo courtesy of Vi Delino) Clearly, a much better view than what we got! |
5. We went to the Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show and loved it. The last time we were in Gatlinburg was in May of 2019, and the show was having its soft opening on the day we were leaving, so we didn't get to see it then. (Sorry, no photo of this experience...we didn't feel ARRRRR-right about how they turned out!)
6. Drove to downtown Sevierville to see Dolly's statue.
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| People were lined up to get a photo. |
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| She was Sevierville's hometown hero. |
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| The whole county displayed their love for Dolly. |
7. We visited some very quaint areas of Wears Valley that we had never seen before.
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| Award-winning chainsaw wood carver's displays. |
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| A mural on the side of an old-fashioned General Store. |
8. We went to the very large Great Smokies Flea Market in Sevierville. We discovered it was not worth the drive for us for reselling purposes, but it was something we could do that was inside, air-conditioned, and didn't charge an entry fee! (In case we failed to mention this, it was very hot during the whole week.)
We didn't want to leave the flea market empty-handed, so we purchased an accessory for our RV!
9. Not a new adventure to us, but we don't want our friends and family to think we omitted visiting this very special place -- The Apple Barn Cafe! It's so nice we went there twice!
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| Fried apple pie, a scoop of ice cream, and apple cider slushy. Not pictured is a 75-cent cup of coffee! |
Leaving the Smokys ...
After departing the Smokys, we drove to a very nice COE campground, Victoria, right outside of Atlanta, Georgia, on Lake Allatoona, where we stayed for three nights. For only $17 per night, we had a premium lakeview site and enjoyed sitting outside at night with both a campfire AND a fan going! (We sure do miss the cooler climate we experienced in the northern states!)
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| No matter how hot it is a campfire is the best way to end a camper's day. |
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| Fanning the flames? |
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| A starry night. |
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| The duck hunters in our family can now know why they haven't had much success in the past; the mallards are hanging out in Falcons' territory! |
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| We almost had all our ducks in a row; there's always one that wants to branch out on their own! |
Our current whereabouts ...
We are parked at another COE campground in Montgomery, Alabama, and we're happy to be back in the same time zone as our family! We arrived on Patriot's Day, September 11th, and will be here for five nights with plans to relax, catch up on eBay listings, and visit the town featured on the first season of HGTV's Home Town Takeover series hosted by Ben & Erin Napier, Wetumpka.
Our next destination ...
Theodore, Alabama, to spend a week with our son and his family. This will be our final leg of this ten-week road trip before we head back to our hometown, which will be undergoing a different kind of makeover -- SpaceX is coming to Vermilion Parish.
Until next time, blessings from our neck of the woods to yours!
Isaiah 40:31
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