From February 21-28 we are in Pigeon Forge, TN at the Pine River RV Park. It's very nice with paved, level sites. A creek runs along the back of the park and it's bordered on two sides by farmland.
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| Just a handful of rigs here now. |
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| Cows grazing on a hillside across the street from RV park. |
Pigeon Forge is home to Dollywood. Most of the big shows are closed for the winter. That's ok with us because we've been to Branson, MO and the shows are probably similar. The main street through town is wall to wall businesses and restaurants--lots of neon lights at night. The weather has been very nice--highs in the 70's and sunny. The average temperatures in February are 29 for the low and 53 for the high!
Some of Main Street Pigeon Forge...
Unseasonably warm weather has caused trees and flowers to bloom early causing allergy problems for some but the trees are very pretty!
Pigeon Forge has a population of 6,000 but 10 million people visit each year. I can only imagine how slowly traffic moves in town and on mountain roads during the height of the season. Apparently 10 million tourists like to eat pancakes because in town there are at least 20 pancake houses! We had pancakes one morning at Red Rooster Pancake House. Yum!
Also popular here are distilleries--I liked the coffee moonshine.
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| This is the one John liked |
We had dinner at the Old Mill Restaurant, one of the 10 best restaurants in Pigeon Forge. It is a large family style restaurant that overlooks the Pigeon River and is next to the historic Old Mill. The water wheel still powers the mill and the ground grain is used in the restaurant. Their meals are very generous--I ordered the fried chicken and it came with 3 breasts with 2 sides, corn chowder, salad, corn fritters, dinner rolls, AND dessert. Everybody walking out of the restaurant had at least one take home box.
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| Restaurant is part of Old Mill District--shops, cafes, distilleries |
For our first outing we drove to Gatlinburg via the Gatlinburg Bypass Road to spend the day there. Gatlinburg is very similar to Pigeon Forge in that it is small and the main street is filled with shops, restaurants, and amusement venues--sensory overload!
Gatlinburg from the scenic overlook...
Main Street in Gatlinburg...
There are several chapels on Main Street because Gatlinburg is a popular wedding destination. The tram even advertised weddings on the tram.
We rode the Ober Gatlinburg tram halfway up a mountain then continued on to the top on a ski chair lift.
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| Going up! |
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| Saw many lovely houses perched on the side of the mountain |
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| Time to go up even more on the chair lift |
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| Look how far up we've gone! |
The view from the scenic lookout at the top of the chair lift ride...
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| Time to go back down! |
The next day we explored Smoky Mountains National Park and drove the 33-mile long Newfound Gap Road to the peak at 5,046'. There are over 270 miles of paved or gravel roads in the park but many are closed to vehicles until March 31. When there is snow on the ground some trails are used for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The Smokies are named for the blue mist that always seems to hover around the peaks and valleys. The Cherokee called them shaconage, or "place of the blue smoke."
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| There were several tunnels on the road |
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| At the peak |
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| The only part of the Appalachian Trail that we "hiked" |
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| So many spots for enjoying mountain creeks--so relaxing! |
We even saw a couple of elk that were grazing about 20 yards off the road. Park literature says it's good luck to see elk!
We also spent an afternoon driving to Cades Cove. This is an 11-mile one-way loop road that circles the cove with bump-outs for stopping and enjoying the views. It took us 2 1/2 hours to drive the loop with the scenic stops and traffic. We went on a beautiful Saturday afternoon--a lot of other people had the same idea! Cades Cove offers the widest variety of historic buildings of any area in the national park. There are 3 churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses and many other restored 18th and 19th century structures. Black bears are an iconic symbol of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and I kept an eye out for bears but saw none. We did see many people sitting out in the middle of fields, probably hoping to glimpse a bear and other wildlife.
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| On the road to Cades Cove. Hey! Stay in your lane! |
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| Cades Cove Rd is narrow and windy |
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| Bikers were warned of several steep grades--no problem driving |
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| Bears!!! |
Here are some of the preserved buildings we saw...
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| Old Mill |
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| Corn Crib |
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| And of course...more mountains! |
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| Spring is in the air! |
There is a lot of history and beautiful scenery in the Great Smoky Mountains. We enjoyed our stay.
On Wednesday we head to Cave City, KY to tour Mammoth Cave.
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