Pigeon Forge and Great Smoky Mountains, TN

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.

Just a handful of rigs here now.

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.  

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.

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.

Going up!

Saw many lovely houses perched on the side of the mountain

Time to go up even more on the chair lift

Look how far up we've gone!

The view from the scenic lookout at the top of the chair lift ride...

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."

There were several tunnels on the road

At the peak

The only part of the Appalachian Trail that we "hiked"

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.

On the road to Cades Cove.  Hey! Stay in your lane!

Cades Cove Rd is narrow and windy

Bikers were warned of several steep grades--no problem driving

Bears!!!

Here are some of the preserved buildings we saw...

Old Mill

Corn Crib

House and barn

And of course...more mountains!

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.

The Emerald Coast

For our visit to the Emerald Coast we stayed at Destin West RV Resort on Okaloosa Island, between Destin and Fort Walton Beach, FL.  The RV park is on Choctawhatchee Bay and across the street from the beach.  We didn't ride bikes there because there are no bike paths and traffic on the main street is fast and heavy but we walked on the beach almost every day. 

I had read that the sand on the Emerald Coast is sugar white but it was more beautiful than I imagined.  On a sunny day the sand is almost blinding and the color of the water is just gorgeous!  The sparkling emerald green water gets its color from the sun reflecting off algae.  On rainy days the water is not as green as on sunny days.  The water is so clear because there are no rivers in the vicinity to deposit sediment that would muddy the water.  The current runs counter clockwise which pushes the darker river water to the west, towards Texas. 

The beach is made of sand that is some of the whitest and cleanest in the world. The sand consists of small quartz particles.  The perfect oval shape of each grain of sand makes the beach "squeak" when you walk on it. 

It was partly cloudy most of the days we were there but that didn't stop us from enjoying long walks on the beach.  On sunny days we got a good start on our summer tan and the water was warm enough for us to splash in the surf.

A storm coming in across the bay

Goodbye Emerald Coast!

On February 19 we headed out.  There are two overnight stop before arriving in Pigeon Forge, TN for a one week stay.  Smoky Mountains here we come!

January in Orange Beach, AL

This is our second time in Orange Beach.  We really like Pandion Ridge RV Park, the bike trails, the beach, and the climate.  This time the weather was a little bit rainy and unusually cold with lows in the 20s and teens.  Fortunately we did have enough good weather to enjoy the outdoors.  It was good to be back on the bike path--we logged a LOT of miles!

One new addition to the path were these wooden structures on the edge of a swampy area.  We assumed they were added to provide a resting place for walkers/bikers safe from alligators(?).

On watch for gators!

One of my "artsy" photos

Of course we walked on the beach whether it was cloudy, chilly, or sunny...

Cloudy, windy day

So windy it was difficult to see down the beach

Blue skies!

We even walked in the water

The fifth-wheel needed some maintenance so we treated ourselves to a day (and night) out.  We hit the outlet mall, ate at Lambert's (throwed rolls!), saw a movie, and stayed at the Hotel Magnolia in Foley, AL.  The hotel was built in 1908 and is filled with beautiful chandeliers and antique furniture. The Victorian bed and breakfast has 10 individually decorated guestrooms with private bathrooms.  It has a couple of ballrooms and is a popular spot for weddings.  Here's a small sample of their rooms...

George & Ida Younce Room

Gov. Isaac Shelby of Kentucky room--bed belonged to the governor

We originally booked the Swan Song which was the library in the original house.  After seeing the room we changed our minds--the wood paneling was beautiful but it made the small room feel smaller and it had no windows! 

Teeny, tiny television

Fortunately we were the only guests that day so we were shown all the rooms and picked a different one.  We selected the John and Marjorie Snook room.  It was large and beautifully decorated with a canopy bed and a marble shower.

A rose made from toilet paper!

Our stay included a European continental breakfast and even though we were the only guests, they set out the whole spread for us--coffee, tea, meats, cheeses, bagels, waffles (with hot syrup!), raisin toast, fruit, yogurt, cereal, and more...

I briefly worried that the hotel could be haunted since it is so old, but I slept well that night and they had a staff member stay the night in case we needed anything.  It was a nice change but we were happy to get our "home" back the next day.  There's no place like home!

On January 31 we headed to Okaloosa Island near Destin, FL on the Emerald Coast.  Hoping for good weather!

Happy New Year!

We are spending several weeks in Orange Beach, AL.  For Christmas we flew to San Antonio to see family.  We had a wonderful time and after a trip to McNay Art Museum my granddaughters and I caught the photo bug and had fun taking "artistic" photos on the museum grounds. 

We also took the family to see Trans Siberian Orchestra.  We all enjoyed the show...

We welcomed the new year at the RV park.  At midnight we stood outside (in 20 degree temperature) and watched the fireworks from The Wharf (an outdoor mall across the street).

Did you make any New Years resolutions?  I didn't. But I remembered what my mother always told me--whatever you do on January 1 you will do a lot of in the coming year so make sure you do what you enjoy.  The new year found me making a copycat recipe of Lambert's Throwed Rolls.  Lambert's is a restaurant in Foley, AL where they throw large, hot, delicious rolls at you.  Everything they serve is delicious but the rolls are out of this world!  I was so excited that my rolls came out almost exactly like Lambert's rolls!  My rolls were maybe a little bit smaller than theirs, but they were every bit as good! 

The weather has thankfully returned to more normal temps here with highs in the 50s and 60s.  We plan to take advantage of the nice weather and get in a lot of biking and walking on the beach before heading out to Destin FL on January 31.