The Amazing Smoky Mountains and the "Dragon"

What can I say about Tennessee?  I have a sincere love/hate relationship with the state.  Well, mostly love. We were in the Eastern part of the state near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  The Smoky Mountains are absolutely amazing!  We learned very quickly - the difference between upstate NY and, so far, several of the mid states is that in NY, for the most part, they dynamite thru the base of the mountains  and if you want to go any further you have to work for it and climb the mountain.  In the Smoky's they want everyone to see the views so they just cut roads - winding, turning switchback roads - up one side of the mountain, across the ridges and down the other side.  Hence, the mild "hate" relationship.  I spent a good portion of the 3 weeks we were there, either hanging on for dear life to Cliff on the motorcycle or leaning to the left in our "Big-ass" truck - thinking that somehow, that would prevent us from falling off the side of the mountain.  Don't get me wrong - it was all sooo worth it.  When I wasn't hanging on tight - I was breathless at the beauty of the surroundings.  I can't believe I have lived in the Eastern part of the country my whole life and never saw this part of it.  Now that we have lived through those rides I am extremely grateful that they chose to make those twisty, turny winding roads so I could see everything there was to see.  I would, however, recommend that they think of investing in some guard rails.



The "Tree of Shame"
When a vehicle crashes on the Dragon
 they leave a piece of  it to hang
on the "tree"

The highlight of the roads was the Tail of the Dragon - the epitome of motorcycle roads.  I am one of those people that just can't grasp everything it takes to "ride" a motorcycle.  I am very good at sitting on the back, listening to music and taking in the scenery, but I have a hard time grasping the idea of clutching, countersteering and staying upright.  I was so excited for Cliff that he got to challenge himself on the road and it amazed me afterwards to talk about it and listen to all of the different techniques that he had to use to navigate it.  We were extremely fortunate to have no other vehicle - car, motorcycle or truck in front of us the entire distance.  Cliff got to use his skills, knowledge and common sense to the best of his ability and enjoy the experience at our own pace.  It's kind of like going to a concert and finding out you have front row seats and you are the only ones there.  We found out quickly that the "Dragon" is the most challenging of the roads, but if  you want to get anywhere in that area, you have to be ready to hold on tight.


As we were leaving Indiana a neighbor asked where we were headed.  When we said Eastern Tennessee he said "Oh - you will be right in the thick of it".  We just smiled and agreed, not really having any idea what he was talking about.  We quickly realized when we got there that Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg are  like the mini Vegas of the East.  And it was the height of the leaf peeping season.  So yes, we were in the thick of it.  I'm not sure which is scarier on the motorcycle - twisty, turny winding roads or riding on roads with tourists who will stop on a dime to take a picture or decide if they are at their destination and need to slam on their brakes and turn off without signaling.  Fortunately we found some back roads that helped avoid the "crazies" so we could then go into town when we wanted, but go around it if we were heading somewhere else.  Gatlinburg was my favorite.  It was fairly big, but not overwhelming, and we found a perfect parking lot - so we spent several evenings there wandering the streets and seeing different things each night.  We did a moonshine tasting, a flavored whiskey tasting and met lots of interesting people.  We also played "Hillbilly Miniature Golf" where they took you up the mountain in a tram and you "played" your way back down.  What a blast!



Cliff playing Hillbilly Golf

We went on a driving tour called Cade's Cove... a beautiful wildlife area that has a one lane road leading through it.  They warn you ahead of time that it is slow and you can only go as fast as the first car in line.  There were interesting little buildings to see (it used to be a small town) but it was a little frustrating behind all the traffic.  But our interest in cemeteries was our saving grace.  We pulled off because Cliff saw a small cemetery that we could walk around - at the same time I saw a bunch of people taking pictures of deer in a field.  As we walked around the cemetery Cliff, the hunter, noticed that all of the deer were headed in the same direction into the woods nearby.  We quietly snuck into the woods and just stood there and waited.  After a few minutes we had our own personal wildlife show.  The whole group of deer wandered slowly thru, the Moms leading the babies, the bucks looking in our direction every once in a while just to let us know they knew we were there.  It was so beautiful to watch them in their own environment with no one else around.  Sometimes it pays to take that "road less travelled", to step away from everyone else and find things that other people may be missing.

Because we loved the area so much, we stayed 3 weeks, instead of our usual 2.  We never got tired of the beauty of the mountains and all of the scenery that went with it.  We also found that, since we were near the state border - there were several high points of different states within reach.  We did Tennessee's early in the week on the motorcycle.  A little nerve wracking because it was one of the first days that the roads were open after the Federal shutdown so the crowds were a little overwhelming.  But we got there and the views were spectacular.  We then realized that within a few hours drive to each, we could also do North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.  And all three of them were drive up, with a short hike to actually get to the top, which made me very happy.  (Although Georgia also had a van that you could take from the parking lot to the very top, which I took advantage of while Cliff made the hike.  He made it up in almost the same time that it took the van to get there!)  We were so fortunate to have clear days for almost all of them so we could see for miles and we met great people on the top of each.

 

 
 
 
 
We had so many great opportunities in Tennessee.  Up until now, we have had to do our homework to find cool, unusual things to do.  In the Smoky's our goal was to narrow down the possibilities to what we could fit into 3 weeks.  I'm sure we will go back some day but for now I'm looking forward to some flatter, less curvy roads and we are heading south to try and stay ahead of the cold weather.  Life is good!