Busy, BUSY day! We started out by visiting Cades Cove, an area that was home to about 125 families back in the mid 1800s and into the 1900s. A “cove” here is not what I grew up with in New England as a cove in the ocean or a lake, but rather a valley surrounded by mountains. The road there was long, and as winding, back turning and narrow as any Mount Washington road in NH. Stacy wanted to see the Smokey Mountains and boy, did she ever! The road followed a stream and meandered the same path. We visited an early 1900s church and then a homestead that included the house, barn, saw mill and grainery as well as a forge, or blacksmith shop. All of this is in a National Park and free to visit. There are several cabins, and at least 3 churches in this community. The road through it is so narrow that it is one way only, and travels 11 miles. While at the homestead we observed a buck deer feeding only feet away. While his rack was an impressive 6 point, i estimate that he would have only been maybe 100 pounds tops. While they have a significant deer population here, they are considerably smaller than their northern counterparts. We enjoyed seeing how some of our forefathers lived and spent their days. Living alongside the stream was instrumental to their lifestyle, the water providing the power to run the mills for both lumber and grain. We had reservations for the Gatlinburg Skypark and had to get the dogs back to the camper before heading there, so we cut our visit short. Our plan was to catch the gondola to the top of the skypark in the late afternoon so that we could enjoy the vistas during daylight, then catch a meal in the summit restaurant while the sunset so that we could then enjoy the lights before descending. All for naught. We got there in plenty of time all right. The first disappointment came when there was no free parking as their website leads you to believe. So we coughed up $20 in addition to the admission fee. OK, no problem, we can still do the rest. Nope. Any and all food service at the summit closed. You could still get alcoholic beverages mind you, but no food. BIG disappointment. We were able to walk the Skywalk, the longest pedestrian suspended bridge in America and that was cool, but kind of anticlimatic. Got some pics and video and returned to the base. Walked downtown Gatlinburg and it reminded us of any ocean front boardwalk with all the tourist trap shops. Finally found what we thought would be a nice restaurant Jason Aldeans and settled in for supper. Nothing special here, don’t waste your time and money. We have been on the road for two months now and Gatlinburg is our first disappointment so I would say we are doing pretty well. Tomorrow we visit Asheville and Biltmore.
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