She was going as far as Gatlinburg............"somewhere in the Smoky Mountain rain.(sun)......"

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Thankfully Gretchen agreed to ride with me again after the near incident of last night.
The sun again shone on us as we headed off on a very scenic road taking the long way round to Gatlinburg at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains.
We headed out on 11W-TN thru Kingsport and along the base of the Clinch Mountains.The scene was rural with rolling hills and a four lane highway almost devoid of traffic.We pssed thru towns loke Stiggersville(where do that get these names!!) and Bean Station(not sure at all where that one would have come from!!)
Lunchtime came as we entered Morristown and headed for the mall expecting to find a food court.Not so in this instance.So we opted for a pizza place and for our 20 min lunch there we were the only customers.It may have been because it was Monday or perhaps the economy is starting to bite.The assistants in JC Penney looked bored and we didnt hear the tills ringing as we passed thru back to the car.
We headed across the Parkway at the foot of the Smokies for Gatlinburg.
This town is built up several small valleys and there were people everywhere.The town is built on the tourist trade with activities for all year round including skiing in the winter.
There was a good deal in the voucher book at the Edgewater and after driving around several narrow streets we found it.A room that isnt like a DaysInn and it has a balcony!!Not the front side of the hotel but a view out over the pool.
We headed off up the main street checking out the restaurants and tourist stores selling every kind of tee shirt etc etc you could think of.There seemed to be a lot families on holiday yet school is in??!!
There is even a wedding chapel a la Vegas in the main street and you can hire your dress and photographer across the road.!!
The weather stayed fine and sunny and prpbably reaced the low 80's as the afternoon came to an end.
We settled on Calhouns a Tennessee icon for dinner and werent dissapointed.The spare ribs were absolutely delicious!!The place was packed although the queue wasnt as long as the one for Bubba Gumps.Just hard to to have seafood when one is so far from the sea.We are getting to the point where we are looking forward to seeing the sea again,not that it will be far away during the upcoming 10 day cruise which starts for us on Sunday.
I should add todays drive was uneventful!!

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Comments

[KJ]

John Denver singing...
Hi guys From a very windy NZ-the equinox gales are a blowin'. Have been humming John Denver Country Roads as I follow your trip. DD is loving the regular fax blogs of your travels too!