Advertisement
Published: August 10th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Yesterday after staying in very classy but (our most) expensive B&B in Waynesville N.Carolina (a pleasant town way off the Bue Ridge) We visited Mount Mitchell (see pics) and the Museum of Minerals in North Carolina a really good example of interactive learning which explains the way minerals and rocks are formed, and also the importance of mineral mining in this area of the US - not least that it is today the main producer of computer chip grade quartz (silicon chip?).
We also visited the
Cherokee Indian Museum a particularly sobering experience which charts the demise of 12000 year old culture at the hands of white settlers and the British Crown within a few decades - complete with false treaties, forced deportations on trains and concentration camps. Sound familiar ?
After that we went over the top of the Smokies to Maryville. On the way we passed through Gatlinburg which was one of the worst examples of strip mall development - really tatty glitzy megastores with enormous signs on very tall poles or pylons. We were advised to go by some other bikers as it was supposed to be really pretty. We skipped it. Later some other
people told us we had missed the (attractive) centre and actually had only seen later ribbon development.
The point is sometimes you need to perservere and look beyond the 'outer shell' - we learnt that with restaurants too. Earlier one (Pandowdy's) in a little town called Mount Airy looked really plain and uninviting from the outside, but after asking some locals where to eat they pointed to the very same place with its faded net curtains. We had one of our best experiences there with both atmosphere and food - a busy family restaurant where we had succulent marinated steak, and the owner sent us away with a free sample of local beer.
Sadly, we were told, one of the children that was being entertained at an adjacent table by her guardian grandparents, had been orphaned by a young drunk up on the Parkway. So no 45 mph speed limit was ever going to save them, was it?
Today the plan is to ride the
Dragons Tail a legendary highway running north to south from Kentucky back in to North Carolina through the edge of the scenic Smoky Mountains. Over one 11 mile section there are no
less than 318 bends so its a bikers challenge or delight depending on your p o v. We have avoided riding it on the weekend as its inundated with speed freaks.
Connected to it is the
Cherohala Skyway (conjugation of Cherokee and Nantahala Forest areas) known as one of the most scenic mountain roads in the US. Its 36 miles of sweeping bends rises to 5400 feet and took 30 years to build. But it routes away from our main progress down to the old colonial city of
Savannah - so difficult decisions to be made. We'll let you know our progress later! Postscript: in the end we did do the Dragons Tail and the Cherahola (Carol said we had to having come all the way) so see/read the later section for details.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.227s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 13; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0703s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jackie
non-member comment
thanks
Thanks for taking the time to update us all. I guess Carol writes the blog really, whilst on the back of the bike!