From Pigeon Forge, TN. So we’ve finally done it! The trip has begun and so far it has been amazing. Dan has proven himself to be our primary driver which, honestly, we’re both surprised about.
Sunday morning started early. We got up at 6:30 hoping for a 7am start that ended up being more like 7:30. Dan started as our driver and ended up driving straight through to somewhere in Maryland where we stopped because we needed gas. There we swapped and I drove through to Manassas, VA where we stopped for breakfast/lunch/dinner at Backyard Grill which Dan has seen in an ad on a plane somewhere.
The driving continued into Shenandoah
, along skyline drive to the campground which was 51 miles into the 105 mile drive. The drive was beautiful and we stopped a few times to check out the overlooks and take pictures. The most prolific wildlife we saw were deer, and lots of them. They were in the road, by the side of the road and in the campground. We picked our site because A) it looked nice and B) it had a lot of deer in it (who I think came back in the middle of the night to eat grass). Dan is also convinced he heard a bear snuffling around, luckily cuz we ate restaurant food we didn’t have any out at the campsite.
So early night camping of which Dan slept very little, I guess he wasn’t very comfortable, and then a walk around in the morning. Dan drove out of the park because I had driven in the day before and the road is so windy you can’t easily see the view and stay on the road. He drove all the way down to our hotel here in Pigeon Forge. We stopped along the way to fill up the tank again and get some fried chicken from Dodge Chicken (at the gas station). Of course we got way too much so it looks like that will be breakfast tomorrow.
Pigeon Forge is ridiculous. It’s a little ways out of Knoxville and just an arbitrary point where the had a cheap hotel room. This town has every type of tacky shop, dinner show, gi
mmicky hotel and “family entertainment” you can imagine. It’s is 100% cheesy and completely unexpected. “It’s like an amusement part without rides” says Dan. There will be a few pictures to come. As we drove slowly through the trafficky main street to get to our hotel (the second to last building before you get to Gatlinburg) I was amazed at the things that they had. It reminded me of Disney World crosses with South of the Border.
We checked in and then decided to check out Great Smoky Mountains National park. We’re so glad we did. Immediately after our hotel the road changed to a beautiful tree-lined two-lane drive with a river in the middle. We drove through Gatlinburg which is styled as a wild-west/Bavarian village. Very cute, also a little strange. We drove straight through while keeping an eye out for somewhere that we might like to stop for dinner on the way back. There weren’t as many non-chain restaurants as we had thought/hoped there would be. Now on to the park:
The drive through the National Park was beautiful. I found this one even more amazing than Shenandoah. There were a few vistas but the 13 miles that we drove through were mostly road going uphill and winding through the tall leafy tress and then along a beautiful river. We stopped a few times to sit by the river or enjoy a view and of course take pictures. The first time we both agreed that we were sooo glad we had decided to go the little bit extra and see this beautiful place. Our destination was the Gap at the top where we enjoyed the view, checked out some historical plaques and information signs and went for a little walk on part of the Appalachian Trail.
As we had turned back and were coming off the AT someone came up to us and asked us where the trail went. We showed him the part that we had just been on and he asked Dan if he was Australian. Dan said yes and he said “G’day Mate!” We talked with him for a little while which was pretty cool. It turns out he is from Geelong, Victoria but knows someone in Lismore. (Bruce, short guy who lives on Little Keen Street). Dan’s uncle used to live on that street possibly in the same house. Very small world! So Trevor is driving around in his turbo diesel Mercedes which he has fixed up to run on vegetable oil. I’ve heard of people changing cars around to do this because it’s a free fuel source (restaurants otherwise have to pay to get rid of their old oil) and the car loves it! This is one of many of Dan’s pipe dreams but we didn’t get to talking about that too much because we were ready to go back down into town and find some dinner.
We went to a place just before the state park and had a pitcher of Fat Tire and an AMAZING pizza. It was a TNT taco pizza. Possibly the most delicious I have ever had. It was a salsa base with jalapeños, ground beef, cheese and after it was cooked it had lettuce on top with sour cream drizzled over it. Fresh and delicious!! We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and afterwards asked if we could leave our car there while we walked around Gatlinburg. 
As I said before Gatlinburg was really cool. Sooo much to see. Some of it really cute with it’s quazi-european architecture, some of it really tacky, and lots of t-shirt shops, indoor mini golf and adventure tours. We wandered into a little “village” full of little shops most of which were closed while looking for a bathroom and a hot sauce place that Caleb had told us about. We found the bathroom but also found lot of fountains and benches and a really really nice atmosphere. There was a little doughnut and coffee shop that was still open so Dan got a coffee and we both go doughnuts. The woman in there making the coffees was probably in her 80’s but very sharp and good to talk to. We started talking about Germany because I was wearing my Hoffbrauhaus sweatshirt. She had been and I reminisced with her about the short time that I had spent there. She made a great latte (flat white), which we enjoyed outside by the fountain. Seeing that as a fitting end to a great unplanned portion of our day we walked back to the car and returned to the hotel to try to post pictures or at least update our progress J Hope it’s at least partially as enjoyable reading about this as it is for us living it. Next stop tomorrow, New Orleans! A slightly shorter drive than yesterday’s and then 2 nights there! Wish us luck and we’ll keep you posted!
Love,
Jess and Dan
PS Pictures to come, the internet is really slow here, and it's late
Sounds really fun!
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