Tenenssee Waltz With K2 ~ Great Smoky Mtns Natl Pk 13Oct24-17Oct24

We dined at Kenny's one last time before heading out for Sevierville/Gatlinburg for our condo home for the week.

Lost Sea Adventure Cave... Along the way we stopped at Lost Sea Adventure as Kevin is a "cave guy" and this is a top cave attraction. It was a cool 56° in there and we descended pretty quickly past the largest number of anthrodites in the world. Beyond the stalactites and the stalagmites, anthrodites are a 3rd major cave geologic formation. We descended yet further to the Lost Sea, the largest subterranean fresh lake in the country. There we boarded boats and toured the lake, which held many rainbow trout that were planted there in a experiment to find the sources of the water; the trout never found their way up or down stream however and are now trapped in the cave, losing their eyesight, and being fed pellet food, as there are no insects or other fish food in the cave. Odd. The taxidermist rainbow is the biggest one (~22") of the trout the owners ("a dude from Asheville") have seen in the Lost Sea.

We also stopped for lunch/diner at Two Doors Down & Pickled Pig in Marysville (now known to be pronounced Mur-vull down here). It was a rock & roll themed bar with decent beers and BBQ.

We stopped at a Publix for breakfast groceries and such on the way to Sevierville. Despite its French derivation, Sevierville is pronounced severe-vull here in the mid-south; hmmm. Anyway the condo is nice and in a huge Wyndam complex with plenty of amenities. We watched a few of the remaining NFL games and slept well again.

Kuwohi... We arose Monday (Kevin's birthday!) and had the stuff we bought for breakfast before heading out to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Sugarland Visitor Center, and Clingman's Dome, now re-renamed Kuwohi (Cherokee for place of mulberries)... the 2nd highest point in the Appalachians and even east of the Mississippi River. The volunteer was not encouraging in saying: "well, you're in the most heavily attended park in the US; you're here during the heaviest season, on the heaviest day of the year, a holiday," enjoy. It was much colder in the earlier AM than expected, especially at 6,650ft elevation, 37° ~ and it was super windy up there. Kevin & I bought inexpensive extra jackets with lined hoods at the visitor center. The hike up was a pretty easy 1/2 mile and couple hundred feet elevation and yielded spectacular 360° views from a platform built to get above the trees. It was very cool, and cold, and we didn't realize it was Columbus Day holiday on Mon ~ it was crowded on the roads and trails. We hiked the Appalachian Trail a smidge near the Summit and I found some mulberry trees. I tried to resell the jacket once back near the visitor center but no joy; if anyone is heading there and needs a red Great Smokies jacket for the climb...

Newfound Gap... On the way down from the top of the Smokies we stopped at Newfound Gap (gaps are passes for western folk). It was considerably warmer and we began to hit a bit of color. But actually, we all agree there is not nearly as much color and we all expected for the "peak week" in the Smokies. NP, it is still a blast.

Gatlinburg... We headed through Gatlinburg and hit a keen Cajun place for super tasty gumbo and muffaleta on Kevin's birthday (happy 69th!) and then on to the Gatlinburg Brewing Co (meh) there. We watched MNF upon returning to the condo but folks retired early while I saw Josh eek one out over Aaron.

Cade's Cove... The most attended meadow in the most attended Natl Pk during the most attended season was a bit slow/crowded loomed before us in the early AM so we struck out at sunrise to assure a parking spot at our trailhead to Abram Falls. We did get to see the famous "smoke" giving the Smokies their name... something our gorgeous skies didn't provide before.

Abram's Falls... We did a 5+ miler to a cool waterfall downstream, and completed a car loop in the Cove. We saw coloring trees and tons of rhododendron. We built a picnic for after to eat in the return area. Lunch was nice in a grotto area beneath the biggest tree I've seen around here, but a bird pooped on Karla and me while there.

Finishing the day was a stop at a better cave system called the Tuckaleechee ~ I didn't go into the cave. We had good beer and OK food at a new brewery in the area named Iron Forge. Good hazy IPA.

Craft Stuff & Craft Whiskey... I made an omelet to kick off the day and we eased in to a simpler day in Gatlinburg. We headed to the Craftsmen's Fair there, featuring the Po' Ramblin' Boys live, then another nice lunch at New Orleans Sandwich. We bought a smidge at the show and Po' Boys were fun. We followed this with the sisters tasting several Tennessee whiskies at Sugarland. They (K2) favored the 115 proof private reserve whiskey in serialized bottles.

TN Brews... Kevin & I went to "A Casual Pint" to pick up some TN beers for game night. It was a cool spot with local brews on tap and lots of unique pints. I got some TN brews but also found some Asheville ones I've liked (yeah ~ that's a Burial), so supported them too.

Hiking & Dollywood... We allowed Kev to rest while K2D headed up the hill to hike the Grotto in the Great Smoky Mtns NP. We left early, but not early enough, as we encountered the trailhead lot and all overflow lots full of cars by ~9am. We trundled back down on a one way road to the Sugarland welcome center for our back-up Gatlinburg hike. It was fine and followed the West Little Pigeon river, which looked like great brookie habitat, but I saw no fish. (no pics). After grabbing another K we had an Italian lunch and headed to Dollywood! It was a late addition to the itinerary as there was plenty of music to hear and they were celebrating harvest time with pumpkins and more. We first visited the latest installment at the park, the Dolly Parton experience... basically a museum with her stuff and a description of her career and life. It's worth it if you go ~ several famous guitars & wigs, many silver, gold, & platinum albums on a wall, and movies and descriptions.

We saw Wild Roots, Inn Echo, The Lumber Jills (teenagers who tapped and played fiddle), Beauxmont, and Smoky Mtn String Band on various stages around the park. We like the trio with cellist most and then Beauxmont. Strangely many were from eastern Canada like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick... lots of classic Scottish stuff but Beaumont played zydeco/cajun and sang mostly in French Canadian.

Some were close to done as the last band wrapped but we headed out for another lap around the park to catch the Thunderhead wooden coaster and all the lighted displays. Both were very cool actually. We ducked into shops to get warm sometimes and found Kala has a line of ukuleles. There were gigantic pumpkins from all over the country the biggest one was ~2K#s!

We did lose our car in the lot for a bit, but found it and got home safely. We packed and headed out in the morning. We arrived in Knoxville for Kala's & my plane and actually walked around the Univ of TN a bit. It was hectic as they were hosting, and ultimately beat, Alabama in CFB the following day. We went up the hill to the oldest part of campus... see the math building there; it has a checkerboard below the clock at the top ~ that's the checkerboard all over UT stuff. It is visible from the stadium and Coach Neyland used to say "go for the checkerboard boys." We spoke of roses & thorns on the way to the airport.

We were safe in COS that night. GR8 trip with Kevin & Karla.