ME: 8/2/07 Smoky Mountains National Park

Instead of going directly to Greensboro, NC to see Mike and Alicia and their children Valerie, Stephen, and Matthew, we are taking the scenic route through the Smoky Mountains National Park. There's only one road that goes through the park and it goes through Gatlinburg. Alicia had warned us that Gatlinburg was a tourist town, but we really had no idea. Both Marty and I had been there with our families as kids and we remembered artists and cabins and a very rustic setting. No way Jose! Not anymore! Ripley's Believe it or Not has a museum here and that's very appropriate because most of what you see in Gatlinburg now is quite unbelievable. It has nothing to do with artisans or camping our nature our Smoky Mountains and has everything to do with getting tourists to spend their money.

Traffic was horrendous. We probably drove 5 or 6 miles at 20 mph. And this was on a Thursday in the middle of the day. Ugh.



Soon, however, we finally got to the Smoky Mountain National Park and traffic wasn't bad at all. There were hardly any cars in any of the scenic overviews. It was incredibly pleasant. We drove with the windows down and soaked in the fresh smell and clean air. It was soooo worth it to suffer through the drive through Gatlinburg. No wonder this place is one of the most visited National Parks in the US. Marty was having a field day shifting gears as necessary, enjoying both the drive and the scenery. We stopped when we could and took lots of photos that hardly do the place justice.

ME: 8/2/07; 10:30am; odometer: 20715 ; 10.1 gallons; $2.79/gal; Kodak, TN = 30mpg

The Krystal burger in this Shell station has free wi-fi! I didn’t' have time to post anything to the blog, but I downloaded all my email and was able to send a few out. What a hoot!! Wi-fi . . . it's everywhere. ☺

This gas station is right where we turn off to go to Gatlinburg. Check out the action on the hill. I don't think this is why they call them the smoky mountains, but they were doing clear cutting and burning it. It smelled like a great campfire, which was great, but it was kind of sad to see anyone doing clear cutting.

ME: 8/2/07; 8:10am; odometer: approximately 20575; leave Chattanooga

Breakfast was a little better, at least in the area of selection. We went at 7:30am instead of 8:30 am, so that may have had something to do with it. They had biscuits and gravy and they weren't out of pastries or milk. It's still not the greatest, but not as sparse as yesterday.

We were on the road by 8:10 . . . we told Mike and Alicia we'd leave 8-ish, so we are on schedule and on the road!

ME: 8/1/07 dinner at Sticky Fingers

It was after 6:30 when we got back to town and had to let Betsy get home to her family. It had been so much fun that it was really hard to say goodbye. I sure hope they come up to Maine and that they make it to the choir's 25th reunion in 2009.

Marty and I drove around and looked at restaurants. It was still light out and we weren't starving yet, so we had time to really make our selection. We finally decided on Sticky Fingers. Marty was still looking for really good ribs and Betsy had recommended this place, and we didn't see anything else that jumped out at us and screamed, "Eat here!"

Oh, are we glad we chose Sticky Fingers!! We decided to split a half rack of the ribs in hopes that we might really have room for dessert. We ordered the Memphis rub with the hopes that it would be as good as what Marty remembered in Memphis. Oh my. We weren't disappointed. They were delicious. We almost considered ordering another half rack but got dessert instead. Yea! We actually had room for dessert. We split an apple crumb a la mode.

Marty bought 2 jars of their rub. I would love to be at her house when she serves those ribs. Yum!

ME: 8/1/07 Ruby Falls

By now it's so late, we feel certain we won't get our money's worth out of the aquarium fee, so we decide to go to Ruby Falls instead. We left the Saturn in its parking spot and all rode in Betsy's car. It wasn't too far . . . just to the edge of downtown and then up the side of Lookout Mountain. It was $14.95 per person, which was $5 less than the aquarium. That's the same price as the train ride . . . tough act to follow.

We didn't have to wait long until it was time to take our elevator ride down. The three of us got on and then he stopped the couple behind us and said they would have a 12-15 minute wait for the next tour. Shwew.

We had a fun tour guide, a young girl. It turned out she'd only been doing this for 3 months. We chatted a bit, then they took our photo for the obligatory tourist trap opportunity at the end of the tour. As we rounded the corner, we joined what looked like 3 other elevators full of people. We thought we were having a personalized tour but now we were among the masses. There were probably 50 people in our group now. But it turned out to be fine. She spoke clearly and was well amplified. There were several pre-recorded presentations that she played along the way and they were easily understood.

If you've been to other caves, it was "just another cave" with stalactites and stalagmites (and columns and drapes, etc.) and interesting formations that someone named—some being obvious, others obscure. It was pleasant enough. Then we got to the falls. Wow. They were a little overdramatic in their presentation of them with lights and music, but it didn't matter. They were spectacular. It was definitely worth $14.95 to see them.

Unlike Old Stone Fort, these people did a very good job of telling the history and the science behind everything . . . just enough detail to satisfy your curiosity and not so much that you were bored or confused. They had understandable and helpful diagrams and animations. The whole presentation was generally very well done.

ME: 8/1/07 a bridge that's NOT for acrophobics

Check out this bridge. I wasn't paying attention when I stepped on it, so it caught me by surprise. Oh, my did my stomach curdle. The glass on the right was clear, the glass on the left was clouded and there was a metal strip down the middle. I walked down the middle and did not look down at all. Coming back it wasn't so bad 'cuz I knew what to expect. I wonder how many people decide not to cross the bridge at all.

ME: 8/1/07 a long awaited lunch

We decided to spend the afternoon at the aquarium (I'll skip the details of the decision making process, but we sat in Betsy's car in the shade for quite a while). We went some backroads and actually got to where we needed to be and then found two free parking spots nearly side by side. Wow. What cool luck. Then we walked down the hill towards the aquarium. We were getting really hungry. We decided to go to the visitor's center and ask for suggestions. The very nice man gave us lots of choices and then showed us the book of menus. We decided on Tony's. It was right back up the hill where we had come from. We walked past the street with our cars on it and finally found Tony's. It was 2:30 when we finally sat down. The weather was getting very muggy as well as being hot, so the A/C was very welcome. Oh my goodness, the food was so good. The nice man at the visitor's center had told us that Rembrandt's right next door had the best desserts in the city but by the time we finished our wonderful meal at Tony's (including both sourdough and garlic breads), we had no room. Curses, we skip dessert again.

ME: 8/1/07 Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

When we checked into our hotel last night, Marty asked the desk clerk what she would recommend we see and do in Chattanooga. She said there was an awful lot to choose from but her favorites were the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (her dad had worked there) and the natural wonders of the area: Ruby Falls, Rock City, Lookout Mountain, etc. We only said thank you and then decided we'd wait 'til Betsy got there in the morning to decide what we wanted to see/do. There really were so many good choices and we really didn't care which ones we did. Our main goal was to hang out with Betsy.

Well, guess what we decided to do today after buying shoes. First thing was to go to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. And we weren't disappointed. For $14.95, you get to ride in a cool old train for 3 miles. The engine is a steam engine that is coal powered. The guys actually throw shovels full of coal into the big fire to make it all go. We went threw a tunnel that was built before the Civil War using "slave labor and black powder". We left from "Grand Junction" and rode to "East Chattanooga". At East Chattanooga we got to tour the restoration center that was built specifically for restoring old train engines and cars. It was really big and very interesting. AND we watched the engine turn around on the turntable. Cool. Then we rode the train back from East Chattanooga to Grand Junction. What fun.

As we were leaving, the train was waiting to load its next set of passengers. I pointed out a ramp that led up to the engine where it looked like you could see the engine up close and personal. Next thing I know, Betsy and Marty are up at the top of the ramp and as I fumble with my camera to get a picture, the engineer is opening the gate at the top of the ramp and they're getting on board! They motion for me to come up and I go a-running. Well, I just kind of walk quickly, but in my new tennis shoes it was quicker than it would've been.

Next thing I know, I'm stepping off the platform across a gap of air and into the engine. We had a great conversation with the 2 guys . . . the engineer and the fireman. It turns out that both of them are qualified for both jobs and they switch every trip. They were young guys and as nice as could be. They answered all our questions (and between the 3 of us, we had plenty) and they even opened the doors on the firebox and let us see all that burning coal. Wowser. It was sooooooooo awesome.

I know it's cliché, but I have to say it:
Train ticket: $14.95
Personal tour of the engine: priceless

ME: 8/1/07 Why Continental Breakfasts get a bad rap

We went to the free continental breakfast at our hotel around 8:30. They only had cereal, instant oatmeal, and bagels. There was a jug of 2% milk and the whole milk stand was empty with a note scribbled on a napkin apologizing that they were out of whole milk and would have some between 7:30 and 8:00am. They obviously missed that deadline.

I had instant oatmeal with lukewarm water from a thermos mislabeled as "hot water". Marty dispensed some corn flakes into a styrofoam bowl only to discover that the lonely jug of 2% milk was also empty. She ate dry cereal with sugar but no milk while I ate my lukewarm oatmeal. About the time that Marty finished, a man showed up with 2 gallon jugs—1 of whole milk and 1 of 2% milk.

We were not impressed.