Location: Montgomery Bell State Park, TN
We enjoyed the cool mountain air last night. It was a chilly 65 degrees with 75% humidity. We were used to it being in the 80's during most nights so this was a delightful surprise.
We decided to take advantage of the cool morning and go for a hike to Clingmans Dome. This is the highest point in the Smoky Mountain National Park at 6643 ft.
The last time we were here the visibility was really poor, in fact, we were almost completely socked in with fog. This time we were lucky and had a pretty clear day. Unfortunately, the pollution from nearby cities and coal-fired power plants still reduces the visibility.
Here's a picture of the observation tower at the top of Clingsmans Dome.
Some guy at the top had set up a Morse Code station and was clicking away. Pretty impressive to see how fast he was doing it too! We also crossed the Appalachian Trail. There were a lot of interesting characters up here.
On the Western side of the park we stopped by the Visitor's Center and took in a film. Things I learned: There are more species of trees in the Smoky Mountains than in all of Europe combined and there are more types of salamanders here than anywhere else in the world.
We spent the morning at the park and really enjoyed the sights, sounds and beauty of our nation's most visited National Park.
Leaving the pristine forest and entering Pigeon Forge is a bit of a shock. This side of the park is much more over the top with tourist attractions than the kitschy Cherokee side. You've got your rides, buffets, miniature golf, water slides and of course, Dollywood!
We passed on Dollywood cuz once you've been to Disneyworld there is no going back...haha.
They bring their coffee in by the truckload in these here parts...
p.s. what no milk tanker? I don't drink my coffee black.
By mid afternoon we were ready to sample some more 'cue. (We gained an hour so we were really hungry-ha!) So far this trip we've tasted Texas BBQ (brisket rub), Florida BBQ (a little bit of everything), Carolina BBQ (a mustard based sauce with a good rub) and now we're ready for Nashville BBQ. We heard about Martin's BBQ thru Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and it's won some contests so we thought we'd give it a try. The Redneck Taco comes highly recommended. What do you think Ned?
What exactly is a Redneck Taco you ask? BBQ (Ned opted for the brisket) on top of a cornbread hoe-cake topped with slaw and sauce. His two sides were beans and potato salad, along with my Texas toast.
I stuck with pulled pork, broccoli salad and my latest addiction, hush-puppies. Yum! So far we give Martin's BBQ joint the first place award. (We still have Kansas City BBQ tho, so stay tuned).
Our original plan was to visit the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville. Upon arrival there was a bunch of crazy happening. Streets were closed down, bandstands were set up everywhere and there were thousands and thousands of people milling around in the heat. Turns out it was the last day of the CMA Music Festival. Jackpot!! We parked and became one of the thousands milling around. Only difference is I wasn't properly attired in my cut-off shorts, cowgirl boots and cowboy hat.
There were bands everywhere playing from one end of Nashville to the other. We saw Craig Wayne Boyd perform. He was last season's winner of The Voice. He was playing on the Riverwalk stage with lots of boats on the water watching.
While roaming the streets we ran into Corey White, one of the contestants of this year's The Voice. He was kind enough to stop and chat with us and let me take a picture with him. He's a really sweet kid and still very humble.
I also ran into Forrest Gump. Say what?! Life IS like a box of chocolates...you never know what you'll get.
We took in a couple more shows and even though there was a lot going on, we needed to escape the heat (it was well into the mid 90's) so we decided to duck into the Johnny Cash Museum afterall. Glad we did.
The museum featured everything Johnny you can imagine; childhood report cards, early recordings, costumes, movies that he acted in (some were really, really bad), every record album, and lots of June Carter things too. My favorite was watching a recording of Johnny Cash impersonating Elvis Presley.
The museum had a lot of interactive kiosks wherein you could listen (with headphones) from just about any Johnny Cash song recorded. I really enjoyed listening to the early years.
After a long day of too much fun, sun, music, and walking nearly 8 miles, we decided it was time to head for the campground. Montgomery Bell is a sweet campground, mostly built by the CCC. It's still hot, way into the 90's, so I'm mostly excited that there are lots of trees here and we scored a campsite on the creek. First thing we did upon arrival was go cool off.
After a bit I convinced Ned that what we really wanted to do was go ride our bikes and explore this enormous park. It has a golf course, hotels, conference center, etc. Well, we rode about a mile or so, hit a couple of really big hills and called uncle. What was I thinking?! It's still 90 and we're plum tuckered out. Next plan is to stick our chairs IN the creek and call it a day.
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