Tag: Tennessee

Tennessee 4. Nashville and the Hermitage.

We were so close to Nashville that we just had to go.

I know we don’t generally venture into city centres….but this was Nashville. The bourbon search was uninspiring as, again, most of the distilleries were moonshine…..or just not that appealing. Yes, I know….Jack Daniels is there…..but we had already decided that we were not there to do any of the big name brands.

Instead we opted to find a cute little breakfast spot…and wander around Music Square….

….wandering past Sony Publishing…

….Carnival music…

..and across the street from it……the original RCA Studio…..

….and just some interesting buildings and architecture…

On Sunday evening we took a trip in to check out Broadway in Nashville anticipating it being a little less crazy on a Sunday.

This town is craaaaazy….and loud….every bar on the strip (and pretty much every building is a bar) all windows and doors open and live music playing from every single one.

We stopped at Roberts...based on a recommendation from a friend…..had a beer, some snacks ….and listened to some pretty good music…

On the walk back to the car (wishing I’d put on my cowboy boots …. absolutely everyone on the street was wearing cowboy boots…!!!) we passed the Johnny Cash Museum…..

….and detoured off across the Shelby street footbridge…..

…..just at the right time to catch some filming for Nashville 911…a scene where an Airstream trailer had been lodged on a road bridge by a tornado……seemed oddly appropriate….!!!( not the tornado part…!!)

The Hermitage.

We found a little special ‘off the beaten track’ thing in the form of Andrew Jacksons Hermitage. Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States…and by all accounts a very interesting man.

” I was born for a storm and a calm does not suit me.’

He was a complicated man…the first self made (common man) to rise to the office of president….he was the only US president to pay off the national debt. He was also credited with creating the foundation of what would become the Democratic party………but he was also a slave owner….and the president responsible for the ‘Trail of Tears’ and displacing thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral land. He also believed the only way to avoid the inevitable slide into corruption of politicians was term limits.

Its always difficult to truly judge the character of historical figures…there are so many factors involved in their actions which are so different to the values we hold in present times. So perhaps best to describe him as fierce…and influential.

The Hermitage itself is another facility run by a group of ‘friends’. They protect its architecture and history for good, for bad and the future.

The original floor coverings, fancy wallpaper and furniture all intact.

The tour we booked allowed us onto the balcony.

…and also afforded us the privilege of taking pictures inside the house.

Alfred’s house is a real window into a life being ‘owned’.

Alfred was born a slave on Jacksons estate…..and was one of the few who stayed after becoming officially freed by emancipation. He led tours of the property once it was opened to the public, living his life in this very small cottage…and was buried in the gardens after his death.

The gardens were created by Jacksons wife , Rachel. (hers is a tragic story). The mausoleum Jackson built for her, and eventually himself, is central in the garden…the place she loved most.

The tour guide we had, Brian…..was excellent….knowledgeable, and patient. The group had many questions and he had a wealth of information to give.

The answer he gave us to the question ‘Was Andrew Jackson a good slave owner?”…was really the only answer possible…..”There is no such thing as a good slave owner”

The Hermitage is a lovely, but sobering place to visit. But it is important to acknowledge the reality of history….whether we like it….or not.

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Tennessee 2. Great Smoky Mountains. Grotto Falls

The Knoxville leg of the journey turned into a bit of a mixed trip. The Bourbon search was meagre…most of the Knoxville distilleries produce moonshine not bourbon….and there were really not any that grabbed our attention.

We had planned to be in Knoxville for the week but the weather later in the week was promising huge thunderstorms and lots and lots of rain. This left us with one more day of hiking in the Great Smokies…..so we picked a trail and did a repeat of the unholy hour start to the day to get to the gate before opening.

Grotto Falls was the pick…and we knew it was going to be busier than the Abrams Falls trail. The drive in took us through Pigeon Forge…..none of the images of Pigeon Forge could prepare you for the experience of just driving down the main drag. Its a clown nightmare of rollercoasters, permanent fairground style entertainment and huge cartoon buildings.

We were both a little stunned after driving through…..

On to the trailhead. The now familiar slow roll drive up the single track paved road winding ever upward through the forest to the Trillium Gap trailhead which is also the start point for The Grotto Falls trail.

Our early start got us there with half a dozen parking spaces still available….and many people already out and up the trail.

The smell of everyone else’s bug repellent must have kept the bugs at bay cos we did not see any …which, given the shade and the humidity, was surprising.

It was a well marked trail with quite a few people out, lots of families and lots of kids…which was nice to see.

The trail is around 2 and a half miles ( a bit more than 4 km ) out and back…so it was not long before we were in sight of the falls.

…and then the Grotto Falls themselves…..very cool…..

People were very polite about allowing everyone else to take their photographs…and taking turns passing under the falls….

The path continued up and around the corner…..

….but as far as I could tell from the map there was no other viewpoint and lots of dense forest ahead…so we turned back down….

The challenge for the blogtographer was getting the shots that make it look like we were the only ones out there……LOL….

…and of course he also had to clamber out into the rocks in the middle of the creek to get the best shots…!!!!

We met some very lovely people along the way….chatting as we followed the trail ….

I’m not sure how he managed to get those shots without the people we were chatting to…LOL….!!!!

Having started out early we still had half the day to fill. So we had brought a change of clothes and the means to do a military style wash down skillfully concealed by the doors of the truck…and then followed the continuing slow roll of cars back to the gate of the park.

There were a few stops along the way……

….for picturesque waterfalls……

…and mother nature’s water features…..

…as the photography guy goes clambering again……. (spot me at the bottom and him at the top..!!)

….and a young bear along the road……

We had found our favourite frozen custard vendor, Andy’s Frozen Custard , in Gatlinburg….so a little reward for the morning hike….!!! ( lunch….!!!..Key Lime pie frozen custard….a whole slice of key lime pie crumbled into frozen custard….Wow….!!!😁😋)

As close as we got to Dollywood….the sighting of the bus was as far as we got drawn in…

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Tennessee 1. Great Smoky Mountains….Abrams Falls Trail.

We were close enough to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited of all the U.S National Parks, that it became our next ‘must see’ stop. Leaving Corbin and headed to Knoxville Tennessee on the I-75 South is a journey not to be taken lightly. Its not that far ..but the road is mountainous and pot hole ridden…indeed the pot holes had pot holes……and in two lane steady traffic it coaxed a few interesting words and phrases from the lips of the driver –

I selected a campground that seemed close enough but not hauling the trailer up some of the trickier mountain loops. Hindsight being 20/20…the road across the Appalachians to get to Knoxville was scary and the road from there up to the park was actually not that bad…!!!

My campground selection turned out to be not the greatest either…..our site was at the bottom of a hill…with a rough gravel uphill corner to get us back out. Visions were forming of the back end of the trailer scraping its way back up the hill ( Argh..!!)

But we were in…and there was power to run the very necessary AC as the daytime temps were 34-35 degrees C (93-95F)plus humidity ….not baking the cat alive being the priority.

All the trail reviews tell you to get in early as Great Smoky Mountain National Park is busy and has limited parking. We were up (well the coffee making guy was up) before 5am to leave by 5.30 am to be at the parking area before 7.

The main gate into the park opens at 6.30am and we were there by 10 after…..with a queue of around 20 cars in front of us. The best part of the day in almost any National Park is first thing in the morning and all those people in the queue had also played this game before.

Entering the park you drive along Cades Cove Loop road. It is a single track, one way (paved) road through the forest with some quite lovely views of the mountains living up to their name with that morning hazy, smoky look.

The drive is lovely….but slow. With no opportunity for passing and the line of traffic slowly crawling, taking in the breathtaking landscape…and ALWAYS stopping for every deer, turkey or bear sighted along the way.

Our first pick for a trail to hike was Abrams Falls and we were the first car in to the parking at 6.50 am….boots on, water bottles at the ready, Alltrails tracking…off we went.

Right from the start…at the first bridge there were dire warning signs posted….

We were not planning on entering the water…!!! ( Editor. Well that’s not strictly true)

It was good timing with the cooler air at this early hour on a mostly uphill trek on the outbound leg of this hike.

As a non-fan of heights and little tree trunk bridges I was slightly dismayed at the numerous little balance beams and relieved by presence the handrails.

Each and every one has a sign to point out how many people have been injured slipping on them…!!!!

One of the upsides of the popularity of this park was how nicely finished the trail reinforcements were….it’s the only place I have seen the structures built this way to accommodate the water flowing through.

It was a lovely path to walk with some spectacular fungi and intermitent views of the river to keep us entertained….

Yet another warning of impending doom…and then the flight of stairs down to the falls…..which were treacherously wet and slippery

Our early bird strategy worked, we had the falls to ourselves…….

……with enough time for the blogtographer to clamber about on the rocks for some terrific images before the next hiker arrived. (Editor. I can confirm the water looked very inviting, and would have been even more so as the temperature climbed later in the day)

(if you click on the images…see if you can find where he got himself to…!!!)

The route back……

I counted 70 people passing us, heading to the falls as we headed down…….

….but as you can see the blogtographer ‘missed’ them all…!!!

…definitely worth hoisting out of bed early to miss the crowd.

From the parking area to the exit of the park, the road continues in a long (single lane) winding, scenic loop around Cades Cove. The posted limit is 10mph…..a pace I can only imagine has never even been approached b/c of the number of cars slow rolling along the route in anticipation of sightings of bear, deer, elk or trees…..and that’s not a complaint….it’s a place that totally deserves that slow appreciative pace…..

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