Roaring Forks Motor Trail

A couple of weeks ago, I gave you a general synopsis of our "vacation" with friends in the Smokies. I want to elaborate a little more on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. This is one of those gems in the Smokies that doesn't seem to be too well known.

Here are a few of the scenes you'll see:


There are several places where you can pull off and check out the views - like this one.




You'll find a number of old buildings along the trail. This was an old mill...




...complete with a sluice. A little repair work and this would be ready to go.


But the best part is the scenery along the river. This is just one of several spots where we stopped and walked down to the rocks along the water.


And can you believe? We even saw rhododendron blooming - in late June!

To access Roaring Fork, turn off the main parkway in Gatlinburg, TN at traffic light #8 and follow Historic Nature Trail Road to the Cherokee Orchard entrance to the national park. Just beyond the Rainbow Falls trailhead you have the option of taking the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This narrow, paved road winds for six miles beside rich forests, waterfalls, and streams.

For more information and maps, visit the National Park Web site - http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/roaringfork.htm. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Oh, one more thing: don't try this in winter. The trail is closed. But any other time of the year is pretty spectacular.

Cades Cove

As promised, we spent a great afternoon at Cades Cove. It's a beautiful drive along the river from Gatlinburg. Plan on 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic and the number of times you stop to watch the activity along the river.

We made the whole loop at Cades Cove, stopping a couple of times to check out the old graves behind the churches. At one of them, we were joined by a "live" resident, who was also enjoying the area!


The main area has a visitors center and several old structures. For example...


We enjoyed the old mill - actually working. They were grinding corn into corn meal.



Becky Cable's house. She actually lived here until the 1940s.



One of several old barns in the area.



The sorghum molasses production area. In a few weeks, there will be a horse or a mule attached to this pole, walking around in a circle. The sorghum plants (which look like corn) will be fed into the press in the center, which will squeeze out the juice. Then it will be cooked over an outdoor stove, which is just to the right of this picture.


We saw several more deer on our drive, and a bear in the distance. Then, on our way back, we saw a flock of wild turkey. It's not unusual to see wildlife when you go to Cades Cove.


This is just one more of the many great sites to see when you stay at Smoky Mountain Tower.

Ober Gatlinburg Tram

As promised last Saturday, I've got some more information for you about the Ober Gatlinburg tram. When we were staying at Smoky Mountain Tower last week with our friends, we drove across the mountain to Ober Gatlinburg. Parking was $4, which is cheaper than parking downtown. Then we spent $10 round trip to ride the aerial tram from Ober Gatlinburg to downtown.

It's a great trip. The tram runs every 20 minutes from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm. Each car can hold up to 120 people. The trip takes about 10 minutes each way. There are actually two cars on the same cable - one coming up from downtown, one going down from Ober Gatlinburg - so they pass in the middle.

But here's the really good news. Your $10 ticket entitles you to ride as many times as you want that day and the next day! We made our round trip down and back, then drove down the mountain, did the Roaring Forks Motor Trail, and went to the Cherokee Restaurant (next to Calhoun's) for dinner. After dinner, right about dusk, we rode the tram up and back. That was really nice, because we got to see Gatlinburg at night.

They're pretty loose about paying for rides, because they seem to make their money off the attractions and shops at Ober Gatlinburg. When we bought our tickets, they stamped our hands with an ultra-violet ink. But they said, "If the ink wears off, just tell them John (our driver) sent you!"

Try it! You'll see the house owned by Dunkin' Donuts, the house owned by Delta Airlines (with wings for a roof), and a Barbie house. You can see the bear dean at Ober Gatlinburg from the air (instead of paying $6 to see it on the ground).

And you get a great view of Gatlinburg - and even all the way to Pigeon Forge - as you're coming down the mountain.

For more information on the tram, visit this site: http://www.obergatlinburg.com/newtram.htm. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

At last - some fun in the Smokies

Goodness! Has it really been 2 weeks since my last post? Shame on me! We've been a little busy, though - celebrating my birthday (a big one!) and getting ready to be traveling for a month.

After years of traveling to the Smokies to primarily work on our cabin, we finally have taken time for some fun. We just spent 3 wonderful days with my former boss at ServiceMaster and his wife.

We started by meeting them on Wednesdaay at the Biltmore for the day. One of the highlights was walking through the rose garden just after a brief rain shower. Take a look at what we saw:

Then we drove to Gatlinburg and stayed at Smoky Mountain Tower for 3 nights. On Thursday, we drove over to Ober Gatlinburg. The guys took the tram to downtown Gatlinburg and back while the ladies shopped:

I'll post more information on the tram next week. After the tram ride, we drove the Roaring Forks Motor Trail. Take a look at some of the scenery:

Yes, that really is rhododendron blooming deep in the woods in late July! The next time you come to Gatlinburg (and stay at Smoky Mountain Tower!), you really need to take a couple of hours and make this drive. You have to enter the Trail from downtown Gatlinburg. Write to us for directions. And there's more - especially our trip to Cades Cove. We'll put that in another post in a couple of days.

New Christian Museum coming to Gatlinburg

Normally, our posts are something about our cabin - Smoky Mountain Tower. However, I just came across an interesting story in Thursday's edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel that might interest you. The full text is below, and we'll keep you informed of further developments.

GATLINBURG — Christus Gardens maybe gone from Gatlinburg, but two local investors believe there is enough demand for a Christian-themed tourist destination in Sevier County to reopen the site as Christ In The Smokies Museum and Gardens.

Longtime Gatlinburg residents Charlie Moore and Billy Proffitt are developing the museum, which is scheduled to open this fall and will be open daily.

Joe Waggoner, director of Christ In The Smokies, said Moore and Proffitt are responding to popular sentiment from visitors wanting a Christian-themed attraction.

“A lot of people were saying that’s one thing the town is going to miss,” Waggoner said today. “We have a new thing going and I think it’s going to be as popular as ever and will be good for Gatlinburg and for tourists.

Christus Gardens was open for 49 years on River Road in Gatlinburg before closing last year. A wax-figure collection and other features in the themed attraction based on Christ’s life were sold and the site was to be converted to a condominium development.

But the recession forced postponement of the development, Waggoner said.

Moore and Proffitt have been collecting museum pieces to exhibit in Christ In The Smokies and artisans are on site now making displays for the diorama depicting Christ’s life.

Waggoner, who was manager of Christus Gardens for 25 years, said Moore and Proffitt are investing “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in the project and will lease the Christus Gardens building and grounds from the owners who are putting the condo development on hold.

Renovations to the building and grounds are under way.

“Gatlinburg is very fortunate to have local people with the vision and financial commitment to reopen this type of attraction in town. There is a lot of interest from church groups and tour companies that wish to add this to their itinerary,” Waggoner said in a statement.

Hello from Smoky Mountain Tower

That's right. I'm sitting in the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Tower, working on improvements for your enjoyment.

Here are some of the things I've done so far on this short trip:

-Installed a new wide-screen TV in the living room.

-Installed a new phone in the living room (and we're working on a phone/intercom throughout the whole cabin).

-Moved the original living room TV to the Tower Room

-Put a new exercise machine - a "Gazelle" - in the Tower

-Put new TV cable jacks in the main floor king bedroom suite and the Bonus Room (now I just have to find TV sets!)

In my previous post, I showed you the last picture of the Tower Room with the whirlpool tub. Now, here's a new picture with the TV and exercise machine. The half-bath and washer/dryer are behind me in this picture.



It looks like there's still room to add a daybed in the Tower Room, so we hope to expand the sleeping capacity from 6 to 8 in the very near future. Stay tuned........

Welcome to July

Can you believe we're half-way through 2009? I don't know about you, but a lot has happened to us so far this year.

And a lot has happened at Smoky Mountain Tower. Here are just some highlights:

New chairs in the breakfast room...



The sound room has now become a Game Room...


And just outside the room is our new electronic Dart Board...


One more thing. This is the last time you'll see the whirlpool tub in the Tower Room. We had to remove it because it was leaking - all the way down to the main floor! We'll talk more about this later. But here's that final picture...


Oooh - that's an old picture. It still has the old turquoise carpeting. But it shows the tub pretty well.

I (Dave) am planning to go to Gatlinburg next week to start working on what we can do in this room. Any thoughts? We'll probably put an exercise "walker" in the room, and we're thinking about a daybed if there's room. Let us know what YOU think.