Summer Road Trip 2018: Day Two

Gatlinburg, Tennessee: A beautiful mountain sunrise gave way to the first full day in the mountains as we prepared for a Sunday fun day of exploration of the mountains.  My second home is in the mountains while my first home was back in the Sunshine State.  Today's adventures called for an exciting day of exploring the Newfound Gap Road, the main road through the park and a great place to start an auto tour of the Great Smoky Mountains. The road is filled with sweeping vistas of the Smokies and is a great way to get a glimpse into the park and all it has to offer.  The road is the main gateway to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and is filled with trails and panoramic views.  We have passed through it several times but never took the time to truly explore it.

But before hitting the road, I took a walk around the hotel while the family woke up and got ready.  I took a walk around the hotel grounds and then to the nearby creek that flows in front of the hotel.  Once everyone was ready we went for breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House in downtown.  I had ordered the pancakes and they were delicious.  In typical Donten fashion, I had to cover mine in peanut butter, a quirk of mine that I know of only one other person who does it.  I get made fun of all the time for that, but don't knock it until you try it cause its amazing.

After breakfast it was time to hit the road and begin an auto tour of the park via the Newfound Gap Road.  Newfound Gap Road, also known as US-441, is the main road that crosses through the park from Gatlinburg to Cherokee, North Carolina.  The 31 mile stretch climbs over the mountains through the Newfound Gap at an elevation of 5,046 feet above see level at the Tennessee/North Carolina line.

On the drive up the mountain, I stopped at the overlooks to take pictures and explore some of the parks highlights.  This part of the trip is one of my favorite because I love mountain driving.  It brings out the inner kid in me and makes me want to drive fast and hug corners, however it makes my son very carsick so I really try to contain myself.

When we got to the other side of the mountain, we stopped at the Oconaluftee Visitor's Center on the Cherokee side of the park.  This is one of three main visitors center for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and is home to the Mountain Farm Museum.

We took a tour of the Mountain Farm Museum.  This collection of farm buildings from around the Smoky Moutains were preserved and moved to this location in the 1950's.  It give you a look back into life in the late 19th century and how early Tennesseans lived off the land.  There is a log cabin, farm, corn crib, apple house and more situated along a nice little walking trail in the foothills of the Smoky Mountins.

From there we took a stroll on the Oconaluftee River Trail, a 1 1/2 mile trail that connects the visitor center complex to the downtown area of Cherokee.  The trail is an easy to walk, accessible trail that follows the Oconaluftee River.  While we didn't walk all the way into Cherokee, we did enjoy the river sights and sounds as hiked the portion within the park.

After we got back from the hike, we picked up a few touring brochures from the visitors center.  The visitors center now charges for these informational brochures ranging from 75 cents to a dollar.  That can add up quick if you want a few but a small price to pay since they do not charge admission to enter the national park.

One of the tours we picked up was the Cataloochee Auto Tour.  So we headed over to the Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, about an hour and a half from where were currently were.  While it didn't look far on the map, once we got off the highway, it was easy to see why it took so long to get there.  The entire last leg of the trip was on a gravel two-lane mountain road with tight turns and steep drop offs.  It was a pretty intense drive for someone who is used to flat roads in Florida.  Even with growing up with mountains in Pennsylvania, we never had roads like this.  I don't know how campers to the campground got trailers down this road.

Cataloochee is valley on the eastern end of the park.  This off the beaten path valley is a smaller version of the popular Cades Cove on the other side of the park.  It features historic buildings and a nice drive with mountain peaks surrounding you.  But this is a much quieter location, unlike the traffic jams of Cades Cove, we shared this hidden gem with only about ten to fifteen other cars.  Cataloochee is one of the two locations in the park where elk have been introduced into the park, however they are mainly seen in the late evening/early morning and with that drive coming into the park being treacherous during the day, there is no way I am gonna try it at night.

On the return trip from Cataloochee, we had intended on going back through Cherokee and concluding our auto tour of the Newfound Gap Road, however Mother Nature had other plans.  The skies unloaded a heavy rain that put a damper on auto touring so I decided to take Interstate 40 back instead of the scenic route.

Once we got back into town, we had dinner at the Applewood Farms Grill located between Pigeon Forge and Sevierville.  This comfort food restaurant was on our list last trip but we just ran out of nights.  There menu was very extensive and it was hard to come up with one choice. But after changing my mind about four times, I decided on the chicken pot pie.  The meal started off with a basket of apple fritters for the table and a small glass of julep.  I never had julep before but it was a juice containing apple juice, pineapple juice, orange juice and lemon juice.  It was very delicious.  Following this came a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  The my main dinner was the chicken pot pie, dumplings and green beans.  Everything was delicious and you surely didn't go hungry.

Following dinner, we headed back into Gatlinburg and towards the hotel for the evening.  When we got there, we decided to take a walk on the Gatlinburg Trail near the hotel.  The Gatlinburg Trail was a short trail that ran along the river connecting downtown Gatlinburg to the Sugarlands Visitor Center at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Along the way, it started to get dark and I got the idea to go looking for fireflies.

We took a drive to nearby Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It is here where they have the annual synchronized firefly festival.  People come from across the world to see this annual migration and mating ritual.  While the official festival wasn't until later in the month, I took a chance that there may be some already there.  It worked becasue when we go there, we hiked a short trail up the mountain and there were thousands upon thousands of fireflies all flashing in sync with each other.  Even though it wasn't the official festival and the peak of the performance, it was still amazing to see.

After watching thee fireflies for a while, we called it a day and headed back to the hotel for the evening to rest up for another day of East Tennessee adventures.