Summer of 19 - #17 - Volleyball and Driving through Great Smoky Mountains NP, Cades Cove and Tail of the Dragon

Thursday September 5th, 2019
We stayed in today but did enjoy watching Aimee's volleyball game that Brenda videoed live.  Thanks Brenda, we enjoyed "being" there with you.

Friday September 6th, 2019
Today we decided to go to Cades Cove.  This is a popular loop road drive here but as it's on the other side of the National Park it would take us over 2 hours to get there.  The first part of the drive was the same as when we went to Clingman Dome and we passed the pasture where we had seen the elk, but there was no sign of them.
Just past the turnoff for Clingman Dome, we stopped at this overlook and were on the North Carolina/Tennessee State line and heading into Tennessee.

The road was windy and there were a lot of bikers enjoying the ride.

After what seemed like forever we reached the beginning of the loop.  We were already exhausted from the drive.  The sunlight shining through the trees, although pretty, made driving difficult and played with your eyes.  It even affected me, and I wasn't driving and it wasn't pleasant.  We did stop and rest a couple of times.

We stopped beside the road and took some pictures.

and then continued on.

We didn't stop at all the locations, as by this time we were really tired and both were a little grumpy!!!    We did stop at Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church

I sat in the church for a while relishing the peace, before heading out and walking around the small graveyard.

It was a lovely setting.

Coins had been left on this soldiers grave.

There were also graves for a family and I noticed three babies, two died at birth and the other when just a few months old.  How sad for this mother and father.  

We continued on the loop.

Unfortunately, we didn't see any wildlife, except for what we think was a turkey in the distance that everyone was stopping to take a photo of.  I guess we have been spoilt!!! We were hoping for bears!!!  I think it is too busy with tourists at the moment, but at the beginning of summer someone had posted a video of a bear leading her cubs across the road here.

Wildflowers in a field

Our next stop was Cable Mill Historical Area & Visitor Centre

We enjoyed walking around this area.  Our first stop was the Gregg Cable House. This was the first frame house built in Cades Cove.  After 94 year old Becky Cable died in her home in 1940, it was decided to move the home to this location, and place it near the Mill.

Drive through Barn - One man would be in the wagon and one in the loft.  The wagon would drive in and the men would transfer the hay from the wagon to the barn using pitchforks.  The drive through could also be used for storage for farm equipment.

Sue at other side of drive through barn

The Cable Mill was the best building here.  It is a water powered grist mill and sawmill built around 1870.  The same wheel provided power for both mills. Today it is operated as a historical exhibit, and corn meal is sometimes available to buy.

We thought this gentleman was a mannequin, until he moved and spoke, ha!!ha!!

Millstone

Flume guiding water to the wheel

Sue looking at the flume

Love this picture

Flume coming up from the river

Cantilever Barn.  Most of the living accommodation is on the upper level and the bottom is built to enable it to be used to shelter animals if needed.

We sat and had lunch in front of the Visitor Centre before resuming the driving tour.  Our first stop was  Dan Lawson Place which was built in 1856.  The brick chimney, which was unusual for the time, was built with bricks made on site.

Our last stop was Carter Shields Cabin, thought to be built around 1880 by William Sparks.  It became the home of George Washington "Carter" Shields, a veteran of the Civil War, who was crippled in 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh, and retired here.

I found this sign on the back of the door as I was using the ladies restroom.  It made me smile!!!

Our tour of Cades Cove was ok, but would have been better if we had chosen to do it by entering Smoky Mountain National Park from the Western entrance.  We discussed that we would probably be driving through, and staying somewhere on the western side another year and should have left this trip until then.  Oh well, we've done it now, but there's still plenty to come back to on this side.  Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge come to mind, which are also on the radar for this trip but we'll have to see.

We decided to go home a different way so we could see some other scenery. This would take longer, eeekkkk!! 

After going through Townsend we stumbled on the Foothills Parkway which we decided to take.

We stopped at an observation point and it was a magnificent view.  This showed some of the highest peaks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We could see Clingmans Dome and Cades Cove from here.  They looked a long way away and made us realize how far we had travelled today and we still had a long way to go!!!

Eventually we came to a sign that showed Fontana Dam.  We were heading in the right direction.

The next thing we know, we are on this curvy, uphill/downhill road. We found the Tail of the Dragon.   I had heard about this but it kind of crept up on us.  There are 318 curves in 11 miles of road. What fun, a roller coaster in the car.  Here's a VIDEO of part of it.  Poor Bryan, what an exhausting drive for him today, and now this.  I think he quite enjoyed it though!!! He was a champ, even waving at the guys who were staged at certain points taking pictures of the cars going past.  Here's a LINK to one of those pictures. Shame you can't see us in the car though.

After that, we arrived back in North Carolina and familiar territory, we had been this way after we visited Fontana Dam.

We stopped quickly to take pictures at Santeetlah Dam.

and from below.

Farmer's country.......

We were nearly back home and I took this last picture to show the trees are starting to turn (change colors for fall).  It is very early, and we will be gone before the full effect is noticed but I can just imagine all the beautiful colors that will be here in a month.

 

Well, that was our road trip for today.  Overall a successful day, but I think a little ambitious.  We don't mind doing long drives to see things, but the roads here and the reflections through the trees really make driving difficult.  Thanks to Bryan we made it though.

Stay tuned for the next adventure...........