Smokies ...



Yup! That was where we were for the long weekend - The Smoky mountain National Park. It was a very relaxing and eventful trip that we had. The park and the cities sorrounding it are filled with all kinds of activities for people of all ages and tastes.

If you are the adventure kind - it is white water rafting and some head-cum-body turning-cum-twisting rides in Pigeon Forge for you.
If you are young - there a multitude of activities and amusement parks on either side of the "Parkway" that connects the three towns Severvile, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg - just 5 miles from each other.
If you are old - there are good hotels with relaxed swimming pools and rocking chairs in abundance. Small walks and hikes all over the place.
If you are a trek buff - there are a multitude of hike trails ranging from simple to moderate to difficult all over the park.
If you love driving - this is the place - curved roads, long drives into the mountains with abundant of vantage stop points.
If you are a photographer enthusiast - you are sure to get all kinds of subjects - from humans to animals ; to buildings to forrest to waterfalls....

So, there I have provided a good advertisement for this place, that needs none. Smokies is probably one of the most often visited spot , atleast for all folks on the east coast of United States - because as I told above , the variety of things you can do here.

The mountain range is bordered by the city of Gatlinburg at its feet. A small quaint town consisting of only one 2-lane road - the Parkway / US 441 ; and innumerable shops, restaurants and activity centres on either side of it. If you are at this place during a long weekend, then don't even think of taking the car - unless you love the brake-gas pedal excercise every 3 seconds! Just 5 miles away from this place is the small town of Pigeon Forge where we stayed. US 441 grows slightly bigger here - with 3 lanes on each side. This place is no less compared to "The Strip" in terms of the people , attractions, neon lights and variety of entertainment. Mini-Golf and Go-Karting are two of the most popular events here. All kinds of eat-outs flank this town of about 6 miles in length. This is where we stayed in a very nice inn called Twin Mountain Inns and Suites. One portion of the pigeon river flowed by the backside of the hotel, providing us a good view and picnic spot.


Summer is the best time to visit this place for white water rafting and tubing; as the water is in abundance and at the best temperature to soothe the scorching sun. We did both of them. I don't know how to swim - so was scared - but as our raft got stuck in more rapids , the more I felt I was enjoying. Tubing - is probably the best ever thing I did in life.. You just seat yourself on the little tube and then float down till eternity, soaking in the sun , splashing some cool water over your face and relaaaaaaaaaxed!

We trekked down one of the many trails in smokies that end up in a beautiful waterfall. This one was the "Grotto fall" - the only fall behind which you can walk around. Rajesh had his best time here, photographing the falls and we were pleased that every single shot of his came out terrific.

We went on long drives :- on the Newfound Gap road - leading to the Clingman dome - the tallest tower in smokies from which you could see the entire mountain range. It is as we were here, that we realised just how "smoky" the place is - a blue haze sorrounds the mountains all the time - which is how it got its name; many a times on the US 321 -once to Cades Cove and once to Foothills Parkway. Having come from Michigan, the roads of Tenesse seemed like silk to us.

Cades Cove - is the area where the early settlers in this area stayed. It is a flat pasture land, abundant with deer - you see one even when you don't want to :D .., cabins of the early people and a couple of historical churches. It is a very good place to make a picnic - snug in the laps of nature.

Foothills parkway is a scenic drive divided into 2 parts. The first one is a small well-rounded and curved strip of 6 miles that connects the US 321 and I 40 (the route to go for white water rafting). The second one is a 15.4 miles scenic drive providing wonderful vantage points that goes up to the Chilhowee lake. It is here that we saw a bear , about 100 feet in front of us - hopping from one side of the mountains to the other. We were so happy to see that one as we were dissapointed that we would leave smokies without seeing one.

But then, I did meet a "Bear" at the world's largest Bear factory - Boyd's in Pigeon Forge. In fact we had breakfast with "him" ....

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Cup Cake

Image
The past two weekends and the week between have been really hectic, so did not find time to pen down anything. The weekend of Oct 6th we had been for a “Fall Tour” to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan(more on this in next post). The week between Oct 7th and Oct 14th was strangely busy (considering the fact that I am “Vetti” most of the time at work). This weekend was also satisfactorily busy – Saturday was spent at a friend’s house and yesterday we had a couple over at our place ( this was nice because 1) we like the couple a lot and they are good fun to be with 2) I got a chance to experiment on my culinary skills). So, Friday night Reliance India earned a lot of revenue, when I was on phone with amma trying to get some recipes for “quick” sweets that I could make. I wanted to move away from the “comfort zone” that the easy-to-make MTR Gulab Jamun pack gave. So, I decided to make this very simple-yet-very-tasty sweet that amma would concoct at the shortest notice – this 7-cup cake. I wo
Read more

Chocolat(i) Chunnu.... Biscutta Bunnu.....

Image
Has it every happened that there is this movie that you just happen to adore beyond reasons and when you tell that to people, who otherwise like your tastes pretty much, look at you as if you have lost your mind ? That you watch the same movie twice in two days and even then you are ready to watch it a third time too, without batting an eyelid ...  This is how I am feeling about 'Jagga Jasoos'. I keep scouring the internet hoping for news that the movie is as hit as I am feeling it should be. Everytime I ask a friend to watch the movie, I am hoping he/she feels what I felt about the movie - that I loved every frame of the movie (except of that really unnecessary "khana-peena-chale-gaye" song). In a very very long time, I have felt this about a movie I feel. And I have been racking my brains, what is there in it that makes me feel so? So, I thought what better than to jot it all down here. Some things that I loved about the movie : In a movie world where a
Read more

Cashew Pista Ladoo

Image
There are a group of food bloggers that I got to know from Indra's Site. They host an event called Jhiva for Ingredients - one food ingredient is choosen, and people are asked to send in recipes using that ingredient. The current event is hosted by Vineela, and the ingredient is Milk. Mine is not exactly a recipe based entirely on Milk, but uses milk to a small extent. It is a recipe told to me by mom. I am very amateur cook and it did not turn out to be exactly as amma said it should be (Jaana tha Japan pahunch gaye cheen samjhe na?), but nevertheless with encouragement and tips provided by hubby dear, we turned it into something tasty :). Thought I would send the recipe to Vineela, I am not sure she would post it in her fest, but nobody got flogged for trying right ? :) What you need? 1 Cup cashewnuts 1/4 cup pistachios Milk - enough to soak the above 2 nuts(around 1 1/2 cups for the above measure) Sugar Ghee- 2-3 tablespoons How to make it? Soak the cashew and Pista nuts in milk
Read more