Articles by Dave R

The Long Trip Home

All good things must come to an end and so we find ourselves on the last day this years American Road Trip, with a final drive of 240 miles from Gatlinburg to Nashville Airport.
We had to be out of our log cabin by 10am so had done most of the packing the night before. After a last check and making sure all of the rubbish was locked away in the bear proof bins We got in the Durango Hemi, hit the roads and said goodbye to Gatlinburg.

We didn’t have to check in at BNA until around 17:00 that evening so we still had time to do a bit more road tripping on the drive back. The Plan was to take as many of the back roads as possible and keep off the freeways ( or highways – I’m sure there is a rule to which is a freeway and which is a highway but i can never remember it!). Anyway, Nothing was really planned other than a nice meander through the Tennessee countryside, so we headed off along the 411 to Knoxville.

I can’t really remember the actual route we took to Nashville but we took in everything from 4 lane highways (Freeways?) down to single track roads that we thought would come to a dead end. We crossed lakes, rivers, railroads and drove through typical American shopping areas lined with chain restaurants. At some points we didn’t see another car for miles as we drove past trailer parks and what looked like abandoned junk yards. We stopped in Kingston and did some last minute goody buying at a Dollar General ( ie, American sweets and chocolate by the bucketload). After many more miles of roads we came to Sparta.

Sparta, i suppose, was the American equivalent of a Chocolate Box English Village. It was a quaint town that didn’t look like much happened on a daily basis and the centre was very 1950’s with it’s courthouse and art deco style picture house. In fact, I suppose it reminded me of the Town in Gremlins or maybe Hill Valley from Back To The Future. We parked up and had a quick wander round, some great coffee and lunch and then set off on our final leg of the journey to N

After a pleasant stop in Sparta ( which didn’t have a Football club) we got back on the road and headed to Nashville international Airport. We were ahead of schedule so decided to do some last minute shopping at Oprey Mills. I don’t think we got anything but we had a coffee and a wander and then headed off to the airport.

Dropping the rental car was easy enough and a couple of minutes later we had made it across the car park, into the airport and to the business class check in which went as smoothly as you would expect it to. I was a little worried about having to put my guitar into the hold but they allowed me to take it on as hand luggage along with my rucksack.
Nashville airport was ok. Nothing to write home about and as we were flying BA business class we were allowed to use the American Airlines lounge. Shouldn’t have bothered mind you as it was every bit as bad as the Aspire lounge at Heathrow on the way out. Actually, i think it may have been worse. We were a little disappointed with the lounge arrangement at BNA after being spoilt rotten with the BA Lounge at JFK when we travelled business class from New York to Heathrow. It served it’s purpose mind you, Deb swears blind we were sat next to somebody famous but i didn’t recognise them and it was soon time to board the plane.

Business class was unfortunately British Airways old style. Don’t get me wrong it’s a bit like complaining that your Ferrari is the wrong colour, but again it was a bit of a come down after how fantastic our New York flights had been. The food was good. Well it was for me. They had run out of a vegetarian option for Deb so she wasn’t overly chuffed. The leg room was great though the seats weren’t quite as comfy as the new style business class with BA, but that didn’t stop me dropping them down into a bed and sleeping for most of the journey.
The flight flew by, on Landing at Heathrow it took about 45 minutes to get from the plane, through immigration and have our luggage in hand. Our chauffeur, Adam was waiting for us when we got through and we were soon in the back of a luxury Mercedes S Class and on our way back north in the Best Derby Chauffeur Service, A52 Executive Cars 😀 😀

So, Three weeks, 5 states, several fantastic hotel and shack and lots of memories.
Deep South USA … it’s been a blast

Dollywood

Today, we have mainly been theme parking!

Neither of us are overly enthusiastic about theme parks but you can’t come all this way to Pigeon Forge and not take in the iconic queen of Country, Dolly Parton’s theme park, Dollywood. The other bonus was that our son, Oscar, who couldn’t make it on this trip due to Uni, is a HUGE theme park enthusiast. So he was realllllly annoyed that we would be going to Dolly wood with him 😀

I haven’t really a great deal to tell you about Dollywood. It was exactly as you would expect it to be. The rides we went on were very good, the highlight being Lightening Rod which was also the first ride we went on. Having headed straight there as soon as we got in the park we were about 12th in the queue and got on the second running of the day. We went back later in the day and there were 2 hour queues so quite chuffed about that.

Anyway, i won’t waffle on, i’ll let the pictures do the talking.
We enjoyed the day even though it was an expensive end to our 3 weeks in America. Im glad we visited but it wouldn’t worry me if we never visited again, which we are unlikely to do anyway.

We finished our last night in at the cabin, and in America with huge dirty burgers at one of the restaurants in Pigeon Forge, dunkin donuts and beers in the hot tub after we had packed the suitcases.
10 am tomorrow we are on our way back to Nashville, back to the airport and back to Blighty 🙁

We’re going on a Bear Hunt

Today was all about getting back to nature, well as much as you can do in a V8 Hemi Durango. First stop was the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

The narrow, winding, Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail invites you to slow down and enjoy the forest and historic buildings of the area. The 5.5-mile-long, one-way, loop road is a favorite side trip for many people who frequently visit the Smokies. It offers rushing mountain streams, glimpses of old-growth forest, and a number of well-preserved log cabins, gristmills, and other historic buildings.

The drive was equally as monotonous as it was beautiful. It was a single lane carriage and it was absolutely nose to to tail traffic crawling along at no more than 5 mph in places. Admittedly, there were some magnificent drops inches away from the edge of the roads and lots of switchback and hairpin bends and the roads weren’t really designed for huge American cars. Nevertheless i found myself swearing at the person in front on several occasions and urging them to “get a move on”
If you look at the images below you would think we were in the middle of a serene drive in the countryside

The reality however can be seen below

Anyway, despite the amount of traffic on the road and the fact it took a couple of hours instead of 30 minutes it wasn’t to horrendous and there was some beautiful scenery to keep you occupied.

After the motor trail we headed up to Cades Cove loop which was a lovely hour and a half drive away through the Smokeys, We stopped just outside at the Campsite to get a drink and then headed off to do the 11 mile loop through the valley. Trip advisor and various forums had all said that if you want to see bears then Cades Cove on an afternoon is the closest you will get to a guarantee of seeing them grazing in the fields, And we weren’t left disappointed.

With it being Memorial day weekend the traffic was mad and every time a brown bear was spotted in the fields it ground to a halt as people jumped out of the cars to take photographs and park rangers appeared to stop mad Japanese tourists approaching the bears. It did have the feel of a safari park but that just because of how busy it was. Seeing brown bears in the wild is still a big tick off the ever growing bucket list and though I would have loved to see one walking down the roads near our cabin beggars can’t be choosers and this still felt very special.

And now for some videos.
First is some of the drive up to Cades cove and the others are edits of some of the better bits of video that we took of the Brown Bears ( and a wild turkey)

Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge

As is always when i do my travel blogs, I get to the last couple of days, get home, work and real life takes over and i forget to complete them.
So, a little late but eventually getting around to updating the last couple of days of our epic trip.

The previous night when had arrived at the Bear Necessities lodge which nestled in the Smokey Mountains between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg we were far too knackered to head out exploring so we had grabbed a Subway and some shopping on the way in and relaxed in the hot tub with a few beers as the sun went down. Today was our first venture into the actual towns.

Motor vehicles are discouraged in Gatlinburg so we headed to the Tourist Information/ Welcome Centre where there was a free shuttle bus into the town. We had been told to expect a “Blackpool” type experience but on the drive down all looked nice, log cabins nestled in the hills, lovely river etc. We got dropped off in the centre next to a shopping mall and went for a wander around that first. All seemed ok, quaint sweet shops, a guitar shop, some tourist tat shops but nothing to horrendously tacky

We then headed out onto the main street. It wasn’t horrendous, but it wasn’t “us” so too speak. shop after shop selling unfunny T shirts or over priced confectionary, Lots of gimmicky museums and attraction, LOTS of people (though we had chosen to be there on Memorial day so that was expected). It was all what we call “Disneyfied America”. As lovely as some of the buildings were everything was there to get money out of tourists and it didn’t feel like an organic town if that makes sense.

We had a wander for a couple of hours, bought a fridge magnet for oz, had a coffee etc and then headed back to pick up the car and see what Pigeon Forge was like.

Pigeon Forge was no better, actually it was worse. If you have ever been to Orlando and found yourself on International Drive it’s a bit like that. A very straight long road with 3 or 4 lanes going in either direction with Tourist rubbish either side. T shirt and tat shops where you can see a live Shark/Alligator/Bears/Hillbillies, chain restaurants, Haunted houses, fairgrounds, roller coasters, just meh! We continued along the road up to Sevierville so that we could get some food from Walmart for the evening and then took the scenic route to the cabin via the back roads.

Overall, the towns were disappointing but the area was lovely. That evening we cooked pizza and ate on the veranda watching the wildlife and finished the night off in the Hot tub with beer …. very relaxing!

Scenic drive from Chattanooga to Gatlinburg

Yet again, the start to the day was a lovely City Cafe Diner breakfast across the road from the Read House Hotel. After that it was the 150 mile drive from Chattanooga to our log cabin the Smokey Mountains. First things first though, back to the Shopping Mall we visited yesterday to buy another suitcase and a quick visit to the Guitar Center to get a little parlour guitar i had seen the day before and quite liked. I mean, you can’t be out in the wilderness in a log cabin and NOT have a guitar to play can you? Unsure how i’ll get it home but we will cross that bridge when we get to it 😀

We were going “off piste” for this drive as Deb had found a scenic route on the internet, so, armed with some hand written notes and the Sat Nav switched off we hit the highway. Fortunately it was pretty plane sailing and we soon found ourselves heading off the freeway and onto more local roads. We passed through little towns and through sweeping valleys but the main reason for coming this way was the slight chance of seeing The Abraham Lincoln People. Sorry, thats a reference to Family Guy, the correct term is Amish. As we were still driving down pretty big roads the last thing i expected to see was a horse drawn cart carrying the Amish around doing their daily business but lo and behold it wasn’t long before we saw one parked up and then one riding down a dual carriageway.

Next up we found ourselves on US129 better known to as the Tail of the Dragon Highway. This highway boast 318 curves in 11 miles and is frequented by speed demons on Motorbikes and in Sports Cars. We saw lots of Harleys and stopped at a Harley Davison gift shop along the way. Bikes don’t do a great deal fro me though so i was rather chuffed when i saw a mini Porsche cruise on the route.

We turned left of US129 and headed onto the Foothills Parkway road which is the start of the Smokey Mountains and the road that would eventually lead us to Gatlinburg. Another nice, windy and narrow road through some stunning scenery and alongside the Little Tennesse River took us to our destination and home for the next five nights, the Bear Necessities log Cabin. The cabin is fantastic with a secluded balcony over looking the tops of the trees. We have a hot tub to chill out in and we have filled the fridge with beers and snacks. Not seen a bear yet but apparently they are in the area and the maintenance guy has just shown us pictures of bears he has seen on the road below us … and they are big buggers! We are getting visits from North American Cardinals ( beautiful red birds a bit bigger than a sparrow) and we have seen plenty of weird lizards with blue tails and fire flys. I shall endeavour to get some photos of the wildlife and really keeping my fingers crossed for a bear sighting

And a Cardinal has just landed on the veranda so have a dodgy picture – i shall try and get better ones 😀

And now some video of todays roads and the last one is the drive up to our cabin.

Chattanooga Choo Choo

We woke up and headed back over to the City Diner Cafe for a lovely breakfast of pancakes and French toast. After that we jumped back into the car to head over to the other side of Chattanooga and the steepest incline railway in the world (allegedly).

The Lookout Mountain Incline railway was ok. It was a nice journey up the hill and back down but we both felt a little bit let down by the “experience”. According to the website and the brochures you get to the top and can visit Ruby Falls or Rock City park. What they don’t tell you is that both those attractions are a 10 minute drive away and your car is at the bottom of the steepest incline railway in the world. What there actually is at the top is a gift shop, a small cafe and a housing estate. Very nice houses it has to be said but nevertheless it’s an almost pointless journey unless your only aim is to ride the railway.

After we had briefly explored the area around and found most of the shops, cafes and ice cream parlours were closed we jumped back into the car and headed downtown to the Chattanooga Choo Choo. I don’t know of we have just timed it wrong but this area was also a little disappointing. The Glen Millar gardens had been dug up and work was taking place everywhere. It was too early to enjoy the pubs and breweries around and it all seemed a little “dead. We did get to see the Famous Choo Choo though which was quite cool ( although it could have been a Disney build lol). You can read more about the Choo Choo hotel and the history here .

After a cold coffee ( we are party animals!) we decided to head out to a local Mall and do a spot of shopping before heading down to the riverside to see The Southern Belle River Boat and explore the aquarium area. We got to drive through some nice, and some not so nice neighbourhoods and i lost half an hour in the local Guitar Center 😀

That evening we dined out in style at a local pub, the Pickle Barrel. Had some great finger food and beer and wandered back through the night avoiding the local down and outs.
Chattanooga has been a nice stop, maybe a touch underwhelming but i think that maybe due to the tiredness caused by the long drive the day before.

The long drive from New Orleans to Chattanooga

A few days ago we undertook the biggest part of our road trip around the US Southern States, New Orleans to Chattanooga via 5 states. The straight road straight up the freeways would be 460 miles and about 6 hours but oh no. That was far too easy.

We had decided, well I had, that we should go via the coast road to Biloxi and Mobil and then head up on the US equivalent of our A roads. In hindsight it wasn’t the best of ideas. Imagine driving from London to Edinburgh but deciding you aren’t going to take the motorways … well it was a few miles longer than that :D.
We hit our first snag when the road was closed due to a bridge being out, we got hopelessly lost trying to find a way around it and in the end decided we would just follow the Sat nav but by this time we were too far along the journey to take the easier route.

The majority of the journey was dual carriageway that went straight for miles and miles ( and miles more). Deb took loads of photos but they are on the other camera so they will be uploaded as a photo dump in the next couple of days. Theres not a lot to really say about the journey other than it seemed to last a lifetime.

The Roads got prettier and more scenic the further north we got and we soon found ourselves driving through some lovely hills and forests. About 10 hours after we had left New Orleans we found ourselves driving into Chattanooga and our hotel for the next couple of nights, The Read House Hotel. We were pleasantly surprised to be given another room upgrade ( this time without any complaints) and the historic hotel was absolutely lovely.

Fortunately, just across the road was a 24 hour diner so we headed over there to get some food. The City Diner Cafe was everything you would expect of a classic American diner. Neon Lights, stainless steel, Red booths and a menu that was so extensive it took an age to read. The food was good and the waitress was sassy ( or stoned – not sure which). Despite how good the desserts looked we decided against having one and made our way back to the hotel for a well needed sleep.