Saturday 9-26-09
Thanks tour new GPS, (we nicknamed her Gertrude or Gerty for short), we arrived at Philadelphia Airport on time with plenty of time to spare. There was no waiting line at the security area and we went right through. We took off in our Southwest Airlines 727 and arrived in Raleigh in just 54 minutes.
We picked up our luggage and rental car and headed out on our adventure. It was raining but, other than stopping at the Cracker Barrel for dinner we managed to drive all the way to Asheville. The ride up into Asheville was a bit challenging. There were no reflectors in the road on route 40 and it was raining and night fall had arrived. We didn’t book a Hotel for this night because we weren’t sure about driving all the way to Asheville, but we made it after all. We tried to book a room at the Brookstone Lodge since we were going to stay there the next few days anyway but they had no rooms available. We ended up finding a Marriot Suite for the night that was quite comfortable.
Sunday 9-27-09
We woke, showered, had breakfast and headed out to downtown Asheville. Asheville was a combination of art, fine restaurants and history. We walked around for about four hours. I took a picture of a bald headed white statue with sun glasses and a guitar in hand. Later that statue was singing and playing his guitar. LOL. Fooled me… We walked through a Woolworth’s that was converted into an art display building. It was cool. They kept the original Woolworth’s food area open. We left town, checked into the Brookstone Lodge and went to Red Lobster for dinner, then hung out in the hotel pool and hot tub.
Monday 9-28-09
Today we toured the Biltmore Estates. It is the largest Mansion in the United States. They didn’t allow picture taking inside the mansion due to the age of the artwork inside. I did get some pictures of the outside however. It was a trip back into early 1800’s and into the life of George Washington Vanderbilt’s family which I can only describe as American Royalty. After we completed the tour of the house we had lunch at the estate’s bakery. The coffee was excellent. We moved on to the Gardens and Greenhouse which was vibrant with unique shrubbery and flowers, then drove on to the estate’s farming area. All of the original farming equipment was still in good shape and the blacksmith workshop was interesting. Then we moved on to the winery where we tasted Biltmore wines and toured the wine making area. We ate dinner outside at restaurant under umbrella with a fine view of nature at its best. It was a fine dining experience. The complete tour took about 6 hours and we decided to take it easy the rest of the evening watching TV.
Tuesday 9-29-09
We checked out of the Brookstone and headed to Chimney Rock. The road was long and winding through the mountains and just a glimpse of the type of driving we would be experiencing for the rest of our vacation. Chimney Rock is a quiet little town that is famous for the rock formation known as Chimney Rock. There is a beautiful river in the town that we relaxed near. There were about 2 dozen or so small tourist shops that we found to quite affordable.
We drove across the Mountain into Tennessee and settled in Gatlinburg at the Park Vista Hotel. We got a room at the top floor (15th) so we could enjoy the beautiful view. We went into downtown Gatlinburg for dinner and to enjoy the town. It was like a giant Seaside Heights with all kinds of fun stuff to do.
Thursday 10-1-09
Today we set out early and drove up the Motor Nature Trail. This too was an incredible adventure that took us along a winding road on the side of a mountain. When we got to the top of the mountain we discovered black bear sleeping up in the trees. On the way down the long dangerous road we stopped at a few original homes and small water falls and rivers.
Then we drove onto Tuckaleechee Caverns where we climbed down the mountain into an incredible cavern. It was a long day so we settled down early.
Thursday 10-1-09
Today we set out early, stopped at the Log Cabin Pancake House for breakfast and drove up the Motor Nature Trail. This too was an incredible adventure that took us along a winding road on the side of a mountain. When we got to the top of the mountain we discovered black bear sleeping up in the trees. On the way down the long dangerous road we stopped at a few original homes and small water falls and rivers.
Then we drove on to Cades Cove which is a large meadow in the middle of the Smokey Mountains National Park that was a picture of a farming community out of time. We stopped at the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Falls for dinner. Good southern food mixed with good southern hospitality is what we were served. Again we got back to the hotel and crashed. Mountains sure getcha tired.
Friday 10-2-09
Today we drove 337 miles back to Durham and checked in to our hotel. We went out to eat and went back to the hotel for a few drinks. We watched a movie on TV and settled in for a good nights sleep.
Saturday 10-3-09
We drove into Chapel Hill to check out the town and North Carolina Campus. There was a home football game that day and it was a complete mad house. We decided to just get to the airport early and we flew back to Philadelphia.
It was another unbelievable adventure. We really got a good perspective of what Mountain life is really like in Tennessee and North Carolina.
