Our Kentucky/Tennessee Vacation - Gatlinburg

We spent the next couple of days in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  This is one of the most beautiful places that I have been in a long time.  We spent our time here in a wonderful bed and breakfast called "Eight Gables".  The southern hospitality and individual attention could not be beat.

Our own private porch to sit, rock and have a beverage while we visited. Our room is straight ahead. Silvey's door to the right.

They actually reserved our breakfast table each morning with a little personal touch.

This part of Tennessee is located in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with wonderful little places to stay, and shows to see.  We all loved our time here.  Friday, we decided rather then go to town we would go to the Smokies and take a drive through Cades Cove.  This drive takes you down, through, and around a valley and through an 11 mile loop to see places that were settled in the 1800's.  We saw white tail deer, wild turkey and yes, one big, black bear.  We took pictures of the black bear on the Silvey's camera and I am hoping to add one of them later.

Friday night we saw Don Williams in concert.  It was over an hour and a half of great country music.  He sang all of his hits and did very little talking.  We are so glad that Joyce found this show for us to see.  It was an awesome performance.

Saturday morning we decided to go back to the mountains and drive to the top.  We stopped several times on our way and one of the things that we did is to walk on the Appalachian trail.  The trail is over 2000 miles long and passes through 14 states.  This is the spot where you can stand on the state line of North Carolina and Tennessee.  From here we just kept traveling upward until we got to Clingman's Dome.  It was a little misty and very foggy while we were there.  The climb from the visitors center is on a very steep asphalt path. There are a lot of benches on the path to rest awhile and catch your breath.  

Next stop - Nashville..........

Our Kentucky/Tennessee Vacation - Days 2-4

We traveled through Illinois, Indiana and into Kentucky on Monday.  It was a very rainy and chilly day but that did not stop us from picking up a cache or two.  We arrived in Smith's Grove, Kentucky late in the afternoon and headed into our log cabin.  We knew we were going to be in a log cabin but we had no idea how rustic it would be.  After the initial shock the quaint charm of the place took over and we fell in love with this little place.  We also discovered that it is listed in the national register of historic places.

Front of the historic cabin

What a fun time

How about these steps? (looking from the top down)

90 degree turn in the steps to the second floor.

The quaint, but most adequate kitchen

We listened to the rain fall on the steel roof throughout the night and awoke to the same sound in the morning. But, we were not about to let a little rain discourage us!  After breakfast, we set our sights for Bowling Green, Kentucky for a look around the city. The rain stopped and we did not see it again for the entire two weeks we were travelling.
There is a beautiful square in the middle of the city and several antique shops. Also an adorable 40's gas station plus the National Corvette Museum is here.  We really packed a variety of activities into this day.

City square in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Pretty fountain in the Square in Bowling Green

1953 - The first year Chevrolet manufactured the Corvette

1960 Corvette convertible

Our final day in Kentucky took us to Mammoth Cave National Park.  What a beautiful place.  There were deer and wild turkeys along the sides of the road.   When we arrive at the visitors center there was a tour that was about to leave and all of us decided that we would like to be on it.  The history of the cave is amazing.  Before the National Park took it over it belonged to individuals and they blew holes into it in order to sell tickets to see the inside of the cave.  There is only one natural entrance and 4 man-made entrances that are open at this time.  The explored part of the cave is 392 miles and counting. It is purported to be largest and longest cave in the world. It was amazing!

This is the ONLY "natural" opening to the cave.

The next morning we loaded the car and drove to our bed and breakfast in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Our Kentucky/Tennessee Vacation Day 1

On September 16 we loaded our car, picked up our friends, the Silvey's, and began a very memorable vacation.  We managed to pick up a geocache in each of the Iowa counties that we passed through on the first day and arrived in Wildwood, Missouri for a very short visit with the Silvey's second son, Scott and his family.  They made us the most delicious dinner, grilled steak and salmon. The conversation and catching up was wonderful. We are very grateful for the time.  That night we stayed at the Wildwood Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.  It was an excellent hotel and we all slept very well.  Monday morning, Scott and his son, Zach, met us for breakfast before we headed toward Illinois, Indiana and into Kentucky.  I am sorry to say that I only took one picture At Scott's house. It is Ashley, Scott's daughter.  They have a beautiful home and a great family.