Sunday, 15 May 2022
Another outstanding breakfast! Eli made an almond/brioche tart with cooked apples with a side of ham. I asked her if she would divorce Marlon and marry me. These two really know how to run an inn. I can’t recommend Beechwood Inn enough.
I hit the road around 8:30 am full of belly and hating to leave.
It’s a quick trip from Clayton, Georgia to Bryson City, North Carolina (approximately 1 hour) but I decided to take a detour to Gatlinburg to get my taffy.
I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs but one time when I was very small my grandmother Ruby took me to Gatlinburg and it was the first time I had professionally made taffy. Mother would make a version of taffy but where the taffy in Gatlinburg is soft and chewy, Mother’s was equally good but stiffer. I have lost quite a few fillings over the years to Mother’s taffy and the Gatlinburg taffy.
I remember the taffy Mother made was made by melting sugar in a cast iron skillet and at a certain stage adding baking soda which made it foam up like crazy. Then she stirred and stirred and stirred until the stuff cooled enough that you could pull it. She would make me oil my hands with butter and she would pull the taffy out into a long strand and then hand one end to me to continue to pull. Then we would meet and put our ends together and I would grab the loose end and begin to pull anew. This went on forever, it seemed, the taffy becoming pliable at the same time it cooled. No matter how much butter I put on my hands to keep it from sticking it did and it was still hot enough to cause a blister if you weren’t careful. Trust me when I say it didn’t last too long after the taffy pull.
To get to Gatlinburg, you have to enter the park just outside of Cherokee, NC. That’s another nostalgic place for me as it was often a stopping point for my parents going home to Morton, MS from military bases (Fort Bragg, Aberdeen Proving Grounds) and also for my grandmother Ruby. She also took me to see Unto to These Hills – the story of the Cherokee removal by Jackson. I remember one scene in the play is someone doing the eagle dance. The Cherokee never really did the eagle dance but it looked good from the audience and at the time I didn’t know better.
It’s only May and there was as much traffic in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park as I’ve ever seen. Traffic ran from the super impatient to the super cautious. The park asks you to pull off the road and let faster traffic by but I seemed to be the only one that did so.
I also seem to be the only one who downshifted. One car in front of me rode their brakes from Newfound Gap to Gatlinburg. I foresee a brake job in his future. Some of the people who pressed me from behind seemed to not know how to drive curves. On straight aways they would be on my bumper but when I started taking the curves, they fell behind. Mountain roads are not for everyone. Even me, when I was small. I got car sick a lot in the Smokeys to the point Mother would put a pail in the back seat with me and my brother.
Back when I was a kid, Dad would blow his horn in the three tunnels on 441 in the park. Back then, there was no traffic so he would actually stop in the tunnel to blow his horn and you could hear what sounded like rain in the tunnel. I suspect it was rocks settling on the roof of the tunnel. My memory must have something to it because people still blow their horns when passing through the tunnels.
The drive from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, to me, is one of the most beautiful drives in the U.S.
I stopped several times along the way to take a few photos.
I always stop by Clingmans Dome. (Don’t blame me about the absence of an apostrophe in the name. It’s official policy of the U.S. Board of Geographical Names.)
It’s a beautiful 7 mile spur off 441 (park road). I didn’t go to the top this time. My knees always give me problems from walking down from the observation tower to the point I have to walk backwards. The last time I was here I did go to the observation tower and paid the price. I had to walk backwards. Yes, I got a lot of stares but one guy walked up to me and said “I know exactly what you are doing.” We laughed and I continued my walking backwards to the parking lot. This time, I stayed at the parking lot and took a few photos. The clouds were beautiful and low hanging.
From Clingmans Dome, it’s a short drive to Newfound Gap. I always stop here. It’s the dividing line between Tennessee and North Carolina. One of my favorite sights is the Civilian Conservation Corps monument at Newfound.
The tourist industry is in fine shape if Gatlinburg is any indication. I felt like I was ploughing through the streets of New York because of the number of people. I made it a very short trip to pick up my taffy, eat lunch at 5 Guys and then get out as fast as I could.
There are so many places in the park I pass but never stop. One such area just out of Gatlinburg are three “quiet areas” with pull outs. I’ve never stopped before so I made a point to do so this trip. You are encouraged to walk the area, stop, rest, and meander. There are also some pretty streams through the area.
The McKinnley Edwards Inn was built around 1925 but there are no rooms in the actual house. Next door to the inn is where I am staying in an old apartment complex from the 1940’s that has been remodeled.
Tonight, I’m having dinner at the Fryemont Inn Dining Room, a 4 minute drive from my inn.
Tomorrow, I’ll probably hike a few areas around Deep Creek Campground. It’ll be my third time at Deep Creek and it was also the site that did me in on one of my hikes. I hope to see a few waterfalls and then head back for a deep tissue massage at the inn.
Stay tuned!
