Gatlinburg, the good, the bad and the so-so

    No more country lanes and scenic byways, we are on the highway headed home.  Snow flurries fell on this guitar as we crossed the state line into Tennessee.

   This area is the former State of Franklin.  It was created when North Carolina spun off lands west of the summit of the Great Smoky Mountains.  Statehood was short-lived as Congress did not recognize it nor its elected officials but later TN joined the US, then seceded during the Civil War.

    We’ll start with the bad.  Gatlinburg is a massive traffic jam.  There is one through street going east and west and its traffic makes NYC seem like a speedway.

 We left our campground to get to the Craftsmen Fair and inched along for almost an hour.  This traffic continues up into the Great Smoky’s where the two-lane road is filled with tourists jumping out at road cut-outs to snap a picture or piling up on the side of the road to watch a bear.  The road is the only way to get over the mountains.  Because it is a mountain road, it has severe twists and the only turn we have taken where the road spirals 360 degrees so the you end up just above the spot you started. 
   
    Next comes so-so.  The sidewalks of Gatlinburg are as jammed as the roads though with pedestrians.  If you love chain restaurants and souvenir shops filled with the over-priced usual, Gatlinburg is a destination.  We were unimpressed.  Sadly, we were also unimpressed with the Craftsmen’s Fair, one reason we had come this way.  Our scale of rating crafts ranges from utter disappointment at the Sawtooth Mountain Women’s Craft Fair (pre-blog days) to the admiration in both Tamarack, WV and Asheville, NC (see 2013 Spring entry).  This huge fair fit in the middle.  It was filled with items made by the sellers but more crafty than artistic (no photos allowed).  The one bit of amusement was when Anna Lee met a woman exhibitor who graduated from East High in Denver, though two decades later.

    Looking for better art, we drove the eight-mile Arts and Crafts Trail.  We saw wood carvers, leather workers, potters, painters, quilters and more (much the same as at the show) but easily resisted any purchases, even the fudge and ice cream.

    Now for the good.  Though our first day was bitter cold with a hard frost during the night,  we were delighted that the weather person predicted wrong for the next day.  We awoke to blue skies and cool but comfortable air. 

 Heading for the park visitors’ center, we hoped to miss the traffic.  It was only slightly better with the parking lot almost full, but we were headed away from the crowds.

Like Shenandoah, the Smoky’s became a national park in reaction to the success of the parks in the West.  This one was acquired through the largess of John D. Rockerfeller, Jr. and some of his friends.  The Smoky’s also claim to be the most visited park.

We had a wonderful day in the park.  We took a 10K volksmarch along paths up to John Ownby’s cabin,

up to Cataract Falls,

past chimney ruins,

along the West Prong Little River,

and past colorful foliage

and this interesting sign at the visitors’ center.

    This walk was wonderful and we enjoyed the quiet beauty that really is the Great Smoky Mountains.

Interesting geographical facts
    1.  Bristol, VA 24201 and Bristol, TN 37620, one town split down the middle by a state border requiring a duplicate of all state and municipal government services.  We spent the night in VA before coming to Gatlinburg.
    2.  Tennessee and North Carolina: The Great Smoky’s are in two states.  Depending on where you stand at Newfound Gap you are in a different state.

    3.  Tennessee is in two time zones.  We went from Eastern to Central as we drove on I 40.