Ruby Falls and the Experimental Distillery

Holy cow. The last few days have been great for waterfowl but not so great for Pennsylvanians trying to tour Tennessee.

We arrived in the Chattanooga area yesterday and managed to set up moments before the heavens unleashed.

Since the weather report said we wouldn’t be out of the downpour before Saturday, Greg and I looked for indoor things to do today and tomorrow.

First, we headed to Ruby Falls, which is a cavern inside Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga that has an 80-meter waterfall inside the mountain.

This cavern tour was unlike any of the ones I’ve been on before. It was more commercialized, with a rather cheesy video at the beginning describing the discovery of the cavern (which sounded too romanticized to be believable).

The half-mile walk to the waterfall was no-nonsense and included no commentary. The aisles were narrow, and the ceiling low. I had a few moments of claustrophobia at the beginning, but it passed quickly.

The main feature of the tour was the waterfall, which was quite impressive. I only wish they hadn’t used so many colored lights. The lights were distracting and completely distorted the photographs.

After lunch back at the camper, we headed out in the pouring rain again to take a tour of the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery.

Unfortunately, I left my ID in the car, so I was not allowed to partake in the tasting.

Despite not getting to actually taste the whisky, I found the tour interesting. And I’m happy to say that I finally understand the difference between whiskey and bourbon.

A plethora of waterfalls

We are in the Cumberland Plateau region of Tennessee, staying at the Spacious Skies Belle Ridge Campground in Monterey.

I absolutely love this region of Tennessee. I feel like I’m on top of the world.

In the last two days, we have visited three state parks, all known for their beautiful waterfalls and scenic views.

First up was Burgess Falls State Park.

Middle Falls at Burgess Falls State Park

Burgess Falls at Burgess Falls State Park. Note the two kayakers coming up to the falls. So jealous!

Later that afternoon, we visited Cummins Falls State Park.

We opted not to hike down to the base of the falls because the hike was treacherous and involved walking through knee-high streams. Instead, we enjoyed the falls from the overlook.

Today we drove the hour and a half to Tennessee’s largest state park, Fall Creek Falls State Park.

Another view of Cane Creek Falls with a rainbow at the base. There were people walking along the top of the falls mere feet from the edge. Nuts!

Fall Creek Falls. If you look closely, you can see little people at the bottom of the gorge. We could have hiked down there, but it was treacherous and we decided not to risk it.

Piney Falls. This is as close as I dared to get to the edge to take the picture. It was a straight drop into the gorge.

Scenic overlooks

The views here are breathtaking, starting with the scenic overlook at the campground.

Spacious Skies Belle Ridge scenic overlook

I love this photo of the sunset from the same location.

The town of Monterey also has a scenic overlook. Greg and I went there yesterday to check it out.

Greg tried hard to scare the living daylights out of me by standing very close to the edge of the cliff.

Falls Creek Falls State Park also had an overlook. These Tennesseans don’t believe in safety rails!

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, so we will probably stay holed up in the camper, enjoying our books with a cup of hot tea.

Porter’s Creek Trail

We did another hike today. This one was a 2-mile hike to a waterfall.

After a rather harrowing 3-mile drive down a too-narrow, windy gravel road, we arrived at the trailhead. The trail itself went gently uphill for 2 miles to the waterfall.

The first mile was relatively easy. After that, we had to deal with rocks, roots, small streams, and bridges.

The last bridge was the scariest for me because it went over a section of the river that was deep and full of boulders.

Along the way, we saw lots of wildflowers.

And some creatures too.

But we made it to the falls without mishap. Yay!

Parrot Mountain and Gardens

We started our day with a trip to Tractor Supply so that I could replace my lost hat.

Then the question was, how to spend the rest of the day? We agreed that another hike was not in the cards. Our legs needed a break.

There are an endless number of activities to do in Pigeon Forge. One could seriously vacation here every year and never do the same activity twice.

Eventually, I talked Greg into going to Parrot Mountain and Gardens. I could tell he was less than enthused, but being the good husband that he is, he went along with the idea. I’m not really an animal person, but I thought I might get some pretty pictures of flowers to use for my paintings.

Holy moly, this place did not disappoint!

When you first walk in, there are parrots and other exotic birds sitting on perches out in the open everywhere.

They have every kind of exotic bird here. I was completely enthralled by all the bright colors. It’s hard to believe that Mother Nature could come up with so many beautiful color combinations and patterns.

Look at these gorgeous colors!

And the patterns! Mother Nature is the ultimate artist.

Mother Nature also has a great sense of humor!

This guy desperately wanted to eat my phone.

One of the highlights of our visit was getting to hold the birds.

Later, we got to feed some lories.

And at the very end of the tour, we stepped into the bird nursery. Here, all the birds were for sale.

This little fellow even color-coordinated with Greg’s shirt!

I don’t know how I feel about taking birds out of their natural habitat and keeping them in a zoo, but my ambivalence did not detract from my enjoyment of the experience at all.

Greg and I had a fantastic time getting up close and personal with these beautiful creatures.

Mountain Valley Winery

After leaving Parrot Mountain, we headed to Mountain Valley Winery for a wine tasting. I’m not gonna lie. This place was a bit of a disappointment.

When we walked in, there were four counters and no seating area. We stood at the first counter (we were the only customers), and the salesperson invited us to try four different wines.

I tried four sweet wines, and Greg tried four dry wines. He had to pay $5 for the dry wines.

We liked the wines, but we were really looking for a relaxing experience, someplace where we could sip wine in a comfortable atmosphere and perhaps have an appetizer before going back to the camper to make dinner.

We ended up each buying a glass of wine, and the salesperson directed us to a patio outside, where we could relax.

It had a pretty view, but it was chilly out there. We didn’t linger.

Greg and I both agree that the wineries in the Finger Lakes are much better!

Little River Trail and Kuwohi

Since Greg figured he hadn’t punished me enough yesterday, he decided we were going to do another hike this morning, the Little River Trail.

Luckily for me, it was a flat, gravel trail along a pretty little river.

We took our time and stopped frequently along the way to enjoy the scenery.

Afterward, we toured the village of Elkmont, a living history museum. Here is where the wealthy vacationed when they wanted to experience rustic living.

We snuck into a nearby campground within the park for a picnic lunch and then headed back to the camper for a nap. I did some laundry while Greg did some grocery shopping.

Then we headed to Kuwohi (formerly Clingman’s Dome), the highest point in Tennessee.

Kuwohi

When we left our campsite, the temperature was 88°. After driving 20 miles up the mountain to Kuwohi, the temperature had dropped to 55°. There was even snow on the side of the road!

After bundling up, we began the half-mile trek straight uphill to the observation tower. Thank God there were benches along the way because I thought I was going to die of a heart attack before we got there.

The plan was to watch the sun set over the mountains.

We and a bunch of our closest friends had the same idea. LOL. It was fun visiting with strangers while we waited the 45 minutes for the sun to set. We even met some folks from our area in Pennsylvania!

And despite what the app (SkyCandy) on my phone said about the low probability of a pretty sunset tonight, it did not disappoint.

Although this photo that Greg took is probably my favorite:

Once the sun had set, we trecked back down to the car and hung out for an hour to let the sky get fully dark. Our hope was to get to see the Milky Way, but alas, no such luck.

However, we did get to see the nearly full moon rise, and it was breathtaking.

The 20-mile drive back down the mountain in the dark was a little harrowing, what with the serpentine turns, narrow roads, and steep drop-offs, but we made it.

And we both agreed that the trip was well worth it — even with the loss of my favorite hat.

Cades Cove, GSMNP

As I write this, Greg and I are waiting in traffic, trying to exit Cades Cove. Apparently, there are three bears up ahead, and it has brought traffic to a standstill.

By the time we got close enough to see them, a park ranger had arrived on the scene to move everyone along. This was the best photo I could get as we passed them.

Anyway, today we did the Cades Cove Loop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The loop is an 11-mile, one-way drive around Cades Cove, which is a valley in the Great Smoky Mountains.

In addition to beautiful scenery, the loop also has buildings from the 1800s so that you can get a feel for what life might have been like back then.

There are also plenty of trails to hike. Greg decided that we would hike the Abrams Falls Trail, a 2 1/2-mile trail ending at a waterfall.

Holy cow, it just about killed me!

It went UP. It went DOWN. The park ranger described it as a camel with three 350-ft humps, followed by a long camel’s neck down to the falls.

And there were plenty of obstacles to navigate. Roots. Rocks. Mud. Bridges. Steps. You name it; this trail had it.

But we survived, a little worse for wear. And the falls were pretty.

Titanic Museum and GSMNP

We began our day with a visit to the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge.

As we entered the museum, the staff — excuse me, “crewmen” — gave each of us a card with the name and statistics of one of the passengers on the Titanic.

I loved this idea because it gave us a personal connection to one of the passengers. As we continued through the tour, we tried to figure out whether our passenger had survived.

The first floor held artifacts and stories about the building of the Titanic, the layout, and the passengers. We weren’t allowed to take pictures on this floor, but it was extremely interesting and informative.

Then we went up to the next floor, where there were recreations of some of the Titanic’s rooms.

At the end of the tour, we got to find out what had happened to our particular passenger.

Since Greg’s passenger was one of the musicians, he played until the Titanic sank and perished along with the ship. My passenger was a 17-year-old girl, who survived and lived until the ripe old age of 81.

On our way out, we descended the grand staircase.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

After a quick lunch back at the camper, we headed to the Sugarlands Visitor Center for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg.

We talked to the park ranger about hiking opportunities within the park. Since neither of us was up to actually hiking today, we decided to drive around the park to get a feel for what we might like to do in the coming days.

The views were spectacular!

Greg decided he wanted to drive Newfound Gap Road, which is about 13 miles long.

We kept seeing light blue trees on top of the mountain. Greg thought the color was caused by clouds, and I wondered whether they were a special type of tree.

It was neither. It was snow covering the branches.

We finally reached the gap, where we parked and took some photos of the beautiful views.

Following our stop at the gap, we headed back to Pigeon Forge for dinner.

Unfortunately, the traffic was so bad that we decided to take a detour and have dinner in Gatlinburg instead of making dinner at the campground.

The restaurant was the Mellow Mushroom, and it was very good!

Monticello

The sun finally came out again, although it was chilly. We met up with Christopher and Marianne for a tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home.

Chris and Marianne are quite knowledgeable about Monticello and Thomas Jefferson. We learned a lot from them.

They showed us the memorial for all the slaves who worked at Monticello. If you look closely, you can see their names carved out of the metal.

We passed the gardens on our walk up to the house.

We saw the slave quarters.

Then took a tour through the house itself.

Thomas Jefferson’s bed, which was so short he needed to sleep propped up.

We ended our day at Monticello with a question and answer session with Thomas Jefferson himself. He talked a lot about the need to be well educated if you are going to be self-governed — and to know history.

Highland

After enjoying a delicious grilled chicken sandwich in Monticello’s cafe, we headed over to Highland, the home of James Monroe.

(I have no good pictures of the house because the original burned down and only the guest house is open to tourists.)

Wow. I had no idea how significant this dude was in American history!

In addition to being the fifth American president, he did a slew of other things. However, I’m going to let you look them up. The list is too long.

The overseer’s cottage and some of the slave quarters.

We were able to take a tour of the guest house. This is where people visiting Monroe would have stayed.

I got to see where the original house stood. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of it.

However, this oak tree stood behind the house way back when Monroe lived there.

Those stones in the foreground mark the foundation wall of the original home.

After our tour of Highland, we drove over to Thomas Jefferson’s Winery and enjoyed three flights of red, white, and blended wines with Chris and Marianne.

My favorite photo of Monticello:

On to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee!

Saunders-Monticello Trail

Today the sun came out again, and Greg and I took the opportunity to do a 4-mile hike along the Saunders-Monticello Trail.

Thankfully for us, it was an easy hike, comprising a gentle grade up for 2 miles on crushed gravel and boardwalk followed by a gentle grade back down for 2 miles.

Greg has been enthralled with the pink and white dogwoods and the red buds so far on this trip. He stopped frequently to take pictures.

The trail ended near the visitor center for Monticello. We will be going there tomorrow with Chris and Marianne.

On our way back to the parking lot, the rear of this car gave us a chuckle.

And after dinner, we had our second campfire of the trip.

Grand Caverns

Greg and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Christopher, Greg’s cousin, and Chris’s wife, Marianne, to tour the Grand Caverns in Grottoes, VA.

I love caves, although I have no desire to be a spelunker. The Grand Caverns were some of the most impressive caves I have had the pleasure of touring so far.

Not only are they huge, but they have numerous interesting features.