North Carolina & The Great Smokey Mountains

On my way to Asheville!

First stop is Congaree National Park. It’s one of the National Parks that allow dogs. Woo Hoo! Lambert can go on the paths! It’s also one that I would LOVE to go and visit to see the fire flies. You have to enter a lottery to attend. It sounds amazing! Some walkways were closed for construction, so we went as far as we could and made our way back. Along the way we saw a guy with a cat. The cat was walking along the railing, so cute! We saw him again with the cat was wrapped around his neck, just hanging out. I really wanted to ask to take his picture (especially since Max and Elle take Wally out on adventures). I felt like it would be weird. He was an attractive man, probably early 30’s. He would think I was some creepy old lady!!

After the park we started for the Harvest Host, Enoree River Vineyards and Winery in Newberry, SC. The set up was nice, I was under a large tree in a field and the shade made the van cool without the overbearing AC. We headed up to do our wine tasting, hmmmm. South Carolina grapes, very different from what I am used to! They weren’t awful, one, Muscadine, is a grape local to SC. It was nothing I had ever tasted before. Not sure I would ever want to drink it again, but it was interesting. The hosts were really nice and engaging. They were hosting karaoke at seven, so I ventured back to the van to eat and thought, maybe…NOPE.

I noticed other HH guests had come and they were at Karaoke so I said hello. They were really nice and had an older pup with them. It’s nice to talk to other people that are out adventuring and see what their plans are and where they’ve been. They suggested a drive-in-movie theater that is a HH in west Virginia. I’ll keep it in mind, if it works out!

North Carolina!!!

My destination is Asheville. Maddy and some dude from wine tasting in Savannah suggested the location. The Biltmore was a suggestion too. I found an RV park and booked two nights.Then checked my ‘book’ (gift from Max with all the states best things to do).

I begin at New Belgium Brewery. It’s huge! One of the food trucks was vegan Mexican. I had a great taco salad along with my beer. Then off to the River Arts District. it’s packed and parking seems like a lot, so we tour around some before driving to the RV park. It was a weird one. The lady was nice, but the park was right off the highway with two small rows of sites. There was also a few cabins. (I wonder what they’re like inside.) There are about 20 spots and maybe five are empty, six have trailers with no cars, some have toys outside and no people, no car or truck, just the trailer. There are a couple of other sites that look like people live in their RV. I see this a lot this place is kind of creepy. SOOOO, I am not going to the ‘bathhouse’, I do use the dog park (when it’s light out). There was a hose attached to my water when I arrived so I unhooked it and left it. That evening the man staying next to me came and apologized for leaving the hose. He was normal. We chatted for a bit, he had dogs and was nice. We discussed some hikes and road closures and he went on his way.

The Biltmore, Asheville NC……

I decided to check out the Biltmore, since it was recommended. Knowing absolutely NOTHING about this place I googled it and found that ogs are allowed in the gardens but not in the house. That’s fine. I’ll be quick in the house and leave the AC on for him. But WAIT – it’s $100 to visit this place WTF. Is it Disneyland??? I know I will likely never be in this area again, so I get the ticket (timed) and head out the next day. I arrive earlier than my ticket says (to avoid the heat) and they let me in. They direct me to the winery and barn area, where the walking trails are, they say. BULLSHIT! The walking trails are all over the place, far apart from one another, and they’re 1 mile here, 1.5 miles there, and the parking was stupid!

Oh well. We head into the little ‘town’, for lack of a better word and wander. We find a few paths and some old barn structures that have videos about The Vanderbilts. I’m a bit skeptical about the propaganda they are spewing, but whatever. The wine tasting opens soon .There’s an area with the history of the wine making so I took a look there and asked some questions. It seemed interesting. The entrance to the winery is very cute, we walk through and arrive at the winery. Lambert can’t go in and the patio doesn’t open until 1pm. I am not that interested so we wander and find a pub, named after a dog , with a huge plaque out front about their love of dogs. Perfect. Dogs are only allowed on the patio. Okay. It’s a 45 minute wait. (There are about 8 open tables on the patio) 

We stopped at the ice creamery (am I in Disneyland, without the rides?). I bought a $10 veggie wrap and decide to try some wine. I choose a Sav Blanc thinking if it’s good I will get a bottle and save it for when Maddy comes to Boston. It’s $9.50, served in a plastic cup and sucks. Back to the van to check out the house and the gardens, which is where I wanted to go in the first place. Well, there are no gardens, there’s a shuttle to get from the parking lot to the house, and it’s hot and quite frankly I do not give a shit about where these dumb ass people lived (that didn’t use any slavery to build their mansion, right……) As you can tell, my opinion is if you’re in Asheville avoid the Biltmore! (Sorry Madison if you liked this place!!) 

It took me over 15 minutes to get out of this place, the exit signs were back and forth and through the whole dumb area, UGGHHH. And there were tons of corn fields. WHY? I had asked the lady by the winery and she didn’t know, is it their side hustle? They don’t make enough off a crappy $20 lunch! No, it’s to feed their cows! (Which they sell for food. So yes, it is a side hustle!) The only good things I can think that came from this place was the wrap dress and maybe Anderson Cooper. When I returned my nice neighbor asked me about the Biltmore; I just said, don’t go! Sorry Biltmore, just not interested!

Great Smokey Mountains!

Now on my way to the Great Smokey Mountains. This has been on my bucket list for a while so I am excited! The drive was beautiful and the road that was closed (I-40) because of flooding and after effects of hurricane Helene (from what I can discern) had reopened! WOO HOO! The road headed straight into the park and it did not disappoint. There was a really cute area called Maggie Valley. When we got into the park we stopped at the Oconaluftee Visitor center and walked along the river. The cooler weather was a blessing for sure!

As we were driving I noticed someone pulled off the road, ANIMAL sighting! There was an elk in the brush. We watched it for a while. I was about to leave and stopped. So happy I did. There was a mom and her baby that came out into the clearing! So cute!!! Then we hit the Newfoundland Gap, the point where North Carolina and Tennessee meet and the views were amazing! Lambert wanted to practice more of his Parkour, umm NO! Next stop, RV park! We’re driving along and I notice my GPS says 15 miles, 45 minutes, hmmm. Then 4 miles and 24 minutes, something has to be wrong. NOPE. I entered into the most obnoxious place I think I have EVER seen in my life, Gatlinburg.

ANOTHER Disneyland??? Where am I???

Did you know Ripley’s was more than ‘Believe it or Not”? There were SO MANY things..just to name a few – Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smoky Mountains, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Ripley’s Haunted Adventure, Mountain Coaster, Mirror Maze and more and this is just ONE company. I haven’t seen anything like this and to be frank, I hope I never do again! There was a roller coaster a movie car museum and PEOPLE GALORE!! Get me out of here!!!

Owie!

The RV park was perfect! Dudley Creek RV Resort. It was smallish and very quaint and CLEAN! I saw my first fire fly!! So cool. Not so cool was a bug bite. I was never allergic to bee stings or bug bites until maybe eight years ago, now Epipen in hand (which thankfully I have yet to use) I am on high alert when it comes to bugs and bees. Unfortunately I got bit. I’m supposed to take a Benadryl right away when I know something happened BUT it was night time and maybe TMI but Benadryl makes me hyper so I settled on a Zyrtec. The next morning, off to urgent care. They gave me an antibiotic, a steroid and a steroid cream. Hopefully this is the worst that happens on my adventure!

So MANY rides and PEOPLE!!!!

So I have to go to Pigeon Forge to get the drugs. The home of DOLLYWOOD. I have to see this! When I enter the area it’s a replica of Gatlinburg. Who knew there were two Disneylandesc areas right by the Great Smokey Mountains. The whole thing seems weird as hell. I tried to get a glimpse of Dollywood but couldn’t get close enough and this was NOT on my bucket list.

Although now we were in a great position to enter the park from a new vantage point. We did a lot of driving and stopping along the river and saw lots of wildlife! First, a black bear, and he (or she) was kind of close, as usual there were some people that were getting too close!. It was fairly small, so I am assuming it was a teenager. Mom is likely close by! Later we drove through Cades Cove. It was beautiful, many old buildings of early settlers still standing.More wildlife spotting, wild turkeys, deer and more bears in a tree. The traffic slowed and I asked the park volunteers what was up. There were three bears in the tree out in the field. I couldn’t see them, but still cool!!

Gatlinburg Artists

What to do on our last day. I toyed with the idea of going into Gatlinburg and taking Lambert to The Sky Park. You take a tram up and it’s the longest pedestrian cable bridge in North America and then I thought again. We would both be stressed out, so that’s a pass. The other, tamer. part of Gatlinburg is the artisans. There’s a huge arts and crafts community. So we do this instead. At our first stop I asked the artist about the craziness in Gatlinburg and they told me The Great Smokey Mountains was the most visited National Park. I was astounded. He mentioned that it is less than a day’s drive for two thirds of the population in the country. I haven’t done my research on this but it does track. I used my Bring Fido app to find a great place to eat, Split Rail Eats. Lambert enjoyed a lovely chicken breast, for $5.00!!! It was a much more relaxing way to spend our last day in the area. Laundry done, arm healing, we’re on our way for an oil change!

Observations

• Still lots of Waffle Houses, cemeteries and churches
• HUGE white crosses….hmmmm
  • A little google search tells me Tennessee has the most MEGA churches per capita
• FIRE FLIES!!!!
• New way to de-lint. Straight from the source!!