Day 25 - Gatlinburg, TN

We had a lovely morning to start with - I was having a lay in, snoozing in the early morning sunshine (which has been rare!) and Lee woke up and started making coffee so he could bring it to me in bed. Everything was so relaxed and chilled, even the tent was dry thanks to a whole night without rain, our first in a while. We were too complacent and completely missed the big black cloud that had crept overhead until the rain started. Our lovely dry tent became a soaking wet tent and we had the not so nice job of trying to pack everything into the car in the pouring rain. At the least the coffee was made!

We learnt a valuable camping lesson today - always keep on eye on the sky!

Today we were headed to Nashville, Tennessee. The night before we had a quick snack in Gatlinburg, a mountain town just outside the Smoky Mountains National Park. We didn't have much time to explore the town at the time so we decided to head back this morning as it looked like a lot of fun.

There are a lot of attractions in Gatlinburg, unfortunately, a number of them were closed the morning we visited but we had fun walking around the different attractions. There were a lot of Moonshine shops, both of us would have loved to have had a few samples but we had a long drive ahead of us and didn't want to risk it, especially if the Moonshine is made a strong as it is supposed to be made! Instead, we bought a locally made Peach Wine which we thought we'd save for when we're finally camping in the sun!

Just off the main high street in Gatlinburg, right next to Bubba Gump Shrimp, is the start of a Smoky Mountains Driving Trail called Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. It was strange being on the tourist high street of Gatlinburg with all its hustle and bustle and then the next minute, being back in the Smoky Mountains National Park going through forests and meadows with deer and turkeys! The tour was lovely, so peaceful and lots of good views and photo opportunities.

We both agreed that we have really enjoyed the Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg and would love to come back one day and explore the area some more. We'd probably staying in one of the many motels in Gatlinburg and make use of the free shuttle, then we could try out the Moonshine!

Once we'd finished the one way loop of the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, we got back onto the main road and started heading towards Nashville. Our journey took us through Pigeon Forge. As we went into the town, we knew it wasn't like any other town. There were more large and over the top Crazy Golfs, Car Racing and tourist shops than we had ever seen, even in the Panhandle! 

It took us a while to work out why, and then we saw the sign.... it was the home of Dollywood! 

If you have kids, Pigeon cove would be an awesome place to stay, it is like an Orlando in Florida but instead of Disney you have the Dolly Parton themed parks and instead of the beaches, you have the Great Smoky Mountains a short drive away. 

The drive into Nashville was going really well until we stopped off for fuel and both of us got out of the car without the keys and it locked itself. Major panic set in until we realised that Lee had luckily left the window open a crack! It was just enough space to get a rod of metal in and open the door (a hero 2 days in a row!). We celebrated with some Elvis Style lunch - Banana and Jam (Jelly) sandwich! Yum Yum!