11-4-18

Sevierville, TN has been completely unexpected. It is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains and people come to see the fall foliage.  (The colors this year are pretty but not spectacular.)  However, starting at I-40 and heading south on 66 we have encountered the Las Vegas of the Appalachians.  (No gambling, though.) Through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg there is one tourist trap after another.  We saw, but did not participate in, an upside-down experience featuring a plantation house on it's roof, The Hatfield-McCoy Dinner Feud, the Titanic Experience, the Smoky Mountains Opry, King Kong on the Empire State Building and a country-western Mt. Rushmore to name a few.  Dollywood is here, as well.

Hatfield-McCoy

Titanic

King Kong

Rushmore

Also advertised was the Kryptology Locked Rooms Experience where you are locked in a room with 7 other people and use clues and games to get out.  They say you can leave any time you want, but I don't think that would be enjoyable for me.

There is an Alcatraz East Crime Museum and a Bible Museum.  The traffic is astounding.

People are very friendly here, they hold doors open, let you go first in traffic and greet you but there is definitely a cultural difference.  We saw a store for Golf and Guns, another store that lets you rent guns, including machine guns and the Smoky Mountains Knife Works, which we did explore.

Gary bought a rain suit here which will be helpful if we arrive at a campground and have to set up in a storm. 

We are staying at Two Rivers Landing RV Resort, which is just beautiful.  It is on the French Broad River and has grass, trees and concrete sites instead of gravel, which makes keeping the TrailBayser clean much easier.

A staple on menus in this area is Meat and Three, meaning the protein of your choice plus three side dishes.  You can also have your choice of Supper or Dinner, supper being a more lunch-sized portion.

You've heard the expression, "When pigs fly."?  Well, now you've seen it.