Gatlinburg, TN -Tuesday

 

Tuesday morning, May 10th, the 7½ mile, 15 minute trip to Gatlinburg, TN brought Doreen/Tony, Beth/Todd and me to the locally famous Pancake Pantry. Originating in Indiana, the owners started The Pancake Pantry here and it became the first pancake house in Tennessee. They began serving the year I graduated high school, 1960. When visiting the site, be sure to click on "Food Photos." The portions are huge, the restaurant filled and you don't walk away hungry. HERE are the choices we had for breakfast. 

Behind me what I thought was whipped cream for the toppings
for many of the offerings, turned out to be whipped butter.

This is the same bowl by the time we were ready to leave.

From there we walked the town taking in the sights. In the distance I had my eye on the steep slope and the ski-lift bringing folks up to the summit. Well, says I, this has the making of another first for me. They're gonna get me on that thing. It looked like one way to get to heaven. And that we did. Read about the Skylift Bridge.

Chair lift takes us 500' above Gatlinburg.
1,800 above sea level.

The Cliff Branch stream below

The Walkway over Davy Crocket Ravine

Doreen takes in the view

It's a 700' span across the ravine.

Watch how they laid Skybridge decking HERE

The cabling system gave me a very comforting feeling about the safety of my "adventure."

Designers kindly placed 30' of see thru glass along the
walkway to remind us how high we are.

Remnants of the wildfires of 2016 that swept across Crockett Mountain

Spectacular views of the Great Smoky Mountains, the most visited National Park in the U.S.

Clingman's Dome is the highest point reaching 6,643'. The observation tower at the top gives
a 100 mile view. It's a mile hike up but the steepness makes it difficult.

Although the highest portions were shrouded in clouds, the "smokey" of the Smokey Mountains is due to the blue-colored fog created by the millions of plants giving off a "volatile organic compound or VOC". So much is emitted, the fog gives the smokey look.

The Smokey Mountains are a sub-range of the Appalachians that run through
South Carolina and Tennessee. Although the dome that peeks through the clouds...

...is not Clingman's Dome, I was able to zoom in and capture this interesting peek.

The ride from the summit was more spectacular than the ride up.

Beth and Todd were within earshot to acknowledge a "Hello"

The Anakeesta ("the place of high ground) Tower is the tallest structure in Gatlinburg
and a theme park offering visitors many adventures. 

Before taking an afternoon ride through the Smokey Mountain National Park and Cades Cove, we took in the sights as we walked through town.

Nice sandals, bro.

Many shops are located off the main street (with nice places to rest)

Here, a couple of old people rest while others visit the many shops.
I don't know who she is but she had no problem talking with the old
guy that chose to sit next to her. (She was younger than me.)

A terrific stop for me was a visit with Tony and Todd to the Ole Smokey Distillery also known as The Holler.

Here, for $5.00, you're given 12 (plus a bonus) tiny tasting cups (about ½ oz) and the lovely young lady, who knew her moonshine, described and poured sample of each flavor.
At the beginning, she admonished, "Don't sip, just throw it back." Only one cleared my sinuses, the rest were about 80 proof. The $5.00 coupon given at the end went toward the purchase of my favorite:

Click HERE to see the incredible mouth watering assortment of 27 Moonshine flavors. Though Federal Law prohibits shipping, visit your local wine/liquor store that may carry the brand. If not, request it. Van Wyck Wine Liquor in Croton carries four or five flavors. 

Coincidentally, right after leaving the 13-shot tasting of moonshine, we came upon two of the nicest fellas you'd ever want to meet sitting on the wall of a planter. I decided to join them.

Accustomed to throwing me under the bus, either Tony or Todd probably
mentioned our recent visit to the distillery.

A terrific day but far from over. To keep this blog post short, I'll continue the afternoon's picturesque ride into the Smokey Mountain Park and Cades Cover in the next blog. See you again soon.