Tennessee has been my boyfriend and I's number one spot to travel since we got together a year and a half ago. It's just been a place that we can both relax, yet we still have so much to see of Tennessee. My first time down to Tennessee was my birthday in March of 2017. We had to get a hotel our whole stay because it was too cold for any of the campsites to be open. We had an interesting time just site seeing some of the well known parts of the the Great Smokies. Cade's Cove was one of the places we stopped at the first time we went down into the park. There is a road that will lead you to the cabin that the cove is named after, and there are some pretty awesome views along the way.
This was also the time we were able to enjoy New Found Gap, which is the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. We also didn't let the rain discourage us one day from enjoying the amazing views. Mountains are quite beautiful after it rains. Gatlinburg had plenty to see as well. We were able to enjoy Ripley's Aquarium, which gave me an opportunity to pet moon jellies, sting rays, and horse shoe crabs. Me being the biology nerd that I am freaked out in excitement about being able to do all of those things. Our Ripley's ticket also gave us the option to go to two more of the Ripley buildings including the Ripley's Believe it or Not building and Ripley's fun house.
Our last adventures to Tennessee was in September of last year, and boy it was beautiful. That time around we got to stay on the Blue Ridge Parkway at a little campground where we were able to stay on the side of a mountain in our tent. There was nothing better to wake up to than the site of the mountains from right outside your tent. On our way to our campsite we were able to see bull elk, and a young black bear running across the road. Keep in mind if you ever stay in a place that is so far out in the middle of nowhere you will see wildlife at your campsite. When we were there we were informed that a group would be out bear hunting near our campsite our last day there because there was a spotting of a bear near there. Being informed of that news made me look around before I fully got out of my tent to go pee at three in the morning.
We decided that time around to go on a eight mile hike to Charlie's Bunion on the Appalachian Trail. If you are a hard core hiker like me and just want a day trip out in the middle of no where that is a hike for you. The ecosystem changes as you go up the mountain is just incredible. At one point on the trail you are just walking on top of a mountain. Charlie's Bunion is a rock over look on the side of a mountain and honestly one of the best views you can get of the Great Smoky Mountains. I will be honest that this part of the trail you won't see a lot of people until you get to the actual Charlie's Bunion. I was honestly thinking there would be less people at the location, but we saw less people going there than when we got to our destination.
We have visited the magical place known as Dollywood. Dollywood has a fun filled time of roller coasters, southern country music, and an old train that you can ride that used to work for the railroad. Part of the park even gives you the down home feels of the fair, and some parts of the park give you blasts from the past. Live entertainment is throughout the park every hour. There is even a museum in the park dedicated to Dolly Parton and her career.
We found ourselves in North Carolina for a couple of our days of travel to go visit his cousin and her husband. They took us to Pisgah National Forest (home of the the Biltmore Stick). In Pisgah we got to visit the rock slide that is famous for people just going down the rock face like a rocky slip n slide. We visited Devil's Court where you can see four states from the peak. Would not recommend the climb if you don't like super steep areas. They took us to some areas that had some really incredible waterfalls (I will post a couple of the videos I got with my phone).
We visited Hendersonville, North Carolina, which is known for being an art/musical town. They host live music every weekend, and have plenty of shops featuring local artists. They also had an local bakery that had amazing pastries as well. Hendersonville is also known for the "white squirrel", which is nothing more than some fake white squirrels posted throughout the town, but is a cool tradition in town.
The reason I named this post Tennessee part one was because we will be going to Tennessee in just a few short days. This time around we will be going to the Dixie Stampede, hiking the ten mile Alum Cave Trail, and ziplining through the tree tops. I will leave some pictures here of past trips. Unfortunately I didn't take any with a camera the last time we were there. I was in the transition of wanting a smaller camera then, and was not wanting to tote the monster known as my Nikon. I do, however, have some pictures from my phone that off of you can enjoy. Hope you enjoy!
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