The Grueling Appalachian Trail

Note: Internet was spotty and/or expensive over the last couple of nights so the last couple of posts were written after we got back. To our loyal 3 readers, we apologize for the inconvenience.

While it was tough to leave the classy Gatlinburg, we had to make our way through the Great Smoky Mountains. Our first stop in the park was the visitor's center where we saw all kinds of taxidermied animals (including something called a skunk and another animal called an opossum - I hope I got the name right because they were beautifully exotic). We also learned that the park got its name in 1981 when they honored the movie Smokey and the Bandit 2. However, the spelling was changed to match the Cherokee translation.

Next up we went to Cade's Cove. Cade was maybe a settler who built a church or something. Anyway, his cove was pretty nice and there were lots of picturesque views. The highlight here though was a traffic jam, which meant there was a bear, an elk or a bicyclist fell down a hill. Luckily for us it was the first one and it turned out it wasn't just one bear: it was a mom and four small cubs. Of all our trips out west, Jess and I never saw any bears of any kind so it was cool to see 5 black bears relatively close by.

The following stop on the trip was the Newfound Gap which is where the park was dedicated and is where the North Carolina/Tennessee border is. You can stand in both states at once although it's not as good as the 5 corners site we visited a few years back where you can be in Kentucky, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri and Texas all at once.  This is also where the Appalachian Trail runs through so we decided to hike it. It was basically straight uphill and I think we probably hiked it for 100 miles (we must have went far as we saw a sign for Maine). Upon getting back to our car, we powered through a big lunch to regain the thousands of calories we likely expended on the trail.

Our last spot in the park was Clingman's Dome, which is the highest point in the park. There's an observation tower at the top that provides some good views although it is a steep half-mile hike up to the top. Being experienced hikers, it wasn't that bad and we finished without any trouble.

We ended the day the only way possible when you're int he NC mountains: at a casino. The Harrah's Cherokee Hotel and Casino was ok although having visited many, many, many, many casinos in the past, it was probably one of the worst. The slots were tight, the rooms were ok but expensive for being kind of blah and everything there was straight out of the late 90's, including the Ace of Base and Third Eye Blind playing on the speakers. I will say that the dealers they had were some of the best - the $5 Let It Ride table was made much more enjoyable because of the personable dealers which is something you don't see much anymore. Unfortunately, they did ruin it a little by charging Kevin for a beer - while we were sitting at the table spending $10-$20 a hand! I've never seen that before and hope it's not a sign of things to come.

I convinced Kevin to go back to the tables after a brief break which was great for him and he ended up hitting a nice hand and ending up for the night. I didn't do so well but that just means I'm due.

As they say in the Cherokee Casino, "Budweiser? That'll be $4." Note: They actually say this.