Gatlinburg

Rode to Gatlinburg this weekend through the Newfound Gap. 


I think this haunted house has been there since I was a boy. If it’s the same one, it has a balcony that is hinged to “fall” an inch or so when you walk out on it. Gives kids quite a jump. 

These ridgeline houses were all destroyed in a recent fire. I have a cousin who is doing well for himself rebuilding, as he is one of the few civil engineers who understands how to build here.  

It’s a tourist town. Lots of fake moonshine and fake everything. The best pizza in town really is, though: it’s the Mellow Mushroom, since 1974 makers of the Southern style of American pizza. 

The great thing about Gatlinburg is that it presses right up to the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can ride down into town, eat at the Mellow Mushroom, get back on your bike, and be in the woods again in less than two minutes. 

There’s more traffic in the park than elsewhere in the mountains, but the views are pretty. 



4 comments:

Assistant Village Idiot said...

I came through here on my way back from North Greenville College (now University - they're all doing it these days) years ago. I loved the drive through the mountains, bought cheap cigarettes for my mother-in-law, and went to the Ripley's Odditorium, which I believe was the second to be built.

raven said...

Pretty place. Took that road once years ago, Skyline Drive then over to the Natchez Trace Trail to New Orleans.There were places that did not sell alcohol on Sundays, so I had to find the local rule bender to buy beer. There are the tales about how bad it was for longhairs in the south in the '70's, but everyone treated me real well.

Starting to get chilly yet? Frost on the ground here, in the morning.

Grim said...

We had a frost, but the Gulf winds keep pushing up here. Supposed to have lows around sixty until nearly the weekend. More rain, because those Gulf winds are always wet.

It’s been a pretty autumn.

Grim said...

Ripley’s was my other favorite thing as a boy. That and the toffee pulling candy shop, which is still there.

Today I go for the pizza and the Savannah Bee Company honey.