Beautiful Tennessee and good ole moonshine!

Pigeon Forge, Kentucky
temps in the 60's but not for long!

A big storm was moving in so we exited Virginia and headed into Tennesse.  Snow was expected and yep, here it came.  We settled into Lakeview RV in Bluff City to wait out Halloween, snow and what else could come our way.  We woke up on November 1st to a bit more than a dusting of snow.

The snow turned to rain early in the day

We stayed inside and watched movies all day and caught up on small chores that needed to be done.  Eric asked the owner for nearby BBQ recommendations and he sent us off to Ridgewood BBQ.  The menu was limited to shredded brisket, pork or chicken but it was huge portions for really reasonable prices.  The blue cheese dip came highly recommended and did not disappoint.  I couldn't eat this all the time as I would be big as a house!

Most of the snow melted the next day so off we went for a little side trip into North Carolina.  I wanted to continue on the Blue Ridge Parkway and see what else there is to see.  We stopped at a little shop/bakery and I found a set of depression ware dessert plates that I just had to have.  They are wrapped securely and boxed up for the journey.  I don't know why I had to have them but I did!  We spent just as much on desserts as we did on the dishes and boy was it all good!

We passed lots of trucks full of Christmas trees.  It was the first of November and they are cut already!  No wonder they are dry as a bone by Christmas!









We were less than 5 miles from Bristol Raceway.  They offer tours, but due to the cold weather we decided not to do one.  I'm not a Nascar follower, but thought maybe it would be interesting.  Not enough to freeze for though!

Our plan was to leave Bluff City and head to Paducah, Kentucky.  Eric discovered Oak Ridge National Laboratory outside of Knoxville.  The longer tours are only done in the summer and only with 2 weeks notice.  He inquired anyway to see if one was possible.  There was a High School field trip from North Carolina on Thursday, we could join 42 kids if we wanted.  So off we headed to Pigeon Forge so we could see the Great Smokies and do the tour.

The Smokies were beautiful!  We spent an afternoon in Gatlinburg drinking moonshine.  Every distillery offers free tastings of 12 different kinds.  My the end of the afternoon I was just a little bit tipsy!

Ole Smoky Distillery

Deep Fried Oreos?

We were up in the clouds at Clingmans Dome

You can cover two states at one stop

Pigeon Forge is a crazy place.  The Parkway from the Highway to the Smokies takes more than a half hour with no traffic.  Along the way you'll see everything from upside down houses, King Kong hanging on a building, the Titanic, and every chain restaurant and gift shop you can imagine.  We come from Las Vegas and this is like the Strip on steroids.

Tennessee was a lot of fun and we enjoyed it.  The mountains are beautiful and the people were friendly.  I will do a separate post on Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Next Stop is Kentucky and the National Quilt Museum!