We were pretty knackered after our big ride but it was only about 2:30pm and we had lots more to do! We drove to the start of Grotto Falls which had been recommended by the owners of the campsite and started the short-ish walk.
I was still on the look-out for bears and I wasn’t taking ANY chances. We were told just to make sure we make lots of noise while we’re walking. And so I did. (You can blame Hubs for the orientation! 🙂
It drove Hubs crazy, which, you know, made me want to keep doing it! And lucky I did too!
The falls were beautiful but I was still nervous so after Hubs had taken a gazillion shots, I suggested it was time to head back.
Thankfully it was all downhill on the way back so it didn’t take too long. We went in search of a nice spot to watch the sunset but we got caught in traffic and lost track of the time so we just saw glimpses of it through the trees. This was the cause of 1 traffic jam we got caught in.
This is, clearly, the worst photograph of bears EVER taken. But we were excited that we did actually get to see a bear (or 2), AND I was particularly excited that it was from the (relative) safety of our car. Then of course we had to find somewhere to eat again which proved tricky. AGAIN! We ended up just grabbing some bread and sardines and potato chips at a place down the road from the campground and got home just after 10, completely exhausted and ready for beddy-bise!
Smoky Mountains. 11 Miles on a bike, among other things!
After an AMAZING night sleep, the owners of the campground told us we could have the cabin for the 2nd night for the price of a tent site!! WOO HOO! (We had already packed everything up but we didn’t mention that! We just unpacked everything again! SCORE!)
We set off around 9am and headed up to the highest point of the Smoky Mountains, at 6643 feet up, Clingmans Dome. It was quite a drive and as we got higher and higher we got colder and colder but we refused to pull over and put the roof up. I think we even had the heater blasting us at one stage! Shocking! 🙂
On the way up
We parked in the car park and walked the final half a mile up to the look-out. Half a mile is only about 800m but it was hard-going! We reached the top and the view was pretty special. We also passed part of the Appalacian Trail along the way. You can probably guess what Hubs has added to his “things to do before I die” list!
Some day Hubs!!
Are we at the top yet??????
Wifey and Hubs at the top of the lookout.
We then drove back down into the warmth of the morning and headed to Cades Cove. Hubs had read about hiring bikes and riding the 11mile one-way loop so we arrived and looked into it. Although I’m not really much of a bike-rider, I thought it would be a fun thing to do so we signed up. Before we headed off we bought a couple of burgers for lunch and to fuel our journey and then we set off!
It was a pretty tough ride at times, particularly as we were riding the 2 DODGIEST BIKES IN THE WORLD!!!! Here they are looking all innocent and useable. Mine kept changing gears randomly, particularly going up hill. Aaargh!
The view really was gorgeous, especially going down hill!
Look at me multi-tasking! (Sorry about giving you the finger!!)
Hubs (as usual) took some lovely shots.
Apparently there was a bear spotted at one stage but we didn’t see it. Just a few deer.
It was hard-going sometimes sharing the road with all the cars and not very nice getting a lungful of fumes, but I’m glad we took up the challenge. It took us about 3 hours all up and about 6 bottles of water. Here we are, happy and exhausted:
And this was the BEST. ICE CREAM. EVER!!! Sooooooo goooooooood……
Monday, 13th July 2009 – Tuscaloosa, AL to Gatlinburg, TN. 424 miles.
I’m so glad I wrote down today’s journey as we went, as there’s no WAY I would have remembered the route that we had taken! Before we left the dodgy Motel 6, Hubs was looking at our huge book of maps of the USA from Walmart, and thought it might be nice to take the scenic route up through the Smoky Mountains. Heck yeah baby! I had booked us in to Smoky Bear Campgrounds for the night and I had mentioned we might not arrive til 8pm or so, so we had the whole day ahead of us. Except that we lost another hour crossing a time zone, but we left at 10:30am local time and changed time zones not long after.
We stopped in at Chatanooga for some supplies (mainly a 2L bottle of Smirnoff Blueberry for a measley $25USD) and left around 3:45pm. We still had a fair way to go at this stage, but with 4 or 5 hours of daylight left, we didn’t think much of it. The scenic drive was TOTALLY worth it. We went through Cherokee National Park which was gorgeous, then along the Cherohala Scenic Skyway. It was a very bendy road so we could only travel about 30-40mph. This proved interesting later on!
(Hubs and his naked shots!!) It’s hard to believe that all of those photos were taken within a few hours. The scenery kept changing!
As I mentioned, the roads were full of twists and turns…
Our drive took us through the Foothills Pathway which was quite secluded and really beautiful. We caught a gorgeous sunset as well!
As the daylight was slowly fading, I kept thinking “we must NEARLY be there”, and I must admit, once 8pm rolled around and we still seemed to have a little way to go, I started to get a little anxious. After all the times people had said “You’re going to the Smoky Mountains? Well, be careful of the bears!!” I really wasn’t at ease. I didn’t want to be setting up at tent in the dark with the possibility of bears poking around. Hubs was doing his best to calm me down, reminding me that there were OTHER people who said that there was really nothing to worry about, and that he wasn’t worried in the slightest.
We finally got to Gatlinburg around 9:15pm and I thought we must be really close! But the campground was on the other side of the town (the town was absolutely buzzing by the way!) so we kept driving… and driving… and I kept getting more and more anxious… and finally we arrived, at 10pm, and it was very very dark. I asked Hubs if we could ask if they had a cabin and he gave me the go-ahead. I went to the office and they actually offered us the only cabin left – the Baby Bear cabin. We said we’d take it for 1 night and then set up our tent for the 2nd night. And I asked them:
“Do we need to be wary of bears?” to which they responded: “Well, we’ve been running this place for 6 years and have never seen a bear in this area.”
Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Hubs: “Seeeeeee???? I TOLD you so!!!” Yeah, fair call.
So after quite a stressful day (brought on myself, mind you) we had some vodka and snacks for dinner and had a great night sleep, not thinking about bears at all…
Every year at Newman College, they hold a visual art competition. The theme of the competition this year was “Echoes” so Hubs did a photo composition. He spent some time practicing the execution of the photo, and then the final product took about half an hour to complete. (i.e. taking a number of different shots, changing the lighting, the positioning, the shutter speed etc.) Then on the way home from the pub one Friday night, Hubs stumbled upon some hard rubbish that the uni had discarded. There was a cabinet there with 2 glass doors intact, and Hubs decided that one of them would make a great photo frame!
Hubs had the photo enlarged to poster size and it looked amazing.
The prize of $500 is awarded at one of the fancy-pants dinners around this time of the year, so we got all dolled up (as usual) and attended. And then the winner got announced.
“And the winner is, Echoes of Them.” And I went nuts, but Hubs had forgotten what he had titled it! “By Hubs Hubsband.” And then it sunk in. He was beside himself. He was in shock. And I had tears in my eyes. My goodness I was so damn proud of him.
There were 24 entries and his was chosen out of all of them, as being the best. And it was. Here’s the award-winning-photo with an award-winning photographer.
And the description that accompanied it: “The humble couch is part of the fabric that brings us together. Each person who sits on a couch leaves an echo of themselves in the room, on the lives of those who share the couch. The memories of those who have been before combine with the memories of those who are present in an echo of the past, present and future. The theme of ‘echoes’ is central to the piece – the echo of the past in the photos on the wall, the ‘echo’ of the present in the man on the couch, and the echo of the future in the friends who are with him.”
*sigh*
Now Hubs is trying to decided between a “new” camera lens or a “new” laptop.
Congratulations Hubs, from a very very proud Wifey.
Sunday, 12th July 2009 – Cruising around N’Awluns (that’s how the locals pronounce it) and then from N’Awluns, LA to Tuscaloosa, AL. 306 miles.
We started our day by packing up and saying goodbye to Lamonthe House. It was okay but I wouldn’t rush back to stay there. This was the courtyard outside our room and the pool in the background:
Our friend Four who we know from Newman College but who is originally from Alabama came and picked us up and took us out to lunch. Four is just full of knowlegdge about, well, most things, and having lived in New Orleans for a few years, he was able to give us a great tour of the town. He took us through some very swanky neighbourhoods, past the round church (so the devil can’t corner you), and out to a landmark New Orleans Eatery:
It was so cool!
And the food was SO GOOD. Not crazy big servings which was good. Just cheap and really delicious. We had to wait in line for half an hour or so to get in there, but it was totally worth the wait!
After lunch, Four took us for a drive around the Ninth Ward and other Katrina-affected areas. It was pretty sad but I was actually really impressed with all the work that had been done in the last few years. Nothing like what I was expecting after the things I’d heard. I won’t go into too much detail, but things are looking up for the city, and it’s previous occupants are slowly moving back and starting again.
One of the levies
An abandoned house with markings on it
The temporary trailers supplied by the government for people to live in while they rebuild. Some of them are still there.
A lot of the cars that were abandoned/wrecked during the floods. There were hundreds of them.
So yeah, still a lot to be done, but New Orleans is still thriving and is a great place to visit! We were really fortunate to have Four show us around, as it gave us a real insight to the city, the people, and the history. Thanks Four!
We hit the road for Alabama around 3pm, but mostly had the roof up as it was looking pretty bleak. Lucky too, as we got caught in a torrential downpour!
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced rain like that! We had to pull over cos we just couldn’t see in front of us. Funnily enough, a few miles ahead, the road was dry!! So weird! We didn’t really know where we were staying that night – we thought we’d play it by ear. We rocked up at Tuscaloosa and thought it was as good a place as any so, for some unknown stupid reason, we chose the Motel 6 just off the highway. There were a few hotels in the vicinity and we did actually go in to them and check them out, but Motel 6 was the only one with a laundry and, well, I had to do the washing that night. So we booked in. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy????? It was so rubbish. Do you want to hear about it?? DO YOU??
Well this post is too long so I’m going to do a part 2…
Happy Bastille Day! Being in the French Quarter and all, we were confronted with seas of red and white and heavy drinking early in the day! It was very festive indeed! We headed down to the markets for a look around and picked up a few cute souvenirs. There used to be a lot of fresh fruit and veg but those stalls haven’t returned since Katrina, so it was mainly just touristy stuff.
We also went for another little look around town. This is the St Louis Cathedral.
And the French Quarter at it’s cutest!
We walked around town for a little while but it really was quite busy so we decided to go for a drive and try and have a look at where Katrina hit. A little morbid? Maybe, but I was really interested, as, thus far, we hadn’t really seen any evidence of it. But we knew we were in the “wrong part of town.” This proved to be futile as we really had no idea where to go, so we gave up and drove back to the hotel, dropped the car off, and went searching for lunch.
It was another gorgeous hot day so we opted for a seat outside, looking over Bourbon St. We stuffed ourselves with delicious ice-cold beers and yummy seafood.
We were substantially stuffed and content after another late-lunch so we went back to Lamonthe House, had a wee nap and then hit the pool for the afternoon.
The foyer at Lamonthe:
You may notice, and be surprised/disappointed that I haven’t mentioned any Jazz as yet. Well, there was always music playing in the streets or you could hear it blaring out of the bars, but we never actually went to a venue to sit and listen. Weird, I know, but we were just in such a relaxed state that we let life take us wherever it pleased, and I don’t think our bodies were used to eating and drinking so much in the afternoon so we were just pooped by about 6pm! It was a really relaxing time for us though, and we LOVE New Orleans!
We started the day with a continental brekky at the “hotel” and prepared ourselves for a very hot and humid day out. We set off on foot for the New Orleans Museum of Art for a photography show they had there; The Art of Caring: A Look at Life through Photography. It was a lovely warm day and most of the way we were in some type of shade.
We also found a community garden along the way and decided to play a game of chess. (Well, pretended to for the sake of some fun photos!)
The photography exhibition was very impressive and although it was nice to get out of the 38 degree heat, the 18 degree temperature inside became a bit too much towards the end. We were there for a couple of hours (there were hundreds of amazing photos) and then we headed back in to town for more exploring. It really was very hot and humid so when we came across a little corner shop that sold ice creams and squishies, we simply HAD to partake! (Apologies for the portrait orientation!)
We chose a delicious strawberry flavour and my gosh you should have seen how much syrup they put in! It really hit the spot!
Once we got into town, our objective was to find a barber to give Hubs a straight shave. It didn’t take us long to find one, and even though I was very nervous, the barber mentioned that he did these every day, so that put me at ease somewhat.
Here’s Hubs before:
During:
And after!
Isn’t he sexy!? It really was very super-smooth and it took an extra couple of days for it to grow back! Very nice indeed!
It started pouring down rain while Hubs was having his shave
so we found a little art studio to look around in, then we went to a pokey little bar called the Chart Room for $1.50 beers and a great atmosphere. Once the rain stopped we headed out to find somewhere to eat and took a recommendation to go to the Napoleon House. I thought the service was very good, and after our very yummy Pinot Noir, bruschetta, and Po’boys, we rolled on home for a swim, a nap, and another night in. Those big meals and wine/beer on a hot afternoon were a killer!
Thursday, 9th July 2009 – Jackson, MS to New Orleans, LA. About 200 miles.
Another cruisey day of driving today and not too many photos to show for it I’m afraid. We were very impressed by the beautifully manicured highways on Louisianna though!
We took the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway – the longest bridge in the world at 23.8 miles – over to New Orleans and got a great view of the city skyline, including the Louisiana Superdome.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with New Orleans, as we had had quite a few people telling us that it was still in really bad shape since Hurricane Katrina, but what greeted us was a friendly city with lovely people, great food and a slowly rebuilding economy. But more about that later.
I had booked a place to stay in New Orleans on line, and we arrived around 1pm to a luke-warm welcome. This is where we stayed:
The Lamonthe House is a guest house on Esplanade Ave, New Orleans. It really was quite sweet but the customer service was very poor and on the first night we had a shower with the world’s worst shower head (seriously SO bad) and then we broke the bed (we were just sitting on it! I SWEAR!) and it seemed a great inconvenience to them that it was 8pm and they had to move us. Anyway, the 2nd room they gave us was a bit bigger, but the shower was as bad, if not worse than the first! But we weren’t there to sit around doing nothing, so before all that happened we went out to a late lunch at The Praline Connection and shared a mixed plate of fried chicken, jambalaya, red beans and rice, ribs, corn bread, greens, and butter bread. It was a very hot and humid day (like summer in Queensland!) so we also had a couple of local ice-cold beers. The serving was rather large, and we ended up taking the butter bread home for dessert later. It started raining on the way back to the guest house, so we decided to have a little nap.
And when we woke up we took a little dip in the pool! (with the waterproof camera!)
We didn’t feel like eating again so we just went for a walk up along the water, down Canal st, and then completed the loop down a bit of Bourbon st and a bit of Decatur St.
It was a lovely night for a walk and we were still feeling full from our meal at 3pm so we just went home and finished off the butter bread with a couple of drinks and enjoyed each other’s company. This was the start of a lot of walking, swimming and eating!
Wednesday, 8th July 2009 – Arkansas to Jackson MS via Memphis TN. About 200 miles.
We left our hotel around 10am and headed across the Mississippi into Memphis, Tennessee, population 670,000. Something I found interesting about America is that it has towns and cities of every size, from 100 people to 20 million people and so much in between, whereas Australia doesn’t really have any towns between 400,000 people and 1.2 million, and nothing over 5 million. Not that I can think of anyway. I just thought that was interesting. Moving on. Hello Tennessee!
We arrived at the visitors centre and the lady behind the desk said “You gahtta go suee the Peabaahdy Ducks. They’re aaahn in twenny-faaaahv minutes.” Lady, if you’re going to talk to me in that gorgeous southern accent, I’m going to do whatever you say. So we covered ourselves in sun cream (it was hot already at 10:45am), left our car at the visitor’s centre and set out on foot in search of these Peabody Ducks. I can’t say it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, (or hardly saw – the place was packed by the time we got there!) but apparently it’s the thing to do in Memphis so I’m glad we went. The photos on the link are probably better but here’s what we were looking at:
We left the little duckies and headed towards Sun Studio. I was feeling pretty uneasy by this stage as there were no other people walking down the streets. Seriously – it felt like a ghost town. This was one of the main streets to Sun Studio. Where is everyone???
We arrived and I was happy to get into the air con and out of the heat. We paid for our Sun Studio tour and headed upstairs with our tour guide, Eldorado. It was a really worthwhile tour to do and I can highly recommend it. He told us about the history of the place and then we headed back downstairs to the actual studio – the studio where all the big names of Rock ‘n Roll cut their first records. As we were standing in the studio, Eldorado (I couldn’t take him very seriously) would play music that was actually recorded there, including the Million Dollar Quartet.
Here’s what we were listening to. Very cool.
And some more groovy photos taken by Hubs. (Yes. I just said groovy.)
This is the office where all the bookings for the studio would have been made.
Even though the tour was pretty cool, I was pretty unimpressed by the people who ran the place – a bunch of young, obnoxious musos with no customer service (Hubs overheard one of them saying that he hated Aussie tourist. You’re in the tourism industry. Perhaps a change of career might be in order?) and they stupidly discussed, quite loudly, a shooting that occurred just around the corner from them on the 4th of July. Seriously? Is that meant to make me like Memphis more?? Cos you’re really not selling it to me love.
We left and walked to Beale st to find somewhere to have lunch. Again, the streets were pretty deserted, but excitingly enough, we came across the nightclub where the shooting had taken place. Oh joy!
(Wifey through clenched teeth “hurry up and take the damn photo before we get shot too!!!!!”)
We had some very delicious and HUGE ribs – we shared this plate – and enjoyed excellent atmosphere and service at the Superior Hotel.
We then just strolled back to the car along the river
and headed out of town via
We drove past Graceland but didn’t have any great desire to stop in so we just drove the 200 miles to Jackson, Mississippi. I was going to go into a whole spiel about how awful that evening was, but it’s already a long post so I’ll leave it at that. Let’s just say we stayed at a Motel 6 that was rubbish, we were warned that we were near a “dodgy part of town”, we got lost looking for some dinner and I felt like we were on the “wrong side of the tracks”, had a rubbish fast-food dinner, but thankfully we found some booze to calm the nerves. It was also here that I started noticing a bit of anxiety creeping in, with what felt like my heart skipping a beat whenver I was nervous. We couldn’t leave soon enough…
Tuesday, 7th July 2009 – Ozarks, MO to just outside of Memphis in AR – 334 miles
We left Big Dick’s for the last time at 11:30am which was very sad. But we were taking memories with us that we knew would last a lifetime. Thank you so much Kimberley and BJ for such an amazing week!!
On our way out along Cup Tree Drive, we took a photo of the cup tree and were on our way.
We stopped in on our way through Lebanon to visit Colleen’s Mum (we visited Colleen’s brother and family in Springfield earlier on our trip) who was even wearing an AUSTRALIA t-shirt for us! But unfortunately she had hurt her back so it was just a quick visit. It was lovely to meet you Kate! Hope you’re all better now.
Today was our favourite day of driving thus far. We were on smaller, more secluded highways, with gorgeous scenery and no trucks trying to run us over. And Woody-Woodpecker was watching over us from above, so what more could we ask for!?
I took this shot as the sun was getting lower in the sky…
And it was a beautiful sunset.
It really was such a great relaxed day. The days were still really long so we were watching the sun set around 8:30pm. We were going to camp overnight but all the tent spots were full at the campground we passed, so we found a super budget motel (a non-smoking room that clearly people smoke in – yeuch) and grabbed Burger King for dinner. FYI the Whopper tasted the same as in Australia. We had a quiet night in with our burgers, some duty free vodka and Roseanne on cable. Oh, and I also learnt that Arkansas isn’t pronounce phoenetically. Funny!
