Runaway to the Smoky Mountains

In early June, I ran away for a weekend to the North Carolina/Tennessee area. I met up with a couple of friends, Jason, Caitlin and Alexis. It was little reunion trip to the town of Gaitlinburg (I pronounce it Gat-lynns-burgh).

On the way to TN, we stopped by the quaint hippie town of Asheville to say hi to my friend Mike from State College. The town is pretty cool and dilapidated and apparently Obama is a fan. We stopped by Mellow Mushroom and proceeded to check out the hippie art and statues. When we found a cat climbing a light post, the girls were ecstatic. I found a turkey and pig and was even more impressed. After a quick hour in the town we headed out on I-40 though the Smoky Mountains. We drove by the huge rockslide (that was recently cleared) which shut down the road for a good six months. The sheer amount of rocks that fell was massive – some were supposedly the size of houses.

Then we got into TN and took a back way in to Gaitlinburg – past all the shady shacks of the REAL Smoky Mountains. Gaitlinburg itself is a weird toursit trap of a town. It kind of like going to a beach town, but with more oddity’s and knickknacks. It also is the home of RIPLEY’s BELIEVE IT or NOT!. The town also had a huge aquarium, weird museums, the General Lee, a wax Tony Stark, and a space needle.

We ended staying a cabin up the road a bit along a web interwooven country road. Our cabin was called Hidden Falls. It had a sweet view of the mountains and pretty legit charcoal grill. Below the cabin I heard some water and decided to see if there was any salt to its name. I forgot how lush and overgrown the East coast is compared to the West. I had to bushwack my way to the stream in the same manner Bear Grylls cuts through the Amazon. After sliding down trees, and skreeing through the underbrush I made it to the water falls and took some pictures.

The next day we went rafting on the Dirty Bird (Pigeon River) with Smoky Mountain Outdoors. Our river guide, Stoli (named for his favorite drink), was a pretty chill dude. We talked about TN, where he was from, his stories from working in the county jail, and other adventures on the water. I also tried to see if we could get some TN white-lightning to no avail. Going down the river, everyone was afraid of the dangerous shopping carts that always lurk on the bottom of rivers. Jason and I did a bit of impromptu swimming and practiced our bailing out of boat technique. The girls (probably concerned about their hair) refused to get wet. Attempts were made to pull them in the water, but instead we got the icy stare (how unfun, right? :P). Also on the ride back to the cabin, we took some more back-roads and came to the realization the Tennessee should have another slogan. “Tennessee: It were cars go to die.”

The next day we drove back to Charlotte. Alexis took me to see the NASCAR Hall of Fame (I only got to see the outside). I hope to go see a race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway at some point. I also got to see the US National Whitewater Center. This was a pretty awesome place, I wish I could have spent some more time there. The next time I visit, I’ll give a more descriptive update on the blog, but until then here are some pictures of the center.

[Show as slideshow]