Sevierville, TN

We arrived at one of our favorite campgrounds for some much needed relaxation time! This is the third time we have stayed at Two Rivers Landing in Sevierville, and we specifically planned an “extended” stay so we could relax, visit our friends Bob and Alice, who live about an hour away, go to Bucee’s, and possibly go to Dollywood. Three out of four aint bad!

This campground is fairly small (56 sites, with half backing up to the French Broad River) and spotlessly clean! They have a nice pool, playground for kids, a gazebo along the river, and a great bathhouse. It’s a great place to stay if you are visiting Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, or Smoky Mountain National Park and want to be outside the crazy tourist areas. I keep forgetting to take pictures of our campsite, but here is our site as we are getting ready to leave:

We did a little relaxing, but mostly we revisited the area, shopped, explored and visited friends . And we skipped Dollywood this time.

We drove through Tellico Village in Loudon, a 55+ community we were very interested in our first and second years of travel. The roads are still super narrow, up and down and twisty-turny, with blind hills and curves- SCARY!

We were driving by a new construction home for sale and the builder was there, so he let us look around. It was nice but not perfect for us as there was a lot of wasted space and a very small family room- nice kitchen, though!

Tellico Village is beautiful, and HUGE, and we aren’t ruling it out completely, but I don’t think it is the place for us. We also went to Sweetwater Valley Farm to get cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches- yum!

The weather has been a challenge on this trip- the first 20 days we were wearing jeans and sweatshirts, and we had wind and rain. We didn’t start wearing shorts until we got to Kentucky, and now we have had torrential rain off and on. So on one rainy day we went to the movie and then hit the outlet mall- great way to spend a rainy day, right? We also drove through Pigeon Forge- it is FULL of tourist attractions to entertain adults and kids- you could easily spend a week (and a ton of $$$) here- which explains the horrendous traffic!

Our friend Bob had told us about a Abraham Lincoln Abraham Library and Museum in Tennessee, so we knew we had to visit it at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. This is a beautiful small university, and the museum is an interesting stop, with lots of information about the life of President Lincoln.

We try to visit National Parks wherever we can, and we went to Cumberland Gap National Park:

This is a gap in the Appalachian Mountains that hundreds of thousands of settlers and explorers used on their trek west. We drove the winding road to the overlook at Cumberland Gap, where you can see 3 states at the same time.

There are relics and embattlements from the Civil War there, and the views are amazing- even on an overcast day. And you can stand in 2 states at the same time!

It rained REALLY hard on our way back to the campground- I got behind a big 18 wheeler and followed his tail lights!

We had a great visit with Bob and Alice- we sure do miss them! First we went to Troyer’s, an Amish store and bakery so we could get donuts, pretzels, Amish butter and anything else that looked interesting- and there are always a ton of things that are interesting! It was National Donut Day, so the line for donuts was LONG:

We were in line for 20 minutes- worth the wait! We now have donuts and pretzels in the freezer!

We drove around Greeneville, the town where they live, and visited a couple lots we were interested in a couple years ago- they now have houses on them! Greeneville has grown, and they now have a Panda Express and a Texas Roadhouse- PROGRESS! After a delicious dinner out and a nice long visit, we headed back to Sevierville- through another torrential downpour! I tried to stay behind an 18-wheeler, keeping his tail lights on view but not too close, and that helped because it was difficult to see! Life Lesson #73- always keep your windshield wipers in good working order (and check them on a rental car before you need them!)

On our last day we looked at Airstream trailers (to see why they are such a cult favorite) and they are very cute, with no wasted space- but also very limited space because they don’t have any slide-outs. I think they are just a bit small for us (ok, for Karel) and they are very pricey!

We also visited Seven Islands State Birding Park, which is a beautiful area near the French Broad River, planted with plants and flowers that attract birds and butterflies. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, and people on the various trails with binoculars- I guess people really do go birdwatching! The park attracts bald eagles, owls, warblers and bluebirds, among others. This was a great place to relax, hike (on mostly level paved trails, so I guess that is more walking than hiking?) and see the wildlife. I have been trying to get a picture of a cardinal for 3 years, and 2 tormented me here- didn’t get a picture of a cardinal, but I did get a few pictures of an eastern bluebird, and some pretty flowers: