We finally took Fran and Jack on their long overdue first East Coast road trip, a nice long weekend up in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park followed by a mini-reunion with Aunt Candy, Uncle David, Cousin Erin and the grandfolks in Franklin for a couple of days.
Here's a link to some pictures from the trip.
On the way up to the park, we stopped for lunch in Gatlinburg (AKA the Myrtle Beach of the Smokies, and that's not a compliment). We were pleasantly surprised by the Smoky Mountain Brewery's above-average brews, tasty pizza and affordable prices. 5-ounce samples for a buck each? Sure, why not?
I grew up with the Smokies literally in my backyard, but there's nothing like driving an underpowered crackerbox at 40mph up a steep, slow climb to make you appreciate just how high you are. The view's worth it, though.
The 2 pics above are up at Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Smokies and along the Appalachian Trail.
The next few are from Cades Cove.
The 11-mile Cades Cove loop (and really the whole park) are tailor made for driving the bus. No rush, take it all in.
The captain and the first mate.
We had a nice mix of scheduled sightseeing and hiking with spontaneous R&R. For instance, on the way up a gravel road to a hiking trail, we found a perfect flat picnic spot by the river and ended up skipping the hike and spending and entire afternoon catching up on some napping/reading/swimming instead.
On the way over to Franklin, we swung through Bryson City to hit the Nantahala Brewing Company, housed in an old Tennessee Valley Authority warehouse. Very open and relaxed atmosphere (since no food is served, Jack got to come inside). It kind of reminds me of certain spots in Portland, and in fact one of the brewers was anxious to talk to us about his semi-annual trips to Portland for inspiration. Very nice selection of brews here, and fine folks working there as well. This won't be our last visit.
Back at the ranch, the tomatoes exploded on us while we were gone. To provide a sense of scale, that fence on the left is about 5 and a half feet tall. Somewhere in the background are okra and cosmos, but my tomatoes are going bonkers. Looks like it's gonna be a summer of tomato sandwiches, salsa and Caprese salad.
All these ripened on us. Now I'm picking several of the bite-sized ones daily, plus at least one or two of the bigger fruits.
Hmm, what else has been going on? Well, the azaleas we planted last spring grew and bloomed nicely.
The row of hydrangeas we planted last year doubled in size.
We turned this...
into this...
(azaleas and rhododendrons, hopefully more impressive this time next year)We brought down a few tiger lillies from Franklin. I'm learing how to cultivate them, so hopefully we'll have a lot more next summer.
Some of you may recognize this dusty, dirty old cabinet from Papaw Liner's back porch.
Rhonda has rescued and repurposed it for use as a garden tool cabinet. "Shabby chic", I think you call this kind of project.
More updates on the way soon. We're heading back to Portland as tourists the last week of July, so we're sure to have some stories then.
