Day Seven

Stacy: This is not what we expected. We drove from Kentucky to Tennessee today. We saw some of the pretty country. For the first time, we had rain. Now the TV has flash flood warnings at the bottom of the screen. Ignorance is bliss. We have no idea what county we are in, so we aren't worried.

We ended in Gatlinburg, TN tonight. Wow, we had no idea that this place would be this crazy. We drove through Pigeon Forge (about 10 miles north of here) and got caught in the largest old car show for the year. I am not exaggerating, there were thousands of old cars. The entire length of the town (about three miles long) there were cars parked in every parking spot, in every resturant, motel, and tourist trap parking lot. To top it off, the sidewalks were lined three/four seats deep with people sitting out to watch the cars cruise up and down the main street.

Then we got to Gatlinburg and it is like Vegas for old southern people. We drove down the street to get to dinner and there where thousands of people walking all up and down the sidewalks. There are hundreds of tourist shops. Ripley's, Wax Works, Aquariums, you name it, it's on the main street. We thought this place would be laid back, but no, it's crazy. And, because it 80 degrees at 9:00pm, everyone is still out and about.

We are excited about our plans for tomorrow! We finished making reservations online tonight to guarantee our tickets. Let's hope the rain holds off.

Leaving Mammoth Cave this morning,
Visiting Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky. This monument was built in 1909 for Lincoln's 100 birthday. The monument in Washington DC is a replia of this one. Inside the room at the top of the stairs is a symbolic cabin that represents what Lincoln would have lived in.

Talking to the park ranger inside the monument.

Tobacco fields. It took us a while to figure out what this was. Neither of us has ever seen tobacco growing.

Tobacco that has been harvested and is hung upside down to dry. This scene was all along our trip. They hang them from barns, fences, clothes lines, anything that is high enough.