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We came for a more quiet vacation so we continued to Gatlinburg which is very close to
the entrance of the National Park and a much more relaxed vacation town. On the way up to
Gatlinburg there is a Visitor Center. This is really worth visiting. They have quite a
selection of brochures about the Smoky Mountains and activities going on. We are always
very pleased and surprised to get such a competent guidance from the Visitor Centers in
the USA. The selection of material for free distribution is vast, the personal is highly
professional and will always be prepared to answer any of your questions, and you will
certainly enrich your knowledge by visiting the thematic exhibitions and video displays.
Gatlinburg has many motels and hotels to choose from. We were quite lucky to find
extremely nice and cheap rooms (2 nights for a bargain of 60 $; but the telephone is
expensive!) at the "Bella Vista" hotel half a mile up in the mountains above
Gatlinburg. The view from our balcony to the Smoky Mountains was terrific. The hotel has
all sorts of facilities. There was even a free trolley bus for down-town visits. The hotel
hosted a large medical congress while we stayed there, which made Jens somewhat
sentimental about old times medicinal chemistry. Gatlinburg has very good clean mountain
air and the evenings were perfect for walking along the main street, which has plenty of
restaurants and shopping possibilities.
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The next day we spent the whole day in the mountains. The coloration of indian summer as we had hoped for had not yet arrived so far south. But later on we had the whole spectrum of fall colors on our tour to Canada. It was a nice surprise that visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free. On our way up to the Newfound Gap (5,048 feet) we really experienced the truth of "smoke"in the Smokies. At one stop at a pullout we had a little bit of visibility as shown on this photo. Most of the day the mountain peaks remained covered in "smoke". First we decided to visit the Cherokee Indian Reservation across the North Carolina Border. At the southern Oconaluftee Visitor Center there is a Pioneer Farmstead. One should not miss this museum which hosts a collection of old farm houses re-erected on a field where corn, tobacco, cotton and garden vegetables are grown. Park employees dressed up in local costumes from the pioneering time and farm animals (horses, cattle and black pigs) gave interesting life to the museum. The small collection of pictures below hopefully illustrate the pleasant atmosphere at the farmstead.
| Pioneer Farmstead at Oconaluftee Visitor Center | |
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At Cherokee we visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. The exhibition in this rather small museum is among the most splendid we have ever seen in the USA. After you have entered the museum you are invited to see a video-show with an old cherokee indian story teller. He will give you the Cherokee version of how the earth and the Cherokee Nation were created. Afterwards you are lead through a labyrinth of small rooms with extremely well selected artifacts and pictures put together in a very balanced and attracting way to tell you pieces from Indian history and living.
