Jumping, Dancing & Jamming Our Way Through Walt Disney World! I'm With the Band Now!

[johnsonmatt3]

I have decided that while you are doing your tennesse trip report that I would go back and read your first 2 TRs because I havent read those. The first one was very good. Im about half way thru the second one.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Photobucket keeps freezing my computer so I guess I better give Photobucket a great for an hour or so. That's okay, it'll give me time to post replies to everybody.

 

[aprilisis]

Photobucket keeps freezing my computer so I guess I better give Photobucket a great for an hour or so. That's okay, it'll give me time to post replies to everybody.

I hear you! Photobucket has been crashing on me all day, too.

 

[GrammyJudy]

That response from Disney was a joke...shame on them. I have not received anything yet but I was at least behind you. Loyal fans deserve more than a form letter.

When are you going to get back to your Disney report??????

 

[rndmr2]

Getting caught up on your last few updates. That is crazy the response you received to your letter, like PP's said, it's like they didn't even read the whole thing.

I like your cave pictures, I have been to a few caves, one of them the one near Natural Bridge that MEK mentioned.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Lisa, I think your pictures are great! It is very difficult to get very light and non-blurry pictures inside without paying a fortune for a high-end camera, let alone in a cave!

 

[TinksThree]

It is so hard to get good pictures in dark places but you have some pretty good ones! Oh, I forgot you were going to be there during the fireworks and all...never thought about how crowded that could be! Thanksfully we have avoided the really crowded times.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Let's give this another try.....I know ya'll are ready for me to get back to our Disney trip.

Once we had taken a handful or two of the water, we followed along for the rest of the tour:

A waterfall:

The guide told us that we were now going to be making our way out of the cave but had to wait for a group before us who was coming down. After walking so very far on slippery walkways, with Mama fighting the ever-slipping down purse straps, the set of steep stairs was looking pretty menacing. This is when Mama turned to us and said "whose idea was this anyway?" We all laughed and said, in unison, "Your's!" She laughed too and said she wasn't looking forward to going up the steps because, by now, her knees were tired, her hips were tired and her feet were tired.

Our guide said the stairwell was clear and we were ready to start the climb:

Doesn't look so bad you say? Look at this one:

And this one:

Once we got up the stairs, we were walking through here:

Before long, we were back to the entrance and were walking up the ramp into the store. The store didn't have a lot of stuff to look at but we did do a little shopping. Lacey and Jesse bought a Tuckaleechee Caverns magnet and John bought a moonshine T-shirt. I think Mama bought something but I can't remember what it was....maybe an animal carved from stone.

We made one last bathroom stop and walked to the van. We still had to decide what we were going to do since the drive to Gatlinburg was not in the cards. I took this picture on the way:

I have no clue what kind of plant it was but I don't really need an excuse to take a picture, now do I?

It was hotter than fire in the van so we sat for a while with the air conditioner running full blast. Both Mama and I had a few brochures in the car and one was of the Smoky Mountain National Park. I had heard so many good things about Cade's Cove and I suggested we take a drive there. Everybody said that was fine with them but we didn't want to leave without knowing which way to go. The brochure we had didn't have a very specific map. John and Jesse went back to the cave store and asked for directions. They came back and said all we had to do was keep turning right and we'd see signs. Cade's Cove was only 9 or 10 miles from the caves.

I don't think I can explain to you how excited I was to go to Cade's Cove. I had heard so many good things (from some really nice Disers and family members) and, best of all, I had heard that there was wildlife all around and there was a possibility that we might get to see them.

Before we could go any further, though, we were all in need of food. We hadn't eaten anything of substance since early that morning. All the walking on the tour had us as hungry as a bear!

We drove out onto the highway that would take us to Cade's Cove. We decided to stop at the first place that served food. Look! Subway! We pulled in, got in the pretty long line and were about 1/2 to the place where we give our order and the girl behind the counter makes the announcement that they are out of bread. Are you kidding me? This is a s-a-n-d-w-i-c-h shop! What do you mean you are out of bread?

We all looked at each other and decided to leave and go to a little place across the highway. We in the car and were about to pull in when we spotted a BBQ restaurant just a few yards away. BBQ sounded really good. We got out and walked to the door:

And were promptly turned away because it was 2:01 and they closed at 2:00 p.m. What the heck kind of BBQ closes at 2:00 p.m. on a weekend? Did no one want to feed us? We piled back into the van and went back to the other restaurant. We were seated really quickly by a woman who had a real thick accent and looked as if she hadn't seen a dentist in quite a few years. But, she was super nice and had our sweet teas out in no time at all. I can't remember who ordered what but I do remember there being burgers, fresh BLT sandwiches, fried catfish, bbq sandwiches (nanny-nanny-boo-boo to the other place who was closed) and country fried steak. Everything was really good and our waitress was nice and attentive. We tipped her good and I secretly hoped that she'd put that money towards a trip to the dentist.

We continued on our way with full bellies and excitement that we would be in the Smoky Mountain National Park before too long. This would be just my second visit to the park with the last visit being all too quick. We had simply passed through the park on our way to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood.

The scenery:

We made it to Cade's Cove in no time at all and I was so excited I could hardly stand it. There were a lot of people there and it was pretty much bumper to bumper traffic. Everybody was driving with their car windows down, the van doors open and people riding in the back of truck. They were doing just what we were doing.....looking for wildlife.

The first sign of wildlife that we saw (with the exception of the bunch of wild hoodlums in the pickup in front of us . They had on wife beater shirts and were spitting sunflower seeds and wads of tobacco onto the ground...and that was just the women....I am SERIOUS! ) were turkeys. They were way off in the distance and I couldn't get a good picture of them.

Our first stop on the tour was of a cabin. We all hopped out and saw a sign that said our walk to the cabin was just 1/4 of a mile. Just as we got onto the path, a family came walking down and said they had just seen a mama bear and her two cubs up the trail. The Ranger told them that this was her "area" and to be on the lookout for her on their way back down. A bear! A bear! A bear! I wanted to see the bear!

As we walked along, we watched for the mama and her cubs. We didn't see her but we did see signs of the bears.....scratched up trees which was a sign that they had been clawing them in their search for bugs. And, if you'll look real closely (and I didn't really see it until we came back down) but there's another "sign" of the bear in this picture.....a black pile sign.

I wish they had these types of signs in other places we have visited:

Jesse was anxious to see the bear too so he ventured off the path a bit to have a look around. I told him to be extra careful but to motion to me if he spotted one.

Ahhh, there's the cabin:

***Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

As we got closer to the cabin, we could see flying bugs everywhere. They would fly all around our face and no amount of swatting would make them go away. They were everywhere!

The view from the cabin:

The park ranger was one of the best I have ever encountered. He was a wealth of knowledge and you could tell he absolutely loved his job.

Jesse acting silly when he was supposed to be looking cute:

I believe you can see why he fits in so well with our family.

Hunter and I:

Let's get back to the cabin. If you look closely, you'll see that this fireplace chimney isn't even attached to the cabin. The ranger said that was a safety measure. If the fireplace caught on fire, the family could go outside, knock the chimney down and it would save the cabin. Otherwise, the cabin would catch fire too. Pretty smart!

Mama and John listening to the ranger:

We were all getting pretty irritated with the darn flying bugs. They were buzzing around our face and Hunter was mad. I kept trying to tell him that we would be going in a minute and not to be so mad about it. I had to talk him into taking this picture:

The ranger told Hunter that the bugs went to the highest place on your body and that's why they were swarming around his face. If you wanted the bugs to go higher, you could raise your hands in the air and they'd go up to your hands. I don't know if he was just kidding or simply wanted to see how foolish we'd look walking around with our hands in the air. It was worth trying though.

Mamaw and her babies:

I guess I should have posted this picture first since it has the name of the cabin on it:

Hunter ticked off at the bugs and ready to go back to the van to get away from them.

***Ooh, I am going to stop here. Photobucket is freezing up again and I'm afraid I'll have to restart my computer and will lose what I have written so far. Be back in a bit.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Nice pictures! I would love to go there someday, maybe stop through on my way to or from WDW and do a side trip.

And I hate bugs flying around my face too, so I sympathize with Hunter!

 

[Happy Elf]

Great update! The cave was interesting....we went to Mammoth Cave when I was a kid, but I'm not sure if I would want to do that again. I do enjoy Cade's Cove, although it's been awhile since I've been there.

 

[aprilisis]

Awesome photos, Lisa! The scenery is amazing. I agree with you about the "Bob" sign! I hate it when people vandalize.
I really love that photo you took of the plant with the orange & green thing-a-ma-bobs on it (right as you were leaving the cave gift shop).

 

[TinksThree]

Oh my I your pictures of Cade's Cove and you are just at the first stop!! We can't wait to go back when thigns are green. Everytime we go it is so dead looking with no leaves on the trees.

I couldn't help but giggle about the tip to your waitress and what she "could" put it towards!

And I may have followed that same pick-up a time or two...you aren't lying about who is spittin' those seeds!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Our next stop was to the Cade's Cove Primitive Baptist Church:

There wasn't much inside the church but we did look around and then went out into the cemetary. I am not a big history lover but it was very interesting walking around the cemetery and looking at the dates and wording on the headstones.

Some of the dates were way back in the 1700s and most were members of the families who originally settled Cade's Cove. Like I said, I'm not a history buff but it was interesting to walk through and read the tombstones.

On our way back down the little one car wide road, we saw a vehicle pulled over and we wondered what they were taking pictures of. A deer!

**Up next: Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My! Wait, there are no lions and tigers running wild in Tennessee!

 

[LadyBeBop]

Those pictures bring back memories of our trip to Cades Cove...last month.

I think we were there right after you. My in-laws live right outside Knoxville. We went down for the week of the 4th of July, and my DH and DGD2 went camping for a couple of days in the Cades Cove campgrounds. Of course, we wouldn't go right during the 4th. Our little camping trip was from Wednesday the 6th until Friday the 8th.

The drive was the highlight of the trip. So many historic sites. And we also saw some deer also. However, no bears.

That 1/4 trip to the John Oliver Place seems like it took forever. Especially going toward the cabin. Only a quarter of a mile? I have to get into better shape for Disney in two years.

Can't wait to find out about the rest of your trip to Cades Cove. Did you find any bears?

 

[Caretames1]

I really enjoy all of your side trips! It's so neat to see things like that cabin. I always try to imagine what it was like living in the olden days.
I don't think I would have done well in one way. I need my air conditioning!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Uh...how in the world did I miss this?!?! I will be catching up ASAP!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

You guys got to see a lot of interesting things! I still can't believe those cave pictures, I never would have been able to navigate those steps! And those flying bugs around the cabin would have driven me nuts too!

 

[Bethislucy]

We just love Cade's Cove. I hope you got to see some bears it's awesome seeing them.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I love reading the headstones in old cemeteries! Looks like you are enjoying your little side trip!