Football, Family, Fun, & Food (of course!)

Guess where we went this weekend?

and guess who won Saturday against the LSU Tigers?

Yep, made this man mighty happy.

This other guy, my brother, is an avid Auburn fan. Along with loud voices, clapping, and yelling, things got nasty when the interception was miscalled. I left the room and took a nap.

My sister in law is an Alabama fan, which made someone happy. I took a snapshot after the game while my brother walked outside for fresh air. Then we went downtown looking for food.
A nice man took this snapshot of us happy with the win (well three of us were), and hungry for Italian ~ which, by the way, is found in the back of Elks Plaza. It's a small place, a bit noisy, but the food is good and there's a lot of it!Sunday was spent wandering around some of the outlet malls, doing more walking than buying, more laughing than talking, and wondering where the next meal would be. Glenda's birthday was Sunday, so she got to choose. Steak! Salad! Bacon wrapped shrimp! (I just love food.)
Monday we drove to Cades Cove, hoping to see some wildlife, but Hurricane Ida was on her way, bringing overcast skies, cooler temps, and I guess the animals were settling in for the storm. The only animals we saw were turkeys. No deer, no bears, not even a raccoon.

The old homestead has always fascinated me. Not that I wish I'd lived back then. I don't. My grandfather used to tell me "those weren't the good old days, THESE are the good old days". And he's right, I love my hot showers, soft beds, and electricity!
As we left the homestead parking lot, Nelson had the nifty idea of taking a "trail less traveled". We weren't in my cute little car, so I just sat quietly and wondered how much longer dinner would be and where would we be eating. Little did I know those were silly thoughts.

"At one time Parsons Branch Road was one of the major thoroughfares in Cades Cove which resident of Cades Cove would take to get to North Carolina. Parsons Branch road was closed for 4 years due to washouts and flooding but has just reopened and is better than ever. If you take this road you will end up on the Tail of the Dragon (Hwy 129) and there is no way to get back to Cades Cove." ~ Cades Cove online info

The two lane gravel road gave way to a dirt one way road, which gave way to pot holes, spillways, and shrubs that brushed the sides of the car. The guys thought it hilarious to wonder aloud if those were banjos playing, and what would we do if a scruffy mountain man stepped out in the road with a rifle. I suggested we see what it sounded like for flesh to meet metal!This 'pig trail' ran for eight miles and took almost an hour and half to navigate. The picture below was taken from inside the car. Someone did us all a favor by pouring cement slabs to create spillways that helped greatly in crossing the creek! (Glenda & I quit counting how many times we crossed that creek!) The photo below was taken from inside the car.
Finally, finally our one way dirt road brought us to Hwy 129, where we found ourselves on the Tail of the Dragon which apparently is a name for miles of twisting, turning curves, hills, and drop offs. Seated in the back of Nelson's small Corolla I began to feel a bit squeamish
and was tickled to get out and stretch a bit once we got on the Foothills Parkway. Those eight backwoods miles put us way on the other side of Townsend, almost two hours from Gatlinburg and the dinner I had planned at Bennett's BarBQue! By the time I saw city lights, all I wanted was a hot shower and some reheated spaghetti, which I got, not in that order.

Ida had moved in by the time we left this morning and the drizzle and fog were making the mountains smoke. We have plans to go back soon and I look forward to seeing the Winterfest lights that are just now being put into place. Maybe next time there'll be snow!