Pigeon Forge, TN March 21-22

We are in Pigeon Forge, TN, located in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee.  Pigeon Forge is a tourist town, and for a minute I thought we had made a wrong turn and were in Branson, MO.  The town is a plethora of amusement rides and attractions, outlet malls, souvenir shops, hotels, motels, RV parks, condos, restaurants, pancake house, and live performance theaters (the locals pronounce "thee-A-ters"), and home to Dollywood.  Gatlinburg is just down the road and looks much the same as Pigeon Forge.

                           The Wonderhouse...I wonder how thought up this goofy attraction?

Here's one of the Dinner Theaters. Yes, that's the smoke stack from the Titanic in the background.

Thursday we made our first visit to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park by way of a 15 mile scenic drove through winding mountain roads and a couple of small communities.  We stopped a the tourist information center in Townsend; it was suggested we drive the 11 mile Cades Cove loop though the northwest area of the park.  The Cove is a relatively flat valley between mountains or ridges and was a farming community established in the early 1800's.  By 1850 it had a population of 685.  In 1934 the government bought the privately owned land to establish the Park.  Many residents took the government payment and left the area, while some decided to take less money for their land and stay until they died.  The last resident died in 1999. Three churches with graveyards, and several of the original homesteads, as well as the village grist mill and store are scattered along the narrow road and have been preserved by the National Park Service and are open for viewing.  The Cades Cove tour book guided us along the way and told the stories of these families who lived here and their way of life.

Our campground, Creekside RV Park, is on the bank of Walden Creek.  Mallard ducks come up from the creek and beg for food.  Three of the regular visitors sit outside our door and start quacking and squawking when they see Jim come out of the camper ever since he started giving them bread.  It's also mating season and it's been like watching the Nature Channel in 3-D with them going at it only 5 feet from where we sit.