SMOKIE MOUNTAINS IN THE SUMMER TIME.

Have you ever been to the Smokie Mountains in Tennessee? How about Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg Tennessee? If so you know it is quite the destination for tourist. Summer time is the peak for people to visit this area plus it is called the Honeymoon Capital of the South. There are lots of weddings that happen in this area. I jokingly call Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg the Boardwalk in the Mountains. Like boardwalks along the ocean they have ever carnival ride, every game, horseback riding, go karts, t-shirt store, Xmas stores, zip lines, restaurants, cabins, hotels and anything else you ever thought about. There are also lots and lots of factory outlet stores. I wonder how many millions of dollars are spend there daily. Besides all this there is Smoky Mt. National Park the most visited park in the national park system. This despite the fact there is actually only one main road that runs from Gatlinburg to Cherokee, North Carolina. There are some off shoot that take you to Cades Cove and a few other sights. Cades Cove is an 11 mile one way road that takes you into a valley where pioneers once lived. When the park service took over this area they left some of the cabins, churches, a grist mill, barns and other buildings there. There is usually lots of wild life out and about like black bears, deer, wild turkeys and other smaller critters. Besides hotels there are lots of cabins available to rent which we did with other family members for 3 days. There are also different shows in the area from Magic, to country, to dinner theaters like Dixie Stampede, Smoky Mt Opry and others. There is even a Titanic exhibit. You round a bend and there is the front of the Titanic with an ice berg at it's bow. Not something you expect in the mountains. There is every kind of store you can imagine selling anything you can imagine. Dolly Parten started all this when she created Dollywood amusement park to help the locals find jobs. Now student and others from around the world work here in the summer time. It is an economic engine all by itself. I bet Obama wishes he had more places like this and unemployment would be a lot lower. I almost forgot there is kayaking, river rafting and tubing in  several rivers in the area. The scenery is beautiful, people friendly and it is a great place to take a little vacation.