Bryson City, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia - from tranquillity to the terminal

Day 16 - Thursday, September 25

There was no breakfast at the motel so M&P went out foraging and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the rocking chairs with doughnuts and coffee.It was a glorious, warm early autumn morning and there were birds and ducks around the river - so we were in no hurry to leave. At one point I was startled by something flying at me very fast and stopping just a couple of feet short - it took a second or two to realise that it was a hummingbird. A nice encounter.

The drive south back to Atlanta took us alongside the Tuckasegee river for quite a few miles at the start - beautiful wooded country in the southern part of the Great Smoky Mountains.

But after that it was motorway all the way to the airport where we said goodbye to M&P at the terminal. Their flight was a couple of hours before ours.

And when we checked in we were again pleased to find that we had been allocated business class seats. On an overnight flight it's great to have a flatbed seat and it was a very welcome end to the trip.

Chattanooga, Tennessee to Bryson City, North Carolina - little biscuits and big steaks

Day 15 - Wednesday, September 24

A short while wandering about the hotel taking photos and then we drove to nearby Lookout Mountain - a huge promontory with spectacular views over the city and surrounding area.
From one point you can, allegedly, see 7 states - Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Virginia - but we didn't have the local geographical knowledge to verify that for ourselves.

We visited Rock City - an area of giant rock formations through which the owners have built pathways and tunnels and landscaped it with planting and viewpoints etc. It was OK - the main reason benefit was to get access to the views.
On the way in we stopped at a café for breakfast. The choice was limited but one of the things on their menu was "Bacon biscuit". Pete asked what this was and the lady gave him a long slow look and then said, in the slow southern drawl {phonetically} "Weeeeeeeell, it's a biiiiiiiscuiiiiiiiiiit ayned it's gaaaaart baaaaaaaaycon oooooown iiiiiit." 

(a "biscuit" in these parts is a sort of savoury scone often served at breakfast with "gravy" which is a mildly spicy white sauce - it can be quite nice with some bacon or sausage.)

We all had one - they were quite good - and, suitably fortified, had a wander through the rocks area. 

And then on to Point Park at the north end of Lookout Mountain where there are wonderful views over the entire city and the river.

By now it was early afternoon so we started our drive north to the Great Smoky Mountains. We went via the Cherohalla Scenic Parkway - "parkways" in the USA are highways, normally in scenic areas, from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are prohibited - and really enjoyed the views along the way.

We arrived at the motel called Lloyd's on the River between Bryson City and Cherokee - a lovely rustic sort of place where the rooms backed onto a long porch with rocking chairs looking out onto the delightfully named Oconaluftee River which, a few hundred yards downstream joins the equally attractive-sounding Tuckasegee River. A lovely spot to spend our last night.
We had stopped at Bryson on the way through to pick up some wine for later. Went into a huge liquor store and were very surprised to find that, despite there being a vast array of bottle on offer, it was only spirits - no wine or beer. I have never seen so much booze in one place - dozens of different brands of whisky, vodka, gin etc.  
But the guys there gave us directions to a nearby supermarket where we got ourselves sorted.
We got a restaurant recommendation from the motel people and headed back into Bryson  for dinner at a place called the Cork & Bean. As it was our last night we all decided it was our last chance to have a good American steak and we were quite disappointed when the waitress came back sheepishly a few minutes later to apologise and say that there were only three steaks left. I did the decent thing and changed my order to scallops - no real hardship there - but when the 3 steaks came we just burst out laughing - they were vast . They could quite easily have fed 6 or 8 people.

Back at the motel we sat in the rocking chairs on the back porch with our wine until very late - a really pleasant place.

God and Guns

Religion is a very big and very visible thing in this part of USA. It's in the heart of the Bible Belt.
I suppose it's because most churches in the UK are quite/very old and so built without much comfort or heating/aircon etc. that it's very noticeable that many of the US churches seem opulent by comparison.
Many are vast buildings with landscaped and immaculately maintained gardens around them.
And there are so many of them, even in the smallest town.
This is one of many in Rosedale - population less than 2,000

It's not uncommon to see huge billboards showing religious messages and it's quite normal for entertainers, musicians etc. to be very keen to express their christianity.

Roadside noticeboards outside churches often show eye-catching messages. We wished we had started collecting them, but one I remember amusing us was  "If the wages of sin is death, shouldn't you quit before payday ?"

There are also loads of billboards with slogans advocating the holding of guns or objecting to any form of gun control , and lots of adverts for "Gun Shows".

At the Country Music Hall of Fame there was a 1962 Pontiac Bonneville belonging to a famous country singer called Webb Pierce (no, me neither) which had door handles in the shape of pistols and and rifle was mounted on the bonnet and another on the boot.

I already mentioned in an earlier post about how the Reverend Al Green had been very vehement in expressing his desire to take guns and personally "shoot up" all of the members of the Islamic State group.

While we were stopped at one viewpoint we got talking to a couple, probably late 30s or early 40s, who were travelling on a Harley. A nice chat about our respective trips and then somehow the conversation turned to guns. We explained the philosophy in the UK and most of Europe which was pretty much beyond his comprehension. He said he had 8 guns, one of which was an assault rifle, and that he wouldn't dream of travelling without one. He then proceeded to open up his saddlebag to get it out - fortunately in a case inside a fabric bag. We stopped him getting it right out, but it occurred to us that it wouldn't be much use anyway  in an emergency if it took a while to access it.
We explained that although mass shootings had occurred in UK they were very rare because people generally don't have guns, but that there are frequent instances in USA.
He offered his opinion which was that the best way for people of our view to create an environment where the law could be tightened was to send someone into a school and shoot a load of kids. 
Terrifying........and he was a normal friendly guy out on a trip with his wife.

By contrast, it can be quite difficult to buy a bottle of wine. Many counties in this part of the country do not permit the sale of alcohol and this is not unconnected to the prevalence of churches described above. 
In one supermarket we asked where the wine was and she replied "Dry county, honey". It surprised us that people seem to put up with it in "the land of the free". They'll put a bullet in you if you try to take their guns away but they are OK with being prevented from buying a bottle of wine. You'd have thought it would be quite easy to prove that it's unconstitutional that you can't buy a bottle. 
By a lovely irony, the Jack Daniel's distillery is in Moore County which is dry - so their products are not available for sale locally, although they have a dispensation to sell "souvenir bottles" actually at the distillery.

Nashville to Chattanooga - whisky, pork and trains

Day 14 - Tuesday, September 23
We left Nashville and travelled south through lovely Tennessee countryside to the George Dickel distillery, one of only two approved to make "Tennessee Whisky". The other is Jack Daniel's in nearby Lynchburg.
Another one is trying to get approval but the key criterion is that the whisky must be aged in new barrels for all production, and they are trying to get this relaxed on cost grounds. The existing two are naturally resisting this. They send their used barrels to Scotland apparently.

Interesting fact - the barrel-ageing process takes about 12 years (they have ageing stores in many locations around the state containing vast quantities of whisky) and during that time over 50% of the production is lost to evaporation. As in Scotland, they call it "the angels' share" - I think the angels must have parties every weekend.

We took the tour around Dickel - which uses water direct from a nearby natural spring arising from a limestone aquifer, and filters the spirit through charcoal made in the open on the premises - they were preparing to make some as we were there. 

We enjoyed the tour of the distillery, which is located in an idyllic little wooded valley with a crystal clear stream running along it, but the main point of interest was this guy who was part of the group......

After the tour we went on to Lynchburg. We'd read that the tours of Jack Daniel's can be very crowded, which is why we went to Dickel, but, as JD is usually my spirit of choice when I don't want to drink any more beer, I wanted to at least have a look at Lynchburg.
We stopped for lunch in the town square - an attractive mix of old buildings, now almost all containing JD related businesses. After lunch we had a JD and raisin ice cream. Yum yum.

Then onto Chattanooga where we were staying at the old station which has now been converted into a hotel - called, naturally, the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. 

The station concourse is now the lobby - a huge hall under a dome - and the bar and restaurant have been retained and modified to current standards. All very atmospheric. 

The loos also are in the old grand style, spacious and with lots of dark wood and old fashioned tiling.
A couple of tracks remain and these hold a few railcars which have been converted into hotel rooms - they are quite expensive so we didn't stay in them - but we got a key from reception to have a quick look.

The other tracks have been converted into gardens with the platforms now acting as pathways.

Altogether a great idea and we're glad we stayed there but, to be honest, the rooms were a bit shabby and the whole thing needs some investment to improve the overall quality.

And yes, the Glenn Miller version of the song was on the playlist.

Chattanooga itself is a city which has seen hard times but it seems to be on the up now, with a busy city centre and some nice modern buildings alongside some interesting old ones.
The location is nice - on a huge bend of the Tennessee River.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Alleia just around the corner from the hotel. A very nice place where we were seated in an outside dining area where there was a pleasant buzz of people but very low lighting.The waiter left menus but it was impossible to read so we used the light from our phones. When the waiter came back he asked, as they do, whether we had any questions about the menu, to which Mary replied "yes - what does it say ?".
We eventually sorted it out and had a very good evening - our first without live music for a while.

Contrast between Memphis and Nashville

Although we had a great time in both Memphis and Nashville we noticed huge differences between the two cities.

Memphis is predominantly black, with widespread very poor areas -  I've never seen so many payday loan type business, pawn shops etc.  and lots of boarded up homes and businesses.
The city centre is a bit run down, despite Beale Street being a thriving visitor area.

Nashville on the other hand is predominantly white and obviously prosperous and thriving. Apart from the downtown area where all the music is, we saw lots of smart new developments and many upmarket neighbourhoods with lots of restaurants & shops etc.  

We were only in each place a few days and obviously didn't see everything, so I may  be misjudging them - but that's certainly the impression I got.

Nashville - skyline and music

Day 13 - Monday, September 22

A very late start after the last e night on Sunday. Too late for breakfast at the hotel do we went to a place called 47 Union Café (at 47 Union Avenue - what are the chances ?) for brunch.A nice place with interesting civil war photos, paintings and maps on the walls.
Pam's meal came lukewarm so we sent it back - it came back about 5 minutes later still lukewarm. Not good. How hard can it be ?

After brunch we walked over to 4th Avenue and onto the pedestrian bridge which crosses the Cumberland River and affords great views back towards the city.

Nashville Skyline.

We walked through downtown to the Tennessee Capitol building......

and then onto Bicentennial Park where there is a full-size replica of the Parthenon built in the 1920s

and why not..........

We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack off Broadway and then went to the Listening Room Café, which is a similar format to the Bluebird only quite a bit bigger.
The idea is that songwriters and would-be recording artists display their talents.
two young guys on first, alternating songs. It would have been better if they's taken their baseball caps off and their chewing gum out - but, hey, it's supposed to be informal.
The songs were OK but all seemed a bit angsty (is that a word ?).
Then a group of four two girls and two guys again taking turns. These were mainly even more angsty. Two songs from one of the guys stood out - one was called "Dixie Crystal" about kids in the south "either finding the road, finding god or finding Dixie Crystal (local-made methamphetamine and a pun on the name of a brand of sugar)".
Sadly, I can't remember what the other song was about.

An interesting place but on the night we were there there wasn't enough light and shade or humour or variety in the material. Great sound system though.

On to Roberts Western World - a good ol' country band with guys in hats and a great banjo and fiddle. And later to Layla's bar - country with a harder edge and nice steel guitar.
A great night with lots of fun and lots of drinks.

The Night We Hit Rock Bottom

Still Day 12 - Sunday, September 21
The evening started with a trip to the Bluebird Cafe a few miles west of downtown.
It's a place where there's no noisy bar-style atmosphere so there's more emphasis on the songs themselves.
We knew that it had become hugely popular since featuring regularly in the TV series but we didn't know how early we would need to get there for a first come first served performance on a Sunday evening. We arrived soon after 7.30 but there was already a line of around 50 people plus presumably more already inside. It's a strange place in the middle of a typical suburban shopping area and it's quite small -  we didn't get in. But we did get a photo.......

And then we moved on...............

We thought we'd console ourselves with a drink at Patterson House - an upmarket cocktail bar not far from our hotel. It was going to be expensive but we thought we'd treat ourselves.
When we got there they said that the place was full and we'd probably wait around half an hour for a table. It's one thing to wait for dinner, but to wait for a drink ?..........we declined.
So we moved on...............

We went to a big bar/music venue called The Station - a well-known place which was quite crowded when we got there but we were pleased to find a table.We got some drinks and waited for the music which we thought was scheduled to start at 9 - it was by now not long after 8.30.
After a few minutes we realised that it was already going on - Sunday evening was an acoustic jam, and about a dozen people were over in a corner giving it their all playing fiddles, banjos, bass, guitar, harmonicas etc. but the hum of general conversation was so great that we couldn't hear a thing. But at least we'd had a drink.
So we moved on..............

This time we left the car at the hotel and decided to eat at one of the restaurants nearby which we'd noticed on Friday evening - buzzing and with live bands. On Sunday they were empty and quiet.
So we moved on..............

We decided to try the Wild Horse Saloon downtown. We'd looked in during our walk on Friday morning - it's a huge place with bars on three levels and looked like it might be fun on a good night.............

and I'd met some new drinking buddies there

But when we got there they wanted a $6 a head cover charge and we could see that it wasn't very busy inside, so not too appealing.
So we moved on...........

........looking for somewhere to eat. 
By now it was around 9.30 and we felt that after 2 hours and 5 places the evening hadn't yet really started. So when we came across the Rock Bottom Restaurant we felt that we had found the the right place to turn our evening around.
It wasn't too busy but we had a good dinner and a bottle of wine revived our spirits before we moved on to the Whisky Bent bar where we'd spent time on our first evening.
A great band was on and there was a large group of young people (who looked like they'd all come independently) there just for the dancing.  They were interchanging partners all the time and at one point all the guys danced a sort of "gentleman's excuse-me" with the best dancer of them taking the lady's role. Great fun and probably a sight which, only a few years ago, might have resulted in unpleasantness in a southern bar. 
We stayed a long time enjoying the band and the dancing and then sometime after midnight, as the crowd thinned out, we moved a few doors down to the Stage Bar which was still packed and rocking.
Another, even better, band playing all sorts from country to soul to rock. There was a great atmosphere and we stayed till gone 2am - and the place was still crowded as we left.
A memorable evening after a very shaky start.
But a shame about the Bluebird. I'll regret it every time we see in in the next series of "Nashville".