 | In our recent vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains, we stayed in a hotel walking distance from the action in downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee. When we drove to the back of the hotel to park, I spotted our first black bear, a small specimen rummaging through a construction dumpster. Clearly, someone violated the signage that requests food not be tossed into the dumpster. Later, at dusk, we spied the same bear on the other side of the creek in the residential area on the hill. As we did not do much in Gatlinburg, I didn't take many photos. We did plenty of walking on a couple of occasions, but all prices are elevated in the tourist trap area. We ate some pizza at Mellow Mushroom, and did some swimming in the bi-level pool in the evenings. |
After our pizza on the first evening, we looked through the windows of a moonshine facility to see the process in progress - the still, the fermenting corn, and the whole nine yards. It smelled awful and I can't imagine why anyone would want to put the product into his mouth, let alone his body. The best part of the evening, entertainmentwise was the bluegrass band nearby, which happened to be playing Rocky Top.
| The history of the area, however, can probably not be told without the inclusion of moonshiners, the influence on NASCAR, and the intoxication of people who live here. Today, there are many businesses built around the practice, and a person could become alcohol-addicted simply by taking advantage of the free samples offered in the storefronts. We saw a group of folks who had just taken 13 shots of the stuff in a single store. They were loud, rude, and didn't care about anyone around them. | |
