As promised in the previous post here is my trip report on Mammoth Caves and Smoky Mountains.
Friday evening was a rushed one, with us deciding to pack as lightly as possible. Our friend from Canada, let me call him Aamir Khan because he resembles the actor a lot, reached our place around 5.30 am in the morning. All of us set off around an hour later on the much awaited road trip. Our first destination was Mammoth Caves, Kentucky, around five to six hours drive away. On the way we stopped for breakfast at Waffle House, which has some really delicious waffles at very cheap rates.
We reached Mammoth Caves at around 3.00 pm, very late because of various stops and getting lost on the way. We took tickets for a tour scheduled at 3.45 pm. The Historic Tour we chose was fantastic. A park ranger leads all tours and s/he gives all the information about the caves. Inside, the caves were lit up along the sides with small lights. There were two surreal moments that I experienced within the caves. The first one happened when the ranger told the entire group to very quiet so we could hear the dripping of water. For about five seconds it was deafening silence. Only the drip, drip, drip of water could be heard. Magical. The second one happened when the ranger stopped at one point and switched off all the lights. We were in pitch darkness. It was like a black blanket had descended and everybody was quiet. Amazing.
We finished the tour in about two hours and emerged from the depths of the earth back to sunlight. In a few minutes we were on our way to Smoky Mountains where we were to halt for the night. On the way we passed quaint little villages, with very friendly people who directed us onwards, some really beautiful ranches with horses grazing and fields filled with bales of hay.
All very picture postcard scenes, which you see in movies. Dinner was at Taco Bell another fast food chain, commonly found in cities and suburbs. It serves very unauthentic Mexican food, which is nevertheless tasty. At around 11.30 pm we reached Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the town where the Great Smoky Mountains commonly known as GSM, are situated. We stayed at the popular Hampton Inn, which was very comfortable and efficient.
But the funny thing is I didn’t feel tired and tried and tested as I would feel after such a long drive in India. Obviously I wouldn’t feel as wrung out as the driver but I felt fine enough to take a walk around town if that had been the plan. Driving too I feel is not as strenuous since there are no children threatening to dart across the road, no cows wandering lost and lonely and no dust. We don’t play dodgem cars nor do we play dirt rally racing. It’s smooth highways stretching far into the horizon.
Next day we set off to see the Smokies, the other popular name for the Mountains. We went down a couple of small trails, stopped by a river and then drove to a mid point. From here it’s a three hour hike to the top for those who want to hike. We hiked for around two hours only because we could not afford to lose six hours just on the mountain. After a good hike we returned to downtown Gatlinburg.
Downtown Gatlinburg is an out and out touristy place. Entertainment arenas scream at you in the face everywhere with lots of choices. There is a Ripleys Museum and all its accoutrements like the Wax Museum and the Horror house. The tickets are a bit on the expensive side and anyway am not really the amusement park/ride kind of a person. Thankfully none of us were much into it so we avoided most of it. We only went for the 3D movie experience where you watch a short 15 minute movie and the special effects spill into your seat – you sit on dynamic seats that plunge when the characters in the movie go into the water for example.
By now it was time for a late lunch and we went to a Mexican restaurant named “Los Rancheros,” which had some really good food and an even better waiter. He was particularly interested in us since we were from India and said that he had just seen a desi American movie called “India Calling” where he found the actress “veeery bootiful.” He was cute enough and we took a picture with him just before we left.
Next we took a trolley ride up onto a small hilltop where you get a bird’s eye view of the town. Every where people try to sell you something in some way. It’s ultimate exploitation of the natural resource called tourist. While going up in the trolley there is a point just before you get off at which a camera is installed. It automatically takes pictures of the person/s in each trolley with ample warning from a robot voice of course. Once you get off there is a counter where you can see that picture and if you want get it framed. There are choices there too – you can choose the type of frame and get some writing done if you want. Aargh, this country is spoilt with choices down to a wee needle.
Anyway, I bought a couple of small souvenirs and then after getting a night view of the town we descended back. By then it was time for the grand 4th of July fireworks and we stood there watching the display for almost 15 minutes. We grabbed a coffee after that and then it was time to rest and prepare for another long drive the next day.
We set off at 8.00 am and actually made quite good progress so that we were back in Chicago by 5.00 pm. In fact we would have reached an hour earlier if there hadn’t been a traffic block on the highway at one point. Yes, traffic blocks do happen and also due to road constructions. But there was no honking, no bikes zipping in the middle and no impatient bumper to bumper cars. Just slow trundling.
Aamir had to leave as soon as we reached since he had to drive onwards to Canada. It had been quite a lot of driving for him but apparently he really enjoyed it. And it was good fun as a group to go on my first American road-trip. I don’t know if I will go for one again. I sure hope so.
