DAY 8 - FRIDAY 10TH AUGUST
Up around 7.30am as
we are off white water rafting today on the Upper Nolichucky.
That sounds rather like something you would need to visit the
doctor with.
‘Ive got this itch on my Nolichucky’
‘Upper or Lower?’
‘Upper’
‘Rub this ointment in twice a day’
We have a quick breakfast and are on the road by 8.25am. We have
to be at the white water rafting place by 9.45am, so this should
be plenty of time.
As we are driving along it is very quiet on the roads. All of a
sudden Tam shouts and I slam on the brakes as a deer leaps out in
front of us and bounds across the road. We see it disappear up
the bank on the other side, little white tail bobbing in the
morning sunshine.
The map we have is very rudimentary and we are going by place
names and signs. We know we have to pass through Elizabethton and
so when we come to a T-junction we head in the direction of the
sign. Bad mistake. 20 miles up the road we enter Mountain City.
Now I’m sure that Mountain City is a perfectly lovely place
and the good folks there welcome strangers with open arms, but it
happens to be in the opposite direction to the one we should be
going in.
We turn around and head back the way we have just come. It is
becoming pretty clear that we are not going to make our appointed
time for the rafting and Tam is nearly in tears as this is
something she booked months ago and was one of the main things
she wanted to do on this holiday. A few minutes later I am nearly
in tears as she tells me that, if we don’t turn up, they
keep our money!
We find a phone and Tam rings the white water rafting people
while I quietly curse the sign positioning department of the
Tennessee roads division.
Luckily Cherokee Adventures (the white water rafting people) are
very good about the whole thing and switch our booking to
tomorrow. We decide to drive up to the place anyway just so we
know where it is. On the way we drive through Johnson City, which
makes me smirk, as I know a little about American slang. I
shan’t explain, just use your imagination.
We arrive at Cherokee Adventures and there is a restaurant next
door so we stop for a drink happy in the knowledge that surely
nothing can go wrong for tomorrow’s trip, can it?
Back on the road we travel down the 19W, which is an incredibly
windy little road that follows the path of a river along the
valley floor. It goes on for miles and miles and at such a slow
pace that it takes an hour, but this is not a problem as it is
beautiful.
We pass through meadows and forests and along the way are many
lovely little houses and farms. They say every cloud has a silver
lining and this has been ours. We may have missed the rafting,
but if we hadn’t we wouldn’t have seen all of this.
We are now getting rather hungry, so before we get back on the
Blue Ridge Parkway we look for somewhere to eat. I rather fancy
chicken so we look for a chicken type restaurant, but not KFC. We
pass loads of churches along with the usual ranks of McDonalds,
Burger King and Pizza Hut, but no chicken joints. The good people
of Tennessee have no shortage of places to go to satisfy their
spiritual and fast food needs, but when it comes to chicken,
their cup runneth dry.
We get fed up eventually and stop at a place called Western
Sizzlin. This turns out to be quite fortuitous. Tam and I both
have the Philly Chicken Sandwich, India has the Philly Steak
Sandwich and Georgia has a hamburger. You get a choice of fries
or baked potato or baked sweet potato with it. You can also have
your choice of bread and desserts as well. With 4 cokes (refills
free) the entire bill comes to $28.64! For less than £15 we have
fed and watered 4 people and the ladies didn’t hold back on
the dessert bar either. Ok, it’s not sophisticated food, but
for value for money this place just can’t be beaten.
After eating we continue on to the Blue Ridge Parkway and drive
along it northwards enjoying the scenery until we come to
Linville Falls. This is pleasant enough, but after the monsters
we saw in Yosemite a couple of years ago, these falls are in the
minor leagues. Still, there is something about running water on a
hot day that helps cool the soul. The couple of miles walk to get
to the falls also helps burn off a few of the calories from the
meal.
Back onto the Parkway and we cross Linville Cove Viaduct, which
is very impressive and snakes round the side of the mountain
while offering marvellous views of the surrounding mountains. Tam
is trying to video as I drive and hangs her head out of the
window like an old labrador. I can’t quite see, but I’m
pretty sure her tongue is flapping about in the wind.
After being on the road since 8.30am, it’s about time to
return to Majestic Manor. On the way we stop off at Food Lion
(hooray!) and bypass Walmart (boo!) to get a few bits and pieces
including a corkscrew, we’re not having a repeat of last
night’s debacle.
We finally arrive back at 5.45pm. It’s been a lot of
driving, but we’ve seen many parts of Tennessee and North
Carolina we wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
I have a couple of beers and write up my trip report, Tam reads
and the girls play pool. They are really enjoying being able to
play as often as they like and Georgia in particular is happy to
be getting better and is currently winning 5-4 in the battle with
her sister.
Click the film strip above to see a video of our stay in Majestic Manor
After showers we enjoy a late dinner of shrimp cooked in garlic
butter, salad and bread. It’s a simple meal, but is no less
enjoyable than some of the more expensive meals we’ve eaten.
The relatively healthy aspects of the meal are somewhat spoiled
by the cookie dough ice cream and assorted chocolate goodies that
are eaten for dessert.
After the meal there are several shrimp left over and the girls
want to find the cats. There is a mother cat with a broken leg
and 4 kittens that seem to have attached themselves to the house.
Whether they belong here or not I don’t know, but there are
many tins of cat food around, so the girls have been feeding
them.
India says she feels good for giving the cats shrimp; it’s
her good deed for the day. I point out that this might not be
such a good deed when the place becomes infested with feral cats.
This falls on deaf ears.
At this point Tam decides she must get in the hot tub as she
wants to do it in the dark. Don’t ask me why, she’s
just strange. The girls come running up giggling to tell me she
is in the nude. Well, I do what any good husband would do on such
an occasion and attempt to video her through the cracks in the
balcony above. Such footage is invaluable for future blackmail.
Kev: ‘Shall we buy that rather lovely statue of Jessica
Rabbit I’ve always wanted?’
Tam: ‘No’
Kev: ‘Ok. I’m just off to post that nude hot tub video
of you on Youtube’
Unfortunately the footage is not clear enough to identify the
offending body and all potential blackmail has failed.
A few games of pool round off the evening. In the last frame
Georgia and India beat me and Tam. I slink off to bed blaming my
partner.