We woke up in Baileyton RV with the idea of going to Pigeon Forge, TN. Can’t say for sure why one would even consider this to be a good idea, but we were vamping. The tour in Whitwell is on Friday and it was Wednesday and the total drive time to Whitwell looked like four hours. I had read about Pigeon Forge and knew it is the home of Dollywood and is supposed to be an outlet shopper’s heaven. It clearly caters to RVers as well, there are seemingly endless choices of RV resorts, campgrounds call them what you will. The good folks at Baileyton had suggested River Plantation RV Resort and not having any reason to disagree, that is where we went. I would go back to that RV park even more readily if it were not in the Pigeon Forge area.
Pigeon Forge and its neighbor Gatlinburg make up an almost continuous strip of accommodations, food, entertainments for all ages and outlet shopping. There are five Tanger outlet malls in the en mile strip and several others as well. It is January and like Branson, MO a couple of years ago we managed to hit the off season. Everything closes down after January 1 until mid February or March 1. There was only one show the night we were there, The Smith Brothers. Let us say we were moderately entertained and would suggest that if any other show were open try it first. We spent much of the afternoon before dinner and the show in the Arts and Crafts area of Gatlinburg and found much to be quite pleased with.
We dined at Ruby Tuesday which was next to the theater. What can one say about this level of cuisine? Had the coach been closer we know what we would have chosen. It wasn’t bad tasting, just bad for us.
Thursday morning found us needing to shop. Carol learned there is a Petite Sophisticate that has been reopened, now owned by Lane Bryant, how’s that for a contradiction. She found clothes to buy. Having shopped Manhattan for a day and and found nothing that even fit, this could be called a miracle. We gather our belongings and boarded our coach headed for Whitwell the hard way. No interstates for us. We had five hours to cover 150 miles by interstate. We chose the alternate route along the edge of the Great Smokies. It was fun for a while, but the towns were fairly ugly and closely spaced. Eventually we found our way to I 75 (for those who might try to follow, we left Seveirville on 411/441 and stayed on 411 S when they split) and on through Chattanooga, TN, right smack dab through the middle and out the other side and up and around Signal mountain into this lovely valley which contains Whitwell. In Whitwell there are no facilities for RVs whatsoever. On the edge of town we found a Texaco filling station and truck stop with a gravel parking area for truckers. They said no one would object if we stayed the night so here we are.
I shall tell the tale of Friday after it has happened.
Well Carol’s “message in a minute” really tells it all. I have been to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and to Aushwitz/Birkenau and Terezen. I have friends who are survivors. I think I am experienced in how I am moved by the appropriate retelling of the horrors of the Holocaust. I have never before been told about the horror by 8th graders from a school so far from my experience that I cannot even place it. Whitwell TN is middle America, poor middle America. The coal mines are closed and when we asked the children where people worked they said Hardy’s! There is no apparent industry in Whitwell and Chattanooga is over the mountain. We had the chance to look at the letters they have received from around the world, including hate mail denying the Holocaust and one letter in particular that condemned the project because if the “Johnny can’t read or write, what good is it for Johnny to understand this nonsense”. It is all there and the kids are great and the project has a life of its own.
On into Birmingham, AL on Friday. We set up in the Birmingham South Campground in Pelham (south of the city) and had a quiet Friday night. Saturday morning we went to Torah study and services at Temple Emanu El. The rabbi is Jonathan Miller, son of our late rabbi Judea Miller and Anita. We had a wonderful time at Torah Study and enjoyed the discussion of humility based on Rabbi Telushkin’s book (title not remembered) which they are using as their study guide this year. After service and a light lunch for Kiddush to honor a baby naming, we proceeded out into the neighboring 5 points area where we mailed some stuff at the UPS Store and shopped as usual to no avail.
We returned to the campground in time to prepare dinner and relax with our computers and reading. We still were not sure where we were heading when we left on Monday. Sunday dawned beautiful and warm. I felt the need to do maintenance work, much of which had been deferred for periods of a day to a couple of months. Of course any time there is maintenance to be done something needs to be bought. I needed distilled water for the coach batteries, a backup light bulb, anyhow you get the point. I spent much of the morning and into the afternoon dealing with most of the maintenance items I could do without a shop. I have learned that the caulking on the roof is abominable. So every month or so I get up there when it is warm and dry to see where my next leak is likely to come from. Out comes the caulking gun and I hope I have prevented the next round of leaks. I now have two working backup lights and the batteries have enough liquid to satisfy their needs. Oh yes for about 12 hours the front of the coach was nice and clean.
At 5:15 we met the Tesslers, Franklin, Debbie, Adam and Alyssa at Cheesecake Factory in the Summit Plaza. We had a delightful time with them and remembered why we had enjoyed spending time with them on our trip in Israel last summer. As we returned to the campground it was clear that the weather was going to change and we had to decide where we were going when we pulled out on Monday. The decision was made to head for Houma, LA, sort of. This left open a variety of alternatives and as the hour started to get late and the temperature descended alng with lots of water, we changed our destination to KOA West in New Orleans. The traffic coming across I 10 at 4:45 was dreadful and we finally got in just before 6 PM. This gave us time to setup change clothes and head for the French Quarter. There was a restaurant there that neither of us mentioned to the other, but both had in our mind, Oliviers. We found it easily and only then did we both acknowledge that it was what we had had in mind all along. Dinner was delightful and we walked the length and half the breadth of the Quarter enjoying the cool mild rain and nearly empty streets.
It is hard to believe that we were in the French Quarter last night. We are now camping (?) on the side of State Route 82 just outside of what was Holly Beach, LA. As we drove along the strip of the “Cajun Riviera” it was hard to imagine that a there was a town here. All that is left is some foundation slabs some with trailers parked on them and the roads. There is almost no sign of any of the former structures. I located the Tides Inn Campground by its GPS location. There is no other reminder of its existence. Katrina washed over this gulf shore area and erased much of it. There being no place here we just pulled off the road where the shoulder is three lanes wide and made ourselves at home. I doubt there will be much traffic tonight. Dinner ala Carol was as wonderful as any we have had out.