Chattanooga, TN to Roanoke, VA

We left our hotel in Nashville on Friday morning and did some retail therapy before we started our journey to Chattanooga, TN. It was a pleasant drive and it was late afternoon when we checked into our hotel. 

Saturday started off cool. It was in the 60s, a big drop from the high temperatures we had previously. We took the Incline Railway up Lookout Mountain which rises over 2000 feet and overlooks Chattanooga. It is known as “America’s Most Amazing Mile” and has been in operation since 1895. It is one of the world’s steepest railways. 

We then visited the Chattanooga Choo Choo Terminal Station Complex and Hotel, the 1909 Railway Station made famous by the song Chattanooga Choo Choo which was the first million-selling gold record in the world. 

The afternoon and evening were quite wet and we decided to go and see the movie, Downton Abbey. 

We left our hotel on Sunday morning in the rain and headed towards Gatlinburg, TN for two nights. 

Gatlinburg is situated at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in America. Our hotel was well located downtown and our room had a balcony overlooking a mountain stream. 

The Great Smoky Mountains are blanketed in lush forests and often shrouded by mist. We spent Monday in the Park and drove through beautiful Fall colours as we made our way to the isolated valley of Cades Cove, first inhabited by Europeans in 1819 and where the National Park Service now maintains a cultural and historical preserve of log cabins and other buildings. 

The Park is home to many forms of wildlife, including black bears and elk. 

When we woke up on Tuesday morning the mountains were covered by mist and it was raining lightly but it cleared up by the time we ready to check out. So we decided to ride the SkyLift to the top of Crockett Mountain. 

The Gatlinburg SkyBridge (opened in April 2019) is located at the top of the SkyLift and is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America. It provides one of the most spectacular experiences in the Smokies. From the mountain-top SkyDeck, the SkyBridge quite literally crosses the sky as it stretches 680 feet across a deep valley in a single span. We walked across it and it was quite exhilarating. 

Once we were back down in the town it was time to make our way across the Great Smoky NP and on to our next stop, Cherokee, NC. It was a lovely drive through the mountains and we visited Clingman’s Dome, the highest spot in the Smokies at 6,643 feet. Here there is an observation platform which offers unparalleled views. To reach this platform, it was a steep, half-mile walk from the parking lot. 

As we neared the exit to the Park we spotted some elk grazing in the fields. 

Unfortunately, we did not see any black bears. However, we were talking to a local man who told us that a bear had strolled into his friend’s candy store the previous evening, took a box of taffy and walked out. He had a photo to prove it!

We overnighted in Cherokee which is close to the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of America’s classic drives which traverses the southern Appalachians. 

Once again we drove along roads with fabulous views and colours. 

We stayed in Asheville, NC for two nights. It is a mountain town which has become one of the trendiest small cities in the Eastern States. Downtown has many historic art-deco buildings, one of them being the Flatiron Building (built in 1927) which has a rooftop bar offering good views of the surrounding countryside and a good place to watch the sun set. 

Our own hotel also had a rooftop bar and restaurant where we watched the sun set as we enjoyed cocktails on our first evening in Asheville. 

We went to Chimney Rock State Park, just outside the city. The views of the countryside are superb from atop this 315 feet granite monolith. Fortunately, there is an elevator to take visitors up to the top. 

We drove to Galax, VA on Friday. This small city claims to be the capital of mountain music and fans of bluegrass will comfortably feel at home here. 

Saturday morning saw us pack our bags into the car trunk for the last time. 

We then drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway which was a lovely drive to end our road trip. The Fall colours were in all their splendour and it was really nice to have a picnic lunch in such beautiful surroundings. 

Bye for now!