May 15-27, 2019
TL;DR: We ventured out of Florida up to Nashville via Birmingham for a wedding and decided to make a trip out of it since Hurricane Florence foiled our plans in 2018. Saw our wonderful friends, Sally and Ryan, tie the knot, explored the Smokies, and met two more fabulous friends, Steph and Matt, in Asheville to drink all of the beers.
The sights
Birmingham, Alabama
The Botanical Gardens
These were very pretty and had free parking (joy). Saw some sweet magnolia trees that we didn’t know existed, and an expansive rose garden.
Pizitz Food Hall
Cool spot with lots of places to grab a bite and a drink. We mainly went for the air conditioning. Looked like they have some fun community things like yoga classes, music, etc.
The Collins Bar
Pretty hipster-y, but good cocktails. Also, pyllo-dough-wrapped pork balls.
Nashville, Tennessee
Legends Corner
Tucked back on Broadway, this bar/music venue is small enough to feel intimate but not so packed we wanted to punch someone.
Sally and Ryan’s wedding
Well guys it just was gorgeous and full of love. The ceremony was beautiful. The outdoor cocktail space featured a string quartet playing familiar songs (read: ‘Be Our Guest’). Amazing hors d’eouvres. We’re definitely biased, but we had the best table that included Jess’s BFF and her beau and lots of friends from SF. And instead of bread there were biscuits and three types of jam. Jess was in heaven. Great speeches. Dancing. The bride’s dad had a few cameos, including a ‘Wild Thing’ rewrite. Sparkler send off and cans of rosé. Just lovely all around.
Great Smoky Mountains
Cade’s Cove Auto Loop
This 11-mile road has a ton of beautiful scenery, and we even saw a very far-off bear in the beginning. But there were a LOT of people so we were going very slowly on a very narrow road, and people just don’t really know how to pull off properly if they want to stop. But very pretty and sort of reminded us of the Napali coast.
Abrams Falls Trail
5.1-mile hike there and back with 800-foot elevation. Lots of pretty trees with white/pink flowers that look like little seashells. Butterflies everywhere.
Cataract Falls (the nature trail behind the visitor center)
Really pretty and easy to get and walk to, especially considering the visitor center and surrounding areas were packed.
Laurel Falls Hike
About a 3-mile round trip hike. Easy spot for an RV to park about .25 miles from the trailhead, with a nice little pathway to get to the trail. Lots of beautiful long vines coming down from the trees. Pretty much uphill the entire time except the very last stretch. The falls viewing platform was right in the middle of the falls, which were really pretty and fast-flowing.
Clingman’s Dome
Definitely good to get here early, especially in Layla. Really pretty drive and not many people up yet. The scenery is just so green and beautiful. Very windy drive and good views off to the sides. Unfortunately, it was just so foggy by the time we got to the top that we couldn’t see anything. It was as if Karl the Fog had followed us from San Francisco. Even got warned about our glasses being blown off which was a very handy tip.
We tried again after hiking Andrew’s Bald, and it was worth it! (In spite of Bri’s initial protests).
Andrew’s Bald Hike
3.6-mile there and back hike down from Clingman’s Dome parking lot. The bald itself was a little underwhelming but it was a really pretty walk through thick forest with wood and stone steps.
Deep Creek Trailhead
OK so. We were originally going to do a 2.2-mile loop to see three waterfalls. But after the third waterfall, we somehow took a wrong turn and ended up going 5 miles. It was beautiful until it wasn’t and the bugs started attacking Jess. But we made it. Alive. Safe. And real sweaty.
Asheville
Rhubarb
This place was wonderful. Total splurge but worth it. We somehow got a perfect table outside, and there was a musician playing in the court. One cocktail was made with “brown butter Four Roses” (they use a stick of butter, brown it, then mix it with a handle of Four Roses and skim the butter off the top!).
Brew Pump
Really cool gas station with a nice little beer store and a great shady backyard patio.
Smoky Park
Awesome spot for brunch right on the water built out of old shipping containers. Would be a really cool spot for a long summer day outside. Even had an Airstream bar.
RAD (Arts) District
Really cool to walk along the French Broad River over to the RAD (arts) district, peruse the glass blowing shops and galleries, and duck into all the breweries: Wedge Brewing, High-Wire, Funkatorium, Green Man.
Details, details, details
We drove through Alabama right after the abortion law passed and it was weird because nothing was weird. It was just as if nothing ever happened.
Jess found her dream car (again) in Nashville: The International Scout.
In Nashville, Jess and her best friend Chloe had a very emo moment because they realized they’ve been friends for 24 years (!). Quarter century celebration in 2020!
The area by Cade’s Cove felt a little bit like Yellowstone with all the cars pulled off to the side of the road and rangers trying to control how close people got. Lots of signs about not killing the bears by feeding them.
On our way back from Cataract Falls, Jess got a one-two punch of wildlife: first, a huge garter snake, then a big ol’ beetle landed on her neck. It sounds lame but it was scary, OK?
And then this happened…
We intended to visit the Sloss Factory in Birmingham and thought we could walk there but were foiled by a highway bridge that we sort of got stuck on. Managed to find a very suspicious staircase down, which led to Back Forty brewery, where we had a beer, then realized Sloss Factory was closed already. Next time.
The first night in the Smoky Mountains, we got there around 10 pm and someone was in our spot. Thankfully, there was another spot open but we didn’t really sleep for fear of being kicked out.
On our way back from Abrams Falls in the Smoky Mountains, the traffic had really slowed down, so Bri told Jess to sit in the dinette with the camera and caught a black bear who poked his head out for about 3 seconds!
At Deep Creek Trailhead, we were minding our own business when a school bus of kids rolled up and the teacher said, “Never trust people in motorhomes.”
When Steph and Matt visited, we were going to use the loft bed, but apparently it broke somewhere along the way. Probably when they were fixing the mirror above the driver. Luckily, we had the blow-up mattress as a backup.
Now we know
The Centennial Sports Complex in Nashville is a really nice gym and is only $8/day for visitors.
The Deep Creek campground is not great for a larger RV. You access the campground from a pretty perilously narrow road. Then it’s a kiosk reservation system, which is fine, but all of the spots are super angled and impossible to sleep in, let alone level on.
Road food
Yum. Homemade sweet potato biscuits, strawberry jam, grits bowls with Conecuh sausage, and ginger-turmeric iced tea.
From thick slices of bologna to juicy burgers to creamy bacon-wrapped pâté to pickles and even ketchup, everything here was house-made and delicious.
Breakfast burritos, egg sandwiches, and strawberry muffins with thyme.
The fried chicken sandwich is served on a soft bun with pimento cheese and a side of live music.
Where we stayed
Night one: Cracker Barrel, Birmingham
Night two: Cracker Barrel, Franklin
Nights three and four: Trinity RV Park
This is an interesting RV park right in the middle of Nashville that’s mostly pavement but still has some nice trees. Nothing special otherwise and expensive because, Nashville.
Night five: Cade’s Cove Campground, Smoky Mountains, site B 85
Not our reserved site.
Night six: Cade’s Cove Campground, Smoky Mountains, site B 81
Our site, but couldn’t level.
Night seven: Elkmont Campground, Smoky Mountains, C10
Nights eight and nine: Smokemont Campground, Smoky Mountains, B3
Realized too late that we got a spot in the tent area so couldn’t run the generator. But we fit perfectly and it was level so that was delightful.
Night 10: Cracker Barrel, Asheville
Nights 11 and 12: Asheville Bear Creek RV Park
This park is right off a tight turn but was pretty quiet, did the job and was a really easy Lyft into town.
Just show me the pictures already
