Morgie's Travels
Tennessee
Ask the average person what they think of when you say Tennessee, most will say Nashville and country music. A few if they are Chris Stapleton fans will mention Tennessee Whisky.
The one thing I doubt anyone will mention is snow.
After a quiet, reflective Christmas and New Year during which I also developed a very painful tooth abscess which required a very efficient and surprisingly cheap tooth extraction by an excellent Dentist shortly after New Year, I left Renee’s family on Sunday the 14th January and started the 6 hour drive up to Knoxville, Tennessee.
Throughout the difficult time with Renee in hospital, quietly in background was a good, close friend of mine I had known for 2 years (again the power of Karaoke), called Felicity… or Fliss for short. Fliss was also a friend of Renee’s and was constantly there to offer support, encouragement and a listening ear as her family and I navigated through the mental pain and trauma of Renee’s final days. A month after she passed away, I decided to travel up to Knoxville and meet Fliss in person, to say thank you for her support and spend some thinking time in a new place and space as I decided what chapter to write next in my life.
As I set off that day, in warm winter sunshine I got a warning message that came up on google maps to say my journey may be affected by adverse winter weather conditions. Looking out of the window at beautiful blue skies and 18c of sunshine I dismissed this as an overreaction.
The drive up to Tennessee was uneventful. Navigating through Atlanta on the way was as crazy as it always is but other than that the journey was smooth. I noticed as I travelled further north it got increasingly cloudy and the temperature was dropping but hey, this was winter after all so no big deal. Then, when I got to the Tennessee border and crossed over the bridge spanning the Tennessee River it started to snow.
By the time I got to my lovely 2 bedroomed Airbnb cottage in Knoxville it was snowing quite heavily and starting to lay. At this point I still wasn’t concerned, thinking it was a 24-hour thing and it would be gone the next day. Fliss arrived later that evening after work, and we had a good evening in front of the log fire in the cottage getting to know each other more.
By the morning of the next day there was a light covering of snow on the ground. Fliss left for work early and it was time to hit Walmart for supplies. I stocked up well on essentials and headed back to the cottage. It was still snowing on and off during the day, with weather forecasters predicting more. I decided to park my car on the road at the top of the drive to the house, rather than at the bottom of the steep drive leading to the carport. When Fliss got back from work that night she parked at the bottom of the hill under cover. Then it really started to snow……
It snowed and snowed constantly for 2 days, laying to about 3 feet deep everywhere in what was called the worst snow Knoxville had experienced in over 20 years. The snow was followed by some very cold days which kept it there and paralysed the city. Everything closed down whilst winter gripped the city but thank goodness for stocking up at Walmart, so we were fine.
It took 4 or 5 days for side roads to be sufficiently clear to get the car out and about again and for Fliss to be able to return to work once it reopened. I think it’s fair to say I didn’t get to see Knoxville at its best but I was comfortable, in good company and I think it helped a great deal in allowing me to reset and focus on what was coming next. However, one of the things I did get to experience a couple of times once it was possible to get out and about, is probably the best Italian restaurant I have ever experienced in my life. It’s called Louis, a smallish innocuous place in a small suburb of Knoxville that has been serving up food to its customers for over 60 years. The food there was just incredible and would be worth going back to Knoxville just to sample it again.
One thing that was quietly troubling me was I had developed breathing problems that were occurring randomly. They had first started down in Georgia on a very cold morning when filling up the car prior to a drive to Savannah to be with Renee. The best way I can describe it was like I guess an asthma attack may feel like. No matter what I did I couldn’t catch my breath and I needed to really focus and concentrate to bring my beathing and panic under control. It was a horrible sensation and extremely frustrating because it came out of nowhere, with no other symptoms and at random times, like just lying down in bed, or getting into the car.
I don’t like mysteries when it comes to health stuff. Like most people I guess I can deal with anything when I know what is causing it. The events weren’t often enough to make me seek medical treatment straight away, they were just frustrating and annoying. I was also experiencing swelling feet and ankles during the day which I had been experiencing for a few months but had previously attributed to gout, which I suffer from occasionally when I eat the wrong stuff (trust me – that’s easy to do). More on this in a future blog.
After Knoxville and the snow finally clearing the plans were to travel to Pigeon Forge for a couple of nights, a town around two hours east of Knoxville and gateway to the Smokey Mountains, then finish up in Nashville for my birthday. However, after a rethink I decided to extend the stay in the Pigeon Forge area rather than waste best part of a day driving to Nashville.
How can I best describe Pigeon Forge? Well, it is first and foremost a tourist destination, the home of Dollywood and a host of shows, attractions and events. It primarily comprises of a multi mile long strip, with hotels restaurants and attractions on either side. If you have every visited Orlando International Drive then you can picture what I mean. They have everything there to attract your well earned Dollar. The accommodation I booked gave Fliss and I free entry or heavy discounts on a lot of attractions and we took full advantage of them.
We enjoyed such things as Wonderworks, Crazy Golf, A huge Titanic Exhibition with fascinating information about the ship, including real size mock ups of parts of its interior. We also saw a couple of great evening shows – The Lumberjack Feud and the Comedy Barn Humour. Both shows were uniquely and distinctively Southern American with the right balance of skill, humour and kitchness. I loved them.
The accommodation I chose whilst there was literally a Cabin in the woods far up into the Smokey Mountains. It was set in a clearing and built over a small stream with a gushing waterfall flowing right outside and under the deck. It was idyllic and a perfect place to relax and unwind. Unfortunately, no Bear sightings whilst we were there – still hibernating season for them.
The last day was spent around the town of Gatlinburg nestled in the Smokey Mountains. We took the Cable Car up to the snow fields at the top of the mountains. When we got to the top I was surprised and pleased to see they were holding junior Special Olympics winter events up there. We spent an enjoyable hour watching young people competing in skiing, snowboarding and ice rink racing. I’m always in awe of the courage of these types of athletes. Imagine skiing a slalom course down a slope with only sounds and verbal instructions from your coach to keep you on track as you hurtle downhill, fully blind? Just amazing.
After a wonderful few days, it was sadly time to pack up and head back to Knoxville, for Fliss to get back to work and for me to continue my journey back to Atlanta and the flight back to Sydney. We said our fond and sad goodbyes but as I left, I had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time we would be spending time together…..
I hope you enjoyed the Tennessee blog. As usual, the photo and vid montage is linked below.
In my next Blog I’ll talk about my month back in Australia, before I jetted off on my next adventure. Watch this space for the next episode coming soon 😊
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