Day 1.
We left Houston for our 40th Anniversary trip and to meet with our large format photography friends in New Hampshire for the NELFPC 15th Anniversary, yesterday. We started the engine yesterday morning at 6:15 AM and passing through heavy rain spots and many speed traps, we safely arrived (without a speeding ticket) in Birmingham AL at 7 PM. Ate a fine dinner at Perry’s Stake house and double-checked maps and new heavy rain spots. Got up this morning at 5: 30 AM, after breakfast we will leave around 7 AM to Townsend TN and will photograph the beauty of the Great Smoky Mts NP Cades Cove area till sunset. We are safe and happy.
Day 2.
Got up early morning and left Birmingham at 7:10 AM. Drove to Chattanooga, TN, then to Maryville then to Townsend. The Time zone changed to Eastern time… we lost one hour. Got good lunch at Carriage Family Restaurant then drove to Great Smoky Mountain’s Cades Cove. Today is Saturday, so the loop road was filled with visitors, all looked for bears… what a day! We made a full loop then two loops in Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane. We saw few wild turkeys, got few memory shots, walked the rabbit Creek Trail, and looked at all well-known good spots, but we did not see bears. When Lexi photographed the wild Turkeys, few visitors in passing cars through the rolled-down window screamed: “Woo Hoo Thanksgiving!” This is just one of the list of stupid enough comments. Enjoy a few of my snapshots taken there today:
Day 3.
Got up at 5:30 am beautiful foggy morning. Left Townsend at 7:20, drove to Great Smoky Mts NP. No fog there. Drove on Tremont and up to the end of the road on unpaved road. Photographed Little River Middle Prong at the bridge, where the trails start. Beautiful area. The roaring river splashed on the rocks and the birds sang their morning songs. Enjoyed every moment there. Drove back on Upper Tremont Road then continued on Little River Gorge Road to Metcalf Bottoms, Picnic area where we ate our late breakfast sandwich. Continued on Little River Gorge Road then on Fighting Creek Gap Road to Sugarland Visitor Ctr then on US-441 to Gatlinburg. Avenue 8 is the entrance to the Roaring Fork motor trail. We drove there and slowly moved on that breathtakingly beautiful mountain road. We saw a 2-year-old black bear and photographed nice landscapes. Exited to Us-321, drove to Greenbrier. Ate very good BBQ ribs at the roadside BBQ pit then drove on Greenbrier Road narrow dirt road to the end, where Porters Creek trail starts. Hiked a bit and photographed the charming Porters Creek, then hiked back to the car then drove back on a dirt road, then back to Gatlinburg. Checked in to the Historic Gatlinburg Inn, then walked few hours on the lively Parkway, where chocolate and fudge bars next to each other and Believe it or not entertainments and pubs and restaurants and hundreds of different shops inviting their customers. Ate a great Italian dinner then walked back to the motel.
Day 4
Got up at the usual time, set up, loaded the car, and ate a delicious breakfast at the Motel. Drove on US-441 to Chimney Picnic, checked the creek, but the water level was low, only the huge rocks were attractive. Continued to Newfound Gap, walked around the lookout, took few memory pictures, and drove to the lower parking which is almost always a better spot. Took few LF pictures, then continued down to Cherokee. Visited Ute Grant artist at Traditional Hands and ate a Bigfoot sandwich in locals preferred eatery, next to the creek, then drove on Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, NC. Halfway, the fog covered everything and the rain started, so we had a challenging slow-moving 50 miles on the curvy mountain roads. Finally, we made it to Asheville safely and stopped at the Folk Art Center, which is the home of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The exhibitions are always attractive, not just because of the elegant design, but the craftsmanship of the products. Drove back to Asheville, checked in to Brookstone Lodge, and ate a superior dinner at locally owned Village Wayside Bar and Grill then drove back to the motel, where we loaded and organized our stuff.
Day 5
After good early morning breakfast at Brookstone Lodge, packed the car then we were on Blue Ridge Parkway before 8 AM. This Parkway is one of the most scenic, 460 miles long mountain roads connecting Waynesboro VA (Shenandoah NP) and Cherokee NC (Great Smoky Mountains NP). We drove from Asheville to Waynesboro, a total of 380 miles, having challenging weather conditions, including dense fog, rain, slippery roads with many steep curves, but we were happy all day. We stopped for a short time in many scenic spots, folk art centers and visited the most photographed working watermill, and ate a good late dinner at Mabry Mill’s grandma-style home cooking kitchen. Finally, we safely arrived in Waynesboro at 9:30 PM. We were tired but enjoyed the day. Fixing journal and attaching few snapshots, then continue our epic trip tomorrow.
Day 6
Got up at 7 AM then after a good breakfast we started to drive on the scenic, 105 miles long Skyline Drive curving up and down in the Blue Mountains of Shenandoah NP. Skyline Drive is the northern gateway of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We enjoyed the free senior pass entry with our senior National Park pass, then slowly drove and stopped and look around at most of the lookouts and viewpoints, picnic, and parking areas. The weather was nice and we photographed few nice spots on large format film too. Stopped at well-maintained trailheads, kiosks, visitor centers and ate fine lunch at Big Meadows Lodge Restaurant. When we believed we passed the rain and bad weather, but when we were about 15 miles from Front Royal on Skyline Drive, the sky turned dark and we got some rain but was not too bad. However when we drove on I-81 to Harrisburg, a heavy storm hit us on the road, the sky was really dark and the heavy rain caused a lot of water on the road, which made more challenges when the no fear type speeding trucks splashed the water to the other cars. 4×4 was shifted in and we safely passed the storm about half an hour. Ate dinner at a nearby local place, and refreshed our plans for tomorrow driving and staying few days in Manhattan, New York.
Day 7
Packed the car then after a good breakfast we left Harrisburg and drove on I-81 and I-78 and I-96 to Lincoln Tunnel and finally we arrived in Manhattan at lunchtime, where we immediately faced new challenges… Hundreds of people were on the sidewalks and on the streets, ignoring traffic lights, and basically, everybody moved slowly, honking or patiently, but carefully. The GPS got some confusion between the tall buildings, but finally, after the second turn, we were able to find our motel, checked in, and started to walk on the busy streets. First, we walked to St Patrick’s Cathedral, where we will meet tomorrow for the guided sight-seeing tour, then we enjoyed the fine architectural marvels of the buildings inside and outside. Walked to the Rockefeller Center and Radio City Hall, the Diamond district, then many other famous spots on Broadway, Times Square and tasting the charms and diversity and confusion and beauty of the pulsing city. Heading to the B&H Pro photo store, we walked to the Chelsea area on 9th Street where bars, pubs, and restaurants lined up. B&H was closed, celebrating Succos, but at least we saw it from outside, then walked back to the 5th Ave area at Empire State Bldg, were in a nearby brewery where we ate dinner and drank beers. When we arrived at our motel, we were tired.
Day 8
I woke up early for the heavy rain… bad news for the day… but we always have hope, so we set up and after a good breakfast left the Hotel at 7 AM. We walked to St Patrick cathedral, where we met with our sight-seeing tour guide at 8 AM. The rain stopped when we left the motel, but halfway to St Patrick started again… a bad omen, but we were prepared for the 9 hours walk and subway and ferry tour, showing the most beautiful of Manhattan. Luckily the rain stopped and we walked, led by our great and knowledgeable tour guide to Rockefeller Ctr, Radio City Hall, through Broadway, Empire State Building, up to the 80th and 86th-floor observation platforms then Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, and many other places included Stock exchange, China Town and Little Italy, where we ate a delicious dinner in a friendly atmosphere. After that we visited Wall Street, then with a sightseeing boat to Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and back to Manhattan and to the World Trade Center memorial then back to Times Square where our exhausted small group was released… and we walked back to our Midtown hotel and in a Koreantown ate a good dinner. We were really tired and exhausted. Back to the Motel, planning the day for tomorrow, and slept quickly without lullabies.
Day 9
Today was a beautiful sunny day, blue sky, no clouds. After a good breakfast, we walked to the Library, then to the Central Station, and to the United Nations Building. Because the high-level meetings of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly were held during these days, the area was filled with the media and enforced police security was everywhere around. We continued on 49th Street, visiting the New York shaving Company’s Barbershop, then on Madison and Park Avenue to 5th Ave, St Patrick’s Cathedral, where a wedding took place. Somehow we missed the Modern Art Museum and ended up at Central Park, where a lot of activities, including a multi-stage music Festival, invited thousands of people there, waiting in long lines for entering the police-protected Festival area. We walked to the Zoo, then on the museum mile to the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art, then to the Guggenheim Museum, then back on 6th Avenue where hundreds of small shops, Cafes, and Restaurants invited the local people and visitors. We stopped by the Arader Gallery, where beautiful James Audubon watercolors were on exhibition, then walked back to Central Park and 6th Avenue where the whole Avenue was closed from the Park down to 42nd Street and both sides of the Avenue was filled with hundreds of different kind of food and crafts booths, street musicians performed and generated a huge lively crawling crowd there. We enjoyed every minute there and ended up in the Keg Room brewery on 36nd Street. After few fine craft beers, we visited the huge Levi’s and other nearby stores and ate a good dinner in an Asian restaurant, bought some supplies at the Asian Market. We had a very good day.
Day 10
Got up early and ate a good breakfast at the Hotel. Walked to St Patrick’s Cathedral, where was our meeting for the sightseeing tour… but the tour van did not arrive… quick calls and to the organizers, clarifications, and finally they found out that only a few signed up for that tour for today and they canceled… they refunded our money and we were free at 10 AM. We were sorry about it, but free and walked to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and enjoyed the great works of Monet, Chagall, van Gogh, Picasso, and many others then ate a great brunch at Tanner Smith’s pub, listen to great live music there than continued slowly down on Broadway than on 42nd street walked to the Public Library, which was open so we were able to see it inside. Went down on 5th Ave to Flatiron Building, enjoyed its architectural beauty, and hung around that area a bit, then walked back on 5th Ave to the Hotel for a break. We walked a lot today too, got tired, but we enjoyed the special gifts and memories from the Big Apple. Checked the maps and tomorrow’s driving plan, worked on our journal, downloaded memory pictures, started to organize our duffle bags and camera gears. Ate a good dinner at the nearby Korean restaurant and treated our tired feet with a relaxing bath. We had a great day again.
Trip Journal continues on next Post: Laszlo and Lexi Double Anniversary Trip 2018 (Journal Part 2)