The Tale of the Dragon …

Wednesday – Strength Training

Even though I brought my kettlebells, yoga mat and workout DVDs, I didn’t follow my schedule. I was quite upset with myself today about it but then I reminded myself that I was on vacation and that my normal routine was chucked out of the window when we left my place on Monday morning. I also reassured myself that we had planned to go on three hikes in the next two days.

After waking up this morning, we loaded the car back up and headed across the mountains to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Now, the most direct route from his mom’s house to Gatlinburg is to go through Cherokee, North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by way of US 441. Of course, we never do anything the quick and easy way. There are two other ways to get there but they go around the National Park and

add at least an hour on to the drive. One of these routes is along US 129, which has a stretch of road that is known as the Tail of the Dragon. When we were up here two years ago, my boyfriend kicked himself for not going on the Dragon. The Tail of the Dragon is a stretch of road that is 11 miles long and has 318 curves … one way! It is very popular with motorcyclists and is the major reason why my boyfriend wanted to trailer his Harley up to his mom’s house. Time was not on our side to add a hitch to his car before we left. Not having his motorcycle did not deter him from driving the Dragon. Yes we actually drove 318 turns in 11 miles. I had a raging headache by the end of the drive. Apparently, I have a mild case of motion sickness. The Dragon was definitely a very cool drive but it wasn’t as scenic as US 441 in my opinion. We stopped at one of the highest spots to take in the view and I took some photographs. After we “tamed” the Dragon, we went into Maryville, Tennessee to the Smoky Mountain Harley Dealership. If you ride on the Dragon, then you should definitely stop at this place

to pick up your souvenir t-shirt. As well as the obvious souvenirs related to the Dragon, this shop also has a great selection of bikes and other gear. We spent at least an hour in the store as well as a lovely amount of money (we just couldn’t stay away from the t-shirts). Once we were done in the Harley Store, we headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Gatlinburg is a town that is a wonderful tourist trap. It is known as the Gateway to the Smokies and because of that it has become a town that thrives on the dollar of the tourist. The town is actually quite perfect for what we needed … a place to sleep and eat. Once we checked into the hotel and got settled, we headed out to walk around and find something to eat for dinner. If you plan accordingly, once you get to your hotel you won’t need to drive anywhere. So while I didn’t do my scheduled strength training workout, I did walk up and down the streets od downtown Gatlinburg. We ended up eating at the Mellow Mushroom. I had heard great things about this restaurant from friends who live near one in Florida. Unfortunately, the closest one to to my place would take two hours to get to. For those who have never tried the Mellow Mushroom, I highly recommend it. The Kosmic Karma pizza was delicious. Now before you start thinking that I have fallen off the healthy living wagon, the pizza was covered in veggies and I only had two slices. We also split a dinner salad and I had oil and vinegar on it. We didn’t stay out too late after that because we wanted to get up super early to drive the Cades Cove Loop. We did check out some of the shops though, including the new wine shop and monnshine distillery. Free tastings at both!