Sharp's Travels

We had a rain storm come through last night and it was still raining when we went to bed.

This morning we were ready to leave for Cades Cove about 9:30am. It was 67 degrees so we put on our jackets and headed out.

We arrived about 15 minutes before the gate opened; cars were lined up to enter. We were all jammed together as we entered the park, until we arrived at the first attraction, then people began spreading out.

The cove is the 11 mile, one-way loop road. A “cove” in Smokey Mountain language is a relatively flat valley between mountains and ridges. This particular cove is a showcase for some of the Southern Appalachian Mountains treasurers.

There are over 70 historic buildings in the park. One of the oldest cabins was built in the early 1820’s. We walked back in ¼ mile to check this one out, a neat 2 -story cabin.

A must see was the three 100 plus year old churches.

The Missionary Baptist Church was located a short drive on a dirt road, just off the main highway. It was formed in 1839 by a group of Baptist expelled from the Primitive Baptist Church. There was a group in the church singing the old hymns. We sat and listened to a few songs. We explored the cemeteries at all three churches.

The Methodist Church, built in 1902, in 115 day for $115.

The primitive Baptist Church was established in 1827. This was located right along the highway easy to check out. The seats were basic board benches.

We stopped at the Elijah Oliver cabin. This cabin had a “stranger room” added to the front porch to accommodate overnight visitors.

The Gregg-Cable homestead consisted of a number of out buildings. The Cable mill, smokehouse, corn crib, barn, sorghum mill, and blacksmith shop. We checked them all out. There weren’t a lot of people around so it was easy to get in to see what we wanted.

There were 3 more cabins to see before we left the park. The weather was perfect for riding and the scenery in the park was beautiful.

On the way back, we stopped at a place where they carve anything and everything out of trees. His things were beautiful. He did carving and his wife did pottery. It was an interesting place to wander through.

We found a little restaurant about ½ ways back to the 5th wheel and stopped for lunch/dinner. It was excellent.

We decided to check out the local Harley shop before calling it a day. Gay found a tee-shirt.

We’d only been home about ½ hour and we heard thunder and the rain began. Did we ever make it home in time or what!

For pictures of the day see album: Cades Cove