This past week has been pretty good. My kid has been off for Spring Break and my husband got the week off from work. So we took a little trip to East Tennessee to visit my mom and see some sites.
On Sunday we took a scenic drive north of Knoxville, called by some the "Devil's Triangle". The route to the road takes you through
Oakridge, site of the
Manhattan Project-where the nuclear bombs from World War II were built. You can't really see much from the main road, and that is just fine with me. The "triangle", on Route 116, starts up near Frozen Head State Park and
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary . It winds northeast through the mountains before turning southeast near the town of Stainville. When it reaches the southeastern corner, the road connects with Route 330 and heads back towards Olive Springs. However, we followed Route 116 as it headed back northeast through a long valley full of coal mining towns. We passed Briceville and stopped at the cemetery to see the memorial to the fallen miners of the
Cross Mountain Mine Disaster that took place December 9, 1911(84 miners lost their lives). As you continue a few miles up you pass through Fraterville, site of an even worse mine disaster,
where 216 miners were killed on May 19, 1902. Another few miles takes you to the town of Lake City, where the Leach Cemetery holds the memorial for the Fraterville disaster and 89 of the deceased. Going across Interstate 75 brought us to
Norris Dam, one of TVA's many projects; and then on to Hwy 441 and back to Sevierville and my mom's place.
Monday saw us take a long way home. From Sevierville we followed Hwy 411 to Maryville, and then turn south on Hwy 129. Once you get to the Little Tennessee River, the road turns east towards North Carolina. When the road leaves the river, you have entered the
"Tail of the Dragon"! It is touted as 318 curves in 11 miles, and they aren't kidding. You need to take extra caution to watch your speed around corners, watch for the many motorcyclists that ride this road, and the 18-wheelers that shouldn't. Along the Little Tennessee River are 3 dams that you will see, the Chilhowee, Calderwood, and Cheoah(this one being famous for the dam scene in the movie "The Fugutive"). After leaving the Dragon(and making a pit stop at
Deal's Gap store), we continued the route to Robbinsville, NC and followed the signs for
Cherohala Skyway. It runs back into Tennessee for 43 miles. The highest point along the route is 5390 feet and the views are amazing! It comes down from the mountains near Tellico Plains, TN and a sideroad just before reaching the town leads you to an incredible waterfall,
Bald River Falls, where the Bald River dumps itself into the Tellico River. A great site that you don't even need to leave your car to see! We then followed Highway 30 from Etowah to McMinnville and then on home.
Tuesday we visited the Nashville Zoo and the Adventure Science Center. There is so much to talk about these places that I might just leave them for another post!
Hopefully I can get around to adding photos very soon!
