Moving On- Touring the Smokies

We woke up to a glorious day.  We had a long way to go, but we decided to make the most of it.  If we had to be in the car, we decided, we could at least enjoy the ride.  No more big interstates where all you see is the backside of a semi and some gas stations.
J and I had gone old-school with a pen and a map and picked out our own route through the Smokies.  We decided that even if it stretched our trip out a bit longer, we were taking the scenic route.
Starting with a road that climbs way up the mountains and skims aaaaall along the ridges of the mountain range, we drove through some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

It sometimes seemed unreal, it was that gorgeous. 
We took our time at first, stopping for a coffee in "Little Switzerland" (a town about half a block long) and playing fetch with the dogs at an overlook.

We watched jagged peaks melt into soft mountains, we watched those fade into rolling hills and finally give way to the flat topography of Alabama.

Too bad it couldn't last forever.
But it couldn't. Because at some point, you have to sleep.  And for the second time in a wouldn't-you-think-we'd-have-learned-to-call-ahead-row, the campsite we thought we were headed towards was nowhere to be found.  We decided to buy some dinner in a place where we could consult our phones for a back-up plan. 
Since we were going to eat out instead of by camp-grill, we thought we should at least go local and try the endemic cuisine.  We were in Alabama, you know.  So we ate here:

Oh.  It was special.
After that culinary experience, we were not feeling high-spirited enough to go searching for campgrounds in the dark.  We gave up and crashed at a hotel.  It wasn't fancy, but we had hot baths and showers, and a nice early bedtime.  It was a nice, quiet end to the day.  It's good we got our rest.  We had some adventures left to come.