Cruise to Alabama -- Day 7 (Tuesday)

Somewhere along the way, we opted to visit Alabama.  Amey has wanted to shop at the lost luggage store for a few years now, and I've been hankering for a hunk of Alabama barbeque for some time.  So, Tuesday we decided to take our time and meander out of the mountains into the DEEP south.

Morning came late, and we trudged down to the hotel's restaurant for our first meal.  The same lady that cooked our supper the night before had prepared the best homemade biscuits and sausage gravy that I have ever eaten.  The coffee wasn't nearly of the same quality.  In this part of the country, folks drink a watered down bitter brew they call coffee.  It tasted like peat-swamp water to me.  The biscuits and gravy made up for the coffee, though.  I ate three helpings, which drew an approving comment from the southern lady whom had seemed quite skeptical of us "yankees" to that point.

With full bellies we hopped into the chariot and plotted our course to 'Bama.  I-40 was closed down two days prior on the North Carolina/Tennessee border due to a massive rockslide, and a detour north was causing delays on the Interstate.  This made our decision easy to take US and state highways from the Blue Ridge mountains into the Great Smokies of Tennessee.  Rain poured down on us as we followed the trail of tears through Cherokee nation.  In the 1800's the Cherokee people were displaced from their homes in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee and forced to march west.  In one of our nations darkest moments, thousands of people died of disease, hunger, and cold as they were pushed west to Oklahoma.  The route is commemorated, and today a small area of North Carolina is all that remains of the Cherokee homeland.

As we left North Carolina we passed through steep gorges, hugging a river in a national forest.  For miles we saw nothing but rugged terrain, the river, lakes, and the occasional grand lodge.  This recreational area in East Tennessee was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's, and is a true gem, even on a rainy day.  Because we passed through in the late fall, we nearly had the place to ourselves.  I enjoyed the stonework chimneys of the lodges, and the mingling of nature, recreation, and industrial development.  The river also serves as a power-generation source for the valley, and several large hydroelectric dams power the Tennessee Valley Authority's lines.  These monuments were also constructed at the tail-end of the great depression, and brought electricity to the people.  Oftentimes industry destroys the natural beauty of an area, but they seem to co-exist in this part of the country.