So disturbing that these are EVERYWHERE... these places wouldn't exist if there weren't "clientele", right? Hobby: "blowin' things up."
Anyway, back to the beautiful, scenic stuff...
We drove through the Smoky Mountains and were in complete awe!!! The Smoky Mountains were just breathtaking... I just wish the photos could tell the story better.
The trees were just turning color and the fog is always coming up from the mountains (hence "smoky"). It's surreal, and so beautiful! My question: So, how do they know if there's an actual forest fire if the mountains ALWAYS look like they're on fire??
We plan on taking a future camping trip in the Smoky Mountains! Hoepfully, there's some good fishing...
We had an absolutely delicious, authentic southern meal when we crossed the border to North Carolina. We enjoyed grilled, fresh rainbow trout and catfish...along with some southern side dishes: hash casserole & fried apples (the hash casserole was blah, but the fried apples, according to Brian, were amazing). The southern hospitality is so friendly and charming. They always use a term of endearment at the end of their sentence, "Here ya go, honey", "Can I bring y'all anythin' else, darlin'?" -- love it! It makes you feel so loved!
By the way, what are grits??? It's served with gravy and doesn't look so appetizing, so I avoided any dishes that included grits.
We had a very pleasant stay in Columbia, SC last night, and drove to Myrtle beach today. It was supposed to be an "easy" drive today, but there are only small side roads from Columbia to Myrtle Beach, so it ended up being much longer than we expected. Anyway, we were very excited to arrive at the shores of the east coast... 10 days after departing the west coast!
We enjoyed another "southern" dinner tonight with another "southern" side dish: pecan-crusted sweet potatoes (I didn't try it, but Brian said it was not so good). By the way, the food portions here are HUUUUUGE!!! I commented to the waitress that the portions are very generous, and she replied, "We don't want y'all to leave hungry now", to which Brian replied, "Well, you've accomplished THAT!"
So we are now full and happy. I can't sign off without a picture of Picasso.,.
Here is Picasso on one of his many breaks on the road...
