Our first stop was Laurell's Falls. Another 1.3 miles walk one way but the brochure said it was flat with a 200' gain. I'm not sure how you do that, but my brain saw flat and we went for it. I now
see
how that's done. The path was asphalt - flat. However, the trail went up, and up, and up. Yeah, I was pooped by the end of the trail. The young man that took our picture didn't include the falls so I took one of that. Larry decided to stand by the "Danger - hazardous cliff" sign to get his photo take
n (the yellow sign behind his feet). There were lots of people at this falls and lots of them down at the bottom playing in the pool that was there. We started our 1.3 miles back down the mountain.The drive to Cades Cove was absolutely
beautiful. My words can't
begin to describe this wonderful, luscious valley. There was a stream constantly running by the roads leading into the cove. We saw
lots of deer and there was a bear spotting but everyone out taking photos scared it off.
Our next stop was John Oliver's cabin. John Oliver arrived in the cove prior to 1820 and bought this
land in 1826. It remained in the family until the park was established more than 100 years later. There was a 1/4 mile walk back to this place. Yes, I have blisters on my feet tonight and can hardly move. It'll be another Tylenol PM night.
Driving down this lane was full of pull overs. Actually all the roads in the Smoky's have lots of pull overs so you can get out to see the
view or the wildlife. There were two Baptist churches in the cove and this lane took us withing 1/4 mile of the Primitive Baptist Church - which we didn't drive down. We did meander on down the road to this Methodist church. The original church was built by J. D. McCampbell in 115 days for $115. He later served many years as its minister. In 1902 it was replaced with this one. The Civil War
closed down the Primitive Baptist Church "...we was Union people and the Rebels was too strong here in Cades Cove."; but the war and Reconstruction split the Methodist Church. The cemetery outside the church had many old headstones and some new ones that surprised us. The three in a row are babies, either born dead or died that same day. There were a couple of others but I couldn't get them into the same photo. They had the same scripture that I had seen in the cemetery where my Dad is buried: "Budded on earth to bloom in heaven". The deer was seen on the other side of a newer grave.
Our last stop was at the Cades Cove Visitor's Center and Cable 
Mill Historic Area. There was a home, blacksmith building, smokehouse, corn crib, sorghum mill and furnace to convert it to molasses, and two barns. One barn was a cantilever barn and both were drive thru barns. The overhang in cantilever barns provided shelter for animals as well as storage space for farm equipment. This type of construction originated centuries ago in Europe.
There was also a mill. This mill operated as both a grist mill and a sash sawmill in about 1870 and into the 20th century. It stopped operating when it could no longer compete with the newer circular disc saws with toothed edges, powered by steam engines.There were many more cabins and buildings within the cove loop but Larry and I were about old-time-cabined out. It was a beautiful drive and I would highly recommend it to anyone who comes into this area.
Tomorrow morning we will be heading north into Kentucky. We'll be at the Blue Heron Corp of Engineer Campground close to ----- nothing. We will be halfway between Williamsburg and Monticello. Closest small town is Stearns - for any of you that want to know specifically where we are. Also, we'll be in the Big South Fork National River & Rec. Park. We went grocery shopping tonight on the way home to stock up for the next week. I think there will be lots of home cooking for awhile.
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