Over the river and through the woods

Today we spent some of our time on the downtown ‘strip’ of Gatlinburg. The touristy shops piled one after another soon start to look all the same, but there was also a juried art show, with artists selling their wares from booths on the street. We saw some especially fine photography, metalwork and turned wood. Unfortunately it was a cold and drizzly kind of day, so that didn’t add to the experience (I did pick up a decent umbrella at one of those tourist shops though.)


After the bustle of Gatlinburg, we entered the quiet of the Smoky Mountain National Park, cutting through it on our way to the John C. Campbell Folk School. The drizzly weather led to very foggy conditions in the mountains – here’s a shot out the windshield.

Conditions at the roadside vistas were not always ideal.


Sometimes the mountainsides made dramatic appearances through the fog. I almost shot this scene with a video camera, because the clouds were breaking and twisting so much.


A shot of the fog rising from the mountains.

Small rivers ducked in and out of the woods as we drove up to New Found Gap and down again the pass.


We ate in Cherokee, NC at a great little sandwich shop. The proprietor sold me on his description of their chipotle turkey sandwich, with cream cheese, sunflower seeds and alfalfa sprouts. It wasn’t until the second bite that I realized that the sandwich—delicious as it was, had no turkey in it! With apologies, the situation was rectified.

An hour and a half later, after driving through the winding road of Nantahala Gorge, we arrived at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC (https://www.folkschool.org/). We were soon registered, welcomed and fed—a wonderful meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and fresh bread. Afterwards we went with each of our instructors, who brought us to the studios we’ll be in all week. Let’s just say we’re both very excited about our classes and instructors.

Here our lodgings for the week: a converted mill.