Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Day 1

Three-day weekends are rare here (miss Philippine holidays) so we're always looking to get away during a holiday weekend. There are many nice places that are within reasonable driving distance from Atlanta. This time we chose the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was a last minute decision but I'm glad we made it happen.

Rich and I researched on what areas of the park to visit and decided on the most popular ones - Cades Cove for the first day and Newfound Gap Road on the second day. We left Atlanta at 9:30AM, with Sally and Agui. 

We were in Etowah around lunch so we decided to have lunch at The Farmhouse, based on Yelp recommendations.

We stopped by the Townsend Visitors Center to pick up some maps then headed for Cades Cove.

Cades Cove features an 11-mile one-way loop. There are several stopping points for those who want to linger and check out the view or walking trails. It was a sunny but cool afternoon. The skies were the bluest I've seen.

Old cottages and churches can be found along Cades Cove Loop.

There are several picnic areas, too. This one was close to the Sugarlands Visitor Center.

The Smokies is home to many animals, including bears. At one point the traffic was moving very slow and this was why.

We were out of the park before 6PM and got to see this view overlooking Gatlinburg.

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