e
Today we got an early start. We had breakfast at a little cafe in Asheville and then drove along th Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to the parkway's end in Cherokee.
The morning started out cloudy and within a couple of hours it was raining. Even with the cloud cover giving the mountains that smokey look, the drive was still beautiful and I drove while Randy mastered the video feature with his iPad. He was able to capture the curvy roads and the dark, spooky tunnels.
As we got nearer Cherokee the stress of the curvy road and the rain got the best of me and I pulled over and let Randy take over driving. We arrived in Cherokee around lunchtime and had lunch at a local restaurant. It was where the locals eat and they had an all you can eat buffet. After lunch we stopped in at the Qualla Arts and Craft Center. All of their merchandise is made by Native Americans and it was beautiful! They had nationally known Native American brands (Minnetonka moccasins and Pendleton blankets) as well but the majority of their items were hand made. We then drove by Harrah's Casino because neither of us had seen it before, then headed on to Chattanooga.
The trip was very scenic because the road followed the Oconoluftee and the Tuckasegee Rivers. There were beautiful lakes but the drive was so curvy and traffic was so thick that it was not easy to enjoy the scenery. By the time we arrived in Chattanooga we were exhausted and just went to bed without even having dinner.
