In many ways, at least a few, Nashville is a second home. Not in the sense that I go there often (believe me I don’t), but more in the sense that I’ve got family there. My people dwell in these parts, not far from the Smoky Mountains that sit midway through the Blue Ridge. Jake has a big Gov job in the city, but when he can he meets us near the mountains. These aren’t ADK miles by any stretch of the imagination, but they can kick your ass if you aren’t ready.
Truthfully, Not much of of our Nash trips are spent in Nashville. I met Jake downtown last year for the Polar Plunge, but after that we took off rather quickly for Gatlinburg. Nashville seems like a very interesting place, and it certainly has more going on than Rochester, but I’ll be dammed if the whole place wasn’t basically just shut down in those 2020 years. It may be some time before I ever get to see it in it’s true majesty.
The real draw for heading south was to see the Smokey Mountains with my own two eyes (they didn’t disappoint). I do feel as though the south does indeed have that charming hospitality we would all expect, but people were occasionally a bit more hurried than I remember from my Oklahoma days. This can probably be attributed to the same sort of anxiety that left the strip empty in Nash year before last. Maybe people we were just trying to see as much of it as they could, we basically did the exact same.
Were we drunk the whole time? Not the whole time, but a portion of it. Frankly, I had no idea that Gatlinburg was home to some very popular moonshine distilleries. We did indulge, and even grabbed some for later indulgence. I hadn’t seen Jake since we climbed Giant, and his and Kelli’s banter is just as ridiculous as I remembered. It was fast, but it was fun. The whole thing was a blur, partly because of the booze but mostly because of the time. I’d like to see myself in the Smokes again soon.
