I take solo vacations and have since 2021. They commemorate the end of the major terms at work. I only teach one class in the summer term and it’s an easy one. Only in the summer of 2017 did I teach something relatively difficult. So, annually, I get to take 4-6 days to myself and have been seeing places where I’ve never been and, of course, I hike or cycle. They’re restorative.

Before I flew out, things seemed good until one of the irrigation settings had been turned on to every hour instead of everyday by the landscaping company. I figured that out at 12:30 am, so it made my 7:56 am plane ride the following morning rough give my lack of substantial sleep. I had to nap at the hotel too. My son watched the house and took care of my pets. However, he turned off the water to the brand new cooler, which broke the pump because it pulled dirt, debris, and bits of straw panels through it. I’ll likely have a hot house for 8-days, because I had to order a pump last night at 11:00 pm, and it won’t come into the store for a week. He also blew out the pilot light to the water heater. Thank you, Same Day Contractor. I’m using the whole house fan–with all windows open every morning in an effort to get cool air trapped for much of the day.

My trip

TN: I had to change hotels in Knoxville at the last minute due to their having a fire at the one that I booked by the Tennessee Theater. I still haven’t been refunded, because I paid ahead of time, the Hyatt said that they refunded me, and booking.com said that I have to contact my bank. This type of customer service run around is the way of the world.

My flight was early, but was good. I was just exhausted because of the irrigation turning on at my house three times every hour, and likely some stress given the quick change of hotels. My rental car was picked up seamlessly. I stayed downtown still, but it was on the quieter side of the city and not near the famous theater. I kept trying to get pictures of the theater at night, but they didn’t come out well. During the day there was traffic, so I couldn’t get a good shot, but it’s gorgeous as is the whole downtown. I was shocked to see celebrations of Pride everywhere downtown given that I was in TN.

Knoxville is very, very cool. The town reminds me of a very hilly Boulder, CO without the wildness of college kids. It’s tame and quiet. It’s also beautiful. I walked to the university and then back through the World’s Fair Park. I wound up getting drenched because I left my raincoat in my hotel, but was able to get my stuff dried out in the a/c.

Likely most people have pictures of the golden globe above the city to represent World’s Fair Park. However, I found it most cool that the pianist and composer Rachmaninoff played his last concert in TN and that this statue commemorates this performance. This shot was also taken at World’s Fair Park. Knoxville is walkable and has really good food. Before my nap I went to Market Square and had oysters and a Po’ Boy.

I logged 19,266 steps the first day in Knoxville and had a good IPA and wonderful fish tacos for a super late dinner.

When I was walking back to get to my hotel, the fireflies danced around the old graves at the First Presbyterian Church. It was like they lit up the grave markers and came on like a light had been switched. It was a cool church anyway and the graves that could be seen were from the 1790s. I don’t usually take pictures of graves, so you’ll have to trust me that the appearance of the fireflies suddenly gave me pause and was neat!

I got up and ate the included breakfast at the hotel and it was good. I had a large quiche bite, spinach and turkey sausage patties. I don’t typically eat meat at all on vacation, but had little choice on this particular trip. I’ll get to that later…

After breakfast I walked to the East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) and the gentleman was friendly and opened the gift shop for me. I needed postcards and had brought a sheet of postcard stamps. I walked to the outdoor art exhibit and took in the pieces. Then I sat on the bench and wrote.

I hiked at the Ijams Nature Center. It’s beautiful and a short drive from the city. It wouldn’t be walkable though because the roads are even too narrow for two SUVs. You pay only a $5 parking fee and can walk any of combination of the 14-miles of trails available.

I bought a new soap dish that fits my pedestal sink perfectly in the gift shop that was made by a local artist. I had gotten two mosquito bites on my hike. The clerk told me that coconut oil mixed with lavender oil is the best mosquito repellent for folks who attract them like I do. (Once my cooler is fixed, I’ll try that when I’m working in my yards. I can’t do that until then because I won’t have reprieve when I come inside to hydrate and get out of the sun.)

Then I was off to Cookeville.

I was disappointed with my accommodations. It smelled like stale smoke. Because the weather was cool, I was able to open the door and also several windows. Then I found the culprit. There were two bedrooms in this little house and the one on the right didn’t have windows that would open. It was stale air that had that hint of cigarette smoke. I elected to sleep in the other bedroom. I left after airing it out a little bit and went to Burgess State Park.

I wish that I hadn’t been hungry! I’d only had my breakfast that morning in Knoxville. Looking back, I wish that I’d gotten back in my rented car and driven to the Window Cliffs Trailhead. The area also looks gorgeous. It’s adjacent to Burgess Falls State Park and the trailhead is about 5-miles away, but after even a small hike and the two-hour drive in the morning, I needed fuel.

I drove into the town of Cookeville and the Brewery that I wanted to visit wasn’t open on Mondays or was the seafood place where I wanted to eat. I was lucky that a locally owned restaurant was and the food was wonderful. It’s called Crawdaddy’s.

Fried green tomatoes with lump crab (delicious, but cut too thick). First Grass Roots Ale down the hatch

I drove back to my accommodations and aired it out a little more. I was ready for Roku and walking around there a little bit. There was a handgun training school very close to my inn, and so I walked up there because I initially didn’t know why there was so much barking–just friendly dogs guarding the school. They were cute, but very noisy. I got most of the staleness cleared, but didn’t sleep great. Again, I got to watch fireflies, which was so cool as I’d not seen any in probably 30-years.

KY: I drove to Kentucky the next day. There isn’t any place to use the restroom on the secondary roads in this part of Kentucky. There are many churches, but those are not open on a Tuesday.

I finally really had to go to the bathroom and stopped at a local grocery. It was the zombie apocalypse grocery store. There was no rhyme or reason to the organization of the food on the shelves and many shelves were barren. Boxes of cereal and other items had been piled in the refrigerated produce and dairy bins and there was nothing fresh at all. I asked to use the restroom and said that I would buy something. They gave me directions to it and I walked around all these weird aisles with random boxes on them. Finally, I found it and it was beyond filthy. I was grateful to have a toilet though as none of the areas near the rolling hills had trees. I bought a gallon of spring water and left.

I got to my bed and breakfast and was able to check in. The room was laid out in a crowded way, but was clean. The bathtub didn’t drain so I had a gross shower in two to three inches of water, but was glad to be clean and not smell stale smoke. I left after my shower and hiked 5-miles in the area around Mammoth Caves.

I hiked 5-miles and really enjoyed having lots of solitude and seeing the area. Most people walk around the rim of the National Park and then wait for their tour ticket time. I saw a deer and enjoyed the dense forest, rock formations and some steep grades for hiking. The hiking is good in the area surrounding the cave entrances and visitor’s center.

I was the last person to have seating in the restaurant in the park because they were closing, so I tipped the server 30%. I would never want to be that person and have served twice before, so it was only fair to my server. When people come in when you’re closing it’s beyond annoying. I elected to not get bacon in my grilled cheese so it didn’t taste like anything and the fries were like rocks, but I was so hungry having only eaten one of the tomatoes from the night before and an avocado that I brought on the plane. Everyone was nice and attentive.

I took the Extended Historical Tour that evening. My guide’s name was Emily and she was very good. I found out later that she’d been raised in Kentucky and her Dad was a Park Ranger. She knew a lot about the ancient indigenous people who first used these caves around 2,000-years ago, the saltpeter mining for some of the gunpowder used in the war of 1812, and Stephen Bishop, the very first guide and explorer of areas in the cave that had not been discovered in recorded history.

My step count was 23,251.

I slept fairly well at the bed and breakfast that night and ate breakfast with a couple from NH the next morning. I had to ask them to be seated with them as I was the only solo traveler. The host seemed surprised, but the couple was friendly and around my age. I had bacon. I couldn’t have choices in what was plated for me because I would’ve had to tell the inn the day before. I started to realize that in KY, everything has bacon, so the grilled cheese at the restaurant in the National Park wasn’t unique nor a food anomaly.

Having booked another tour, I returned to Mammoth Caves. At 9:45 I took the Grand Avenue Tour, which doesn’t use the Historical or the New Entrance. We had to board a bus. We then went down through pristine entrance. Our guide was pretty sarcastic, but good at his job. I learned a ton, had a four-mile jaunt and got views of what seemed like the inside of a river canyon, and formations that were similar to those which were familiar having seen Carlsbad Caverns with my son in the summer of 2022.

This area of the cave is less popular and much better maintained. The hike was long, but worth it and it was an area mostly untouched by oils from human skin. If you visit Mammoth Caves don’t expect to randomly get in, you have to book a specific tour in advance. I would take the River of Styx Tour if I ever came back.

I ate my only good meal in KY after my hike. I typically have a no Mexican food rule on vacation because it’s gross outside of NM, parts of TX and CO. I went to the Watermill and they were doing only a buffet which horrifies me, so I asked a woman smoking on the top patio there where I could get seafood. She recommended El Matzalan, and I turned up my nose, but she said that I could get shrimp. So, I went, and again, it was my best meal in KY. I had them grill jalapeños alongside the green peppers on the camarones Jalisco dish. Excellent white sauce, and again, because it’s KY, bacon. However, it was wonderful.

I went to the brewery, Yancey’s Gastro pub, in Glasgow and it was also wonderful. The Apron Leaf IPA was excellent. Then I walked the town for a little while trying to find the fort, but couldn’t. The people were friendly and helpful, but I was tired, so I drove back to the inn. I sat outside looking at the hills and reading my book. (That was when my son started calling me about the cooler that he broke and he’d frantically do that for the remainder of my trip.) I listened to the roaring trains and relaxed outside for about an hour.

I realized that I had a minimum of a 5-hour drive the next day, so I had to eat something before I got on the road. I’d be skipping the breakfast the next day that was included. I went to another Mexican place recommended by the inn keepers, but it was like shrimp in mayo on tortillas. Not a great meal and was obviously more of a cocktail bar, which is probably why it was recommended.

I logged 25,712 steps this day.

I got coffee at Miss Betty’s the next day and the staff was so nice. I should have eaten breakfast too, but I wasn’t hungry yet. So, I drank only two cups of coffee so as to be caffeinated enough to drive to North Carolina.

I am glad that I saw KY on this solo vacation.

I had a really long drive. I was back on the rolling hills aggravating folks for driving the speed limit on the curves until I got out of KY. I stopped for the restroom at the State Line convenience mart and asked to use the restroom. People are so friendly in TN. The clerk insisted twice that I didn’t have to buy anything, but having starved a couple of times on this particular vacation, I bought a granola bar.

I was fascinated by the jars with pickled chicken and quail eggs. He asked if I needed something specific and I said, “No, I had never seen single jars (6-8 eggs) of pickled chicken eggs outside of a vat behind a counter. And these quail ones are not something that I’ve ever seen. I think that every region has it’s own unique cuisines.” He said, “What about pickled bologna?” and he pulled up one of those vats that typically have eggs or large pickles in them, but it was hot sauce red. I told him No, and the young guy in the store with me said, “You’re not from around here, are you?” I told him that I wasn’t and he told the clerk, “I’ll be needing a couple of pieces of that.”

I got back in the car and made the mistake of thinking that driving through Pigeon Forge would be something that I could do without eating. I wanted to eat in NC. However, I just needed to be free of the Las Vegas of TN, which is Pigeon Ford, so I ate at Bullfish. It was great. All of my meals in TN were.

After an hour, I was ready to continue on through Pigeon Forge. I got gas at a Buc ee’s.

Wow.

Wal-Mart with the cleanest restrooms on the planet and more crowds than Dollywood. I picked up Korean BBQ Beef Jerky, which horrified me later because when I was getting gas a huge cow was bellowing in the hot trailer on the other side of the island of pumps.

NC: I finally got to Cherokee. I had a no frills cabin with only one window because the one by the bed housed an air conditioner. However, the bed was the best one that I had on my whole solo vacation. It was nice and firm and I could look out the window in the bathroom while laying in bed. I also had a beautiful reading spot across the road on the property.

I walked the town of Cherokee that night. The river has fishing and swimming and you could see the bottom. It was gorgeous. I also walked the bamboo forest in this area.

Cherokee is beautiful. Although I didn’t quite log 10,000 steps this day; I thoroughly loved being in NC. People are friendly, helpful, and my accommodations included roaring water. Driving through TN and getting into the Smokies was also wonderful.

I slept the best the whole trip on this night. I had a nice blackened fish meal at All Fried Up. I was so excited to hike the Smokies the next day.

I got up and went to the Visitor’s Center. I walked the river and the farm. From the ranger at the main house on the farm I learned that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has 800-miles of trails and 2,100 miles of water flowing through it. I hiked just under two-hours near the Visitor’s Center and enjoyed the buildings and equipment on the farm. I had a nice quiet hike along the river and enjoyed walking through the outdoor museum here.

After writing out some postcards, I got back in the car with Ranger directions to Deep Creek area of the park. I got worried that I’d done something wrong because I hadn’t hit the trailhead yet. I stopped at Deep Creek Tube Center and Campground. There I found one of the most genuinely nice people who I encountered on my trip. If you go to the NC side of the Smokies, rent your tubes or camp here. She loved her job and explained that I hadn’t quite reached the area to park yet. She read my directions provided at the Visitor’s Center and said that those would confuse her too. She gave me a little map and highlighted how to continue my short drive and where to park.

When I got there it reminded me a bit of a commercial waterpark, so I just started hiking. People were carrying tubes and yelling. Some were also drinking really heavily.

The first two waterfalls were very pretty.

That day marked not only my most miles of just hiking, but made me appreciate how easily you can either get a little lost or be around no other human. However, I saw butterflies, wild water, waterfalls, and areas wherein I didn’t feel safe as a solo hiker going alone. There is apparently a cemetery in the hills around Deep Creek, but trees had fallen on parts of the trail, so I turned back around.

I felt like I could hear wildlife breathing. I also hiked around another steep trail within the trails and turned back around because of some poop that I saw that didn’t look like horse poop. It’s a little scary at times to be hiking or cycling alone. I tended to turn back when I felt like there was too much risk being solo.

I would recommend a hiking partner at the Deep Creek area and maybe other areas too. I would also recommend a hiking hat with a net because mosquitos swarm your face and when you wave them over and over it makes your view of things less spontaneous. It was somewhat steep too, so I probably would’ve benefitted from my trekking poles for the descents.

I was glad that I didn’t have encounters with any bears. I loved this hike and felt accomplished. I was wondering why folks were not hiking up? Perhaps the Deep Creek area is mostly for tubers. I decided when I was winding back down through the trails to see the last falls. I knew it would be steep again and was covered in sweat, but I was curious about them.

In total, I was hiking for about two-hours in this area. I covered nearly 5-miles and logged 11,660 steps.

I drove back to Bryson City and realized that I was no longer interested in the hour and some change drive to Asheville. I know that when I see friends this weekend I’ll get chided about that, but I didn’t want to spend another three-hours in the car when it was my last day on this solo vacation. I went to Bryson City Brewing and ate some Brussel sprouts and hung out. I found out that there would be karaoke later. My server, Lara, was cool and fun to talk to. I learned from them that folks work seasonally here as river guides. Lara recommended Mountain Layers Brewing, so I walked up there and enjoyed a wonderful IPA. I bought a wine glass to take home so I always remember it.

When I was walking back, I heard an incredible singer. It was Lara’s friend who is also a guide. I went inside and ate nachos with beer cheese and noticed that no one else would sing. I had already complemented this singer who sang and left. She was remarkable. I thought that she sounded autotuned. I felt like I’d not heard someone quite this good in a long time. I sang once and then went back to my cabin. I logged 25,704 steps that day.

The next day, I drove toward Gatlinburg mostly through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I did pull over for the bathroom once. I stopped paid the $5 fee (Again, like TN, you may pay to park, but don’t have any entrance fees) and walked around the rim of Clingman’s Dome Visitor’s Center. June 15, 2024 was the park’s 90th birthday! I saw a little sign that marked the Appalachian Trail that marked over 1900-miles to Maine! That sign gave me pause having been on Mt Dessert Island two years ago.