Next stop was the Forbidden Caverns in Tennessee, after a disappointing experience at Mammoth Caverns which was my fault. I had not done enough research and opted to show up day-of without tickets. The self-guided tour takes you into a large cavern but lacking any formations. Fortunately Forbidden did not disappoint with a fun half-mile trek through a lot of formations and underground river.
From there it was on to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where I had very little planned. As a kid growing up in South Carolina, we took a happy family trip there at least twice. It’s a great place for kids due to the various activities available. For me this trip it was just to walk the town to see if it invoked memories. As a long-term Type 1 diabetic I have some significant gaps in my memory. Despite over three decades passing there were memories that resurfaced.
The town had changed in some ways of course but still largely felt like the old Gatlinburg that I knew. It was interesting to see that while the town had expanded, it was partially due to stores with identical merchandise appearing several times. One or two chains and several independent stores but the merchandise was the same between them. Since my visits as a kid there is a Hollywood Car Museum that opened with many iconic vehicles from some of the biggest movies:
And here are some other pictures from Tennessee:
