Day 7 - Knoxville, TN to Commerce, GA

Erin discovered "The Proposal" last night which was good news for her, but bad news for me.  It meant bedtime was delayed until 1am when the movie ended.

We slept in and missed breakfast, so we decided to start the day with lunch instead at a festive diner.

Hot Rod 50s Diner in Marysville, TN.

Erin eyes her enormous onion rings.

We really didn't see Knoxville at all.  In hindsight, our Tennessee diversion really only consisted of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.  They were fun, but perhaps not worth the massive drive it forced upon us today.

There aren't a lot of highlights today since it was mostly driving, but I'll share the few we do have.  We drove to the Fontana Dam back in North Carolina.

Fontana Dam

Down the river.

Dangerous place to boat if they open the gates!

The TVA had a visitor center and pretty nice information about the dam.  Considering TVA generates electricity and manages infrastructure, I was surprised they operated the dam like a national park.

We crossed into Georgia a few hours later.

Bad picture, but it's our welcome to Georgia.

The mountains turned into foothills as we traveled further south.  The rest of the trip will be pretty flat.

We did make one more stop before Commerce because I wanted something exciting for the day.

Tallulah Gorge

Erin didn't think this was a good idea.

But I did, so down we went!  :)

Falls from the bridge.

No tubing in this river.

Looking happy about our suspension bridge adventure.

Worth the steps down for sure.

Going back up was a little harder...

After reaching the hotel, Erin decided on chips and salsa, so I went out for a real dinner.  I found some Georgia barbecue.

Potato salad, beans, pulled pork, and Texas toast.

Coming from Texas, I have high standards for barbecue.  First, true barbecue is a combo plate of brisket, ribs, and sausage with potato salad and baked beans.  No sauce is needed for excellent meat, but it's acceptable to have something smoky.

All these other places have their own strange versions.  Memphis barbecue and dry ribs?  Carolina barbecue with vinegar as a sauce?  Georgia with pork and sweet sauces?

Sadly, this just wasn't up to par.  It was fun to go, but the pork needs to steal the show and it didn't.  I had high hopes, but the super-sweet sauce didn't add anything beneficial.  I'm sure I'll have a chance to sample a few more spots on the way back up.