Make Mine Southern

When did we enter the rural South? Was it when we passed this sign, advertising fried bologna?

Certainly, by the time we barreled through Nashville to the Smokies, we'd already reached the drawling speech, slower pace, and economy of pork that frames the charm of the South. We stopped at Great Smokies Park Visitor Center to buy a picture book for ourselves and some treats for the little kids. We then we drove into the park itself. The Smokies were magnificent. There really was a smoky haze over the blue hills. We got out of our cars and just gazed.

We met Grandma and Darrell.

We searched for Steve and Camille, but we didn't connect. We had high hopes for a picnic...

but the rain washed us out. Dave and Lisa took the little guys to our condo in Crossville, Tennessee, but Mike, Jonny and Jenny, and the Big Flindts stayed to explore the park. We wandered around a church in Cades Cove built in 1817, with gravestones of Revolutionary War veterans.

We drove past other quaint homesteads, all abandoned now.

We hiked along a picturesque creek to a waterfall and swimming hole.

Michael saw five bears along the roadside and in the meadow, and we all saw many deer.

Jonnny plunged into the grass to get a better photo of a bear and its cubs.

It was nearly dark when we arrived in Crossville. The next morning I was up early, admiring the perfect stillness of the lake next to our condo. It was so still that trees and clouds were reflected in the water.