Holy Smokies!

I tried to post this last night, but due to technical difficulties, I'm just getting this up this morning--Tuesday, July 13.

For whatever reason, pancakes are kind of a big deal in Tennessee. I don't know why, and really, I'm not sure I care. Regardless of why, when something's kind of a big deal, we try to take it in. Now, pancakes can sit quite heavy when you're on the road for a long period of time. As we are trying to be health conscious, we decided to walk from our hotel to the pancake house. It was a little less than a mile, making the round trip just under 2 miles. Tim got blueberry pancakes, and I got buckwheat--both quite tasty. I also got my daily intake of sodium in one bite from the side order of country ham. It was a good, solid breakfast. As we stepped out onto the porch, (It was The Log Cabin Pancake House after all.) We noticed it had started raining. We were about a mile from home with no rain jacket or umbrella--a slight dilemma--unless of course they sell 2 dollar ponchos in the restaurant. Tim went back into the store, made the purchase, and came back with the gems.

 Yep. Complete with black bears--stylish, I know. It was the difference between having the edges of our shorts damp and being soaking wet. We walked the 8/10 of a mile back to the hotel where we ironed the ends of our shorts to dry them out. : ) And that's how we started the day. Once we were back at the hotel, it started pouring. We waited out the downpour, then headed through the Smokies. While it was overcast, the mist and fog made for a beautiful sight. There were a few overlooks that were disappointing because of the clouds but the fog and mist made up for it.

We stopped in Ashville for lunch where we ate at Corner Kitchen. Using Tim's iphone, we stumbled upon this spot. We found out once we were there, that President Obama had eaten there within the last couple of months. Regardless of your opinion of him, he certainly as good taste! This is the second time we have eaten at the same restaurant as The President (the other being Pi in St. Louis). We overheard the waiter telling another table that The President had reservations made made anonymously under the guise that a man was going to propose to his fiance and wanted a quiet, secluded spot without too many people. At the given time, the Secret Service came in, used a metal detector wand to check everyone then let President Obama come in. He also brought 2 personal chefs with him to make sure that the food wasn't tampered with during preparation. While it would be nice to have the privilege of getting to eat wherever you wanted to at any time, it would be a pain to have to go through the drill of making sure everything was safe. Anyway, back to the food! Here I had the best salad I have ever eaten--fried oyster salad.

Tim had a portabello mushroom sandwich that was also delicious. (The picture of this didn't turn out as well as mine.)

About 5:30, we pulled into Craig and Kathey's! It's always good to visit with them. As only the Cox family can do, Craig already had a dinner spot picked out. We went to the Penguin Drive-In, as featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives! How did Craig know I was ready for a good-old-fashioned, diner burger? It was awesome as were the thin onion rings, sweet potato fries, and fried pickles!

Now, Craig is scooping up some more Blue Bell ice cream for all of us. Last night, I couldn't decide whether I wanted buttered pecan or banana pudding ice cream. I chose buttered pecan. I think my big brother may be psychic--can you guess what kind I'm getting ready to eat tonight? : )