The most visited national park in the US deserves more than 2 days, but if this is all you have, this itinerary will make sure you cover the best. How to Get There One of the reasons the Smokies are so popular is because they are close to many cities. You can fly into smaller…
[Asheville, NC, Oct 14, 2023] After all the festivities yesterday, it was not easy to get up early for our 3-ish hour drive to Asheville, NC. But we had a 9:30 e-bike tour reserved, so we couldn’t sleep in. After a Starbucks stop to get everyone caffeinated, we were on the road. The e-bike tour…
[Charlotte, NC, Oct 12-13, 2023] With our side trip to the Great Smoky Mountains over, it was time to drive back to Charlotte. Lena and I desperately needed coffee, but the only Starbucks shops in town were in the casinos! Cherokee is the Atlantic City of the South – it has 3 casinos, which is…
[Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Oct 11, 2023] For our only full day in the park, we wanted to do the best hike in the park, 5.5 miles one way to Mt LeConte. At 6,593 ft (2,010 m) it is the third highest peak in the national park. There are three other subpeaks above 6,000…
[Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Oct 10, 2023] Once upon a time, the 6 of us lived in LA and ran every Saturday together to train for the LA marathon. Four of us knew each other from business school, and the other 2 were Olivia’s friends that eventually became ours, too. Over the years, a…