The road to Gatlinburg and dinner at Mel's Diner

The drive from I-81 to Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, was three lanes each way with a massive traffic jam heading westbound for miles on end. Scary, but makes sense given that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the country with more than nine million visitors a year. I think they were all heading home after a weekend in the Smokies.

The highway was littered with fast food joints, tourist traps, shows, the Comedy Barn, the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show, amusement parks, gas stations, shopping malls, outlet stores, and the like. You get the picture. Sort of like Las Vegas without the casinos, or the Wildwood boardwalk but with a highway next door instead. It's sort of the road leading into Walt Disney World in Florida. Here are some photos of the roadside attractions - the Titanic and the Hollywood Wax Museum.

We had a late lunch and early dinner at Mel's Diner in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The food was so-so. Better than a fast food outlet, but not as good as the Midtown III!

They had no pie, but I did have homemade, warm peach cobbler topped with a scoop of vanilla of cream. Yummy.