The Great Smoky Mountains N.P. lived up to their name and reputation. They were crazy foggy, beautiful and crowded. We camped a night each on the North Carolina and Tennessee side and hiked to the observation tower at Clingmans Dome where we were treated to awesome views of, well, fog. All in all, worth the visit even in spite of all the people.

Who knew?!?!? Bryson City, NC has it going on! Mostly known for being home to the Great Smokey Mt railroad, it has it's fair share of tourist trap-esque establishments. But, if you dig a little deeper you will find some pretty cool spots... Of note is Nantahala Brewing Co. which we'd have to rate as up there amoungst the (many) micro breweries that we've visited on this trip. And, no blog from Bryson City is complete without mentioning Mickey's Pub. Wow! Not sure...

Asheville, NC has a rep for being a liberal, chill hippie town of sorts down here in the South. From what we can tell the rep is pretty dead on. They have a huge drum circle on Friday evenings in the town center park and are all about shopping, eating, and drinking "local". I finally got my legit Southern pulled pork BBQ that I've waiting for; and was it worth it!!!! Up there for best meal of the trip so far. They also have like 9 micro breweries in town and, all...