Opened Finally - 74 Years After It was Authorized!

It was big news here in East Tennessee.  The “Missing Link” of the Smoky Mountains Foothills Parkway was finally open for traffic!  We just had to take the drive to see what the fuss was all about…

First a little background.  The US Congress authorized the Foothills Parkway in 1944 as a scenic parkway that would provide terrific views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the valley vistas below from a road, (corridor along the foothills), that was just outside the park.  Back in the day, the right-of-way for this 72 mile long road was acquired by the State of Tennessee and then transferred to the Federal Government. (The National Park Service) 

Construction itself did not start until 1960.  Due to funding cuts, the project stalled again in the 1970s.  By 1978, only a third of the Parkway had been completed.  While the Parkway still isn’t completed, on November 10, 2018, the “missing link”, a 16.1 mile section of the Parkway stretching from US Hwy. 321 in the town of Walland to the northern terminus of Wears Valley, just a few miles from Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

We took the following photos along the Foothills Parkway “missing link” route toward Pigeon Forge… 

Great views and lovely vistas on a late fall day!  Still had some color in the mountains on this sunny day… 

We had quite a bit of traffic and a not just a few visitors along this new segment of the Parkway.

The photo above provide a clue as to the engineering difficulty that was encountered when building this scenic road.

What the heck!  We had to have a destination at the north end of the missing link didn’t we?  It was time for lunch…which also sufficed as dinner.  This is the Wild Bear Tavern in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.  It is attached to the Wild Bear Inn.

We were attracted to this restaurant because we had read comments on-line about the lunch and dinner menu.  The specialty of Wild Bear Tavern is German cuisine, and we do love quality German food.  We had to give it a try! 

(FYI, it appears that at one time this restaurant was called the Wild Bear Pancake House)

There is an outside deck area for the Wild Bear Tavern’s patrons, but although it was sunny, it was a bit chilly too.

In a German restaurant, it seemed like the proper thing to do would be to drink some German beer!  Laurie had the Spaten Premium Lager ($5.50) and I went for the Warsteiner Genuine German Pilsner. ($5.50) We both enjoyed our selection!

OK…so we didn’t exercise a lot of imagination when it came to our entrees!  We both opted for the Traditional Schnitzel. ($15.95) Our seasoned pork cutlet was breaded, fried and then topped with a light lemon butter sauce.  I liked my schnitzel a lot but Laurie thought that the butter sauce didn’t measure up!  She’d have much preferred a rahm or paprika sauce.

Our meals came with our choice of a Caesar salad or garden salad plus one side item.  Available sides included German potato salad, Oma’s potato pancakes, Opa’s famous mashed potatoes, pan fried potatoes, garden fresh vegetables, sidewinder fries, rotkohl (red cabbage), sauerkraut, spätzle and cheese or fresh fruit.

Laurie had that nice side salad plus Opa’s famous mashed potatoes.  The potatoes had onion, bacon and apples folded into them.  Laurie loved them!  I discovered that I could skip the salad and choose another side so I went for the Pan Fried Potatoes with Bacon (onions optional) plus the spätzle and cheese.  The pan fried potatoes were just too thick and they weren’t fried enough but I really liked the spätzle!

Service was friendly and the portions were huge.  There were several more items on the menu that we’d like to try so we will return.  Wild Bear Tavern is located at 4236 Parkway in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.  Phone: 865-453-3530.  This restaurant’s information is found on the Inn’s Website: https://www.westgateresorts.com/hotels/tennessee/pigeon-forge/wild-bear-inn/dining/wild-bear-tavern/. 

We decided to retrace our route south along the newly opened Foothills Parkway segment toward our home.  It was a chance to check out some of the views as we headed south…

Note: The Parkway’s right-of-way is only 500 to 1,000 feet wide.

We feel that the Foothills Parkway’s “missing link” certainly is a worthy addition to the Smoky Mountain National Park!  The drive is scenic, the turnouts are spectacular…and, like the park itself, it’s free!

Note: It’s significant to report that 74 years after the Foothills Parkway was approved, construction hasn’t even begun on a 33.5 mile stretch of the route from Wears Valley to Cosby Tennessee.  Perhaps our grandchildren will see the fully completed version of the parkway… Appropriately, the Park Service's website on this completed section of the Parkway hasn't been updated.

As we passed through the southern edge of Maryville Tennessee on US Hwy 411 on our way home, Laurie asked me to stop at this independent coffee house.  This is the Artistic Bean Organic Espresso and Coffee House. 

Maryville’s Artistic Bean is a very casual place…with a little bit of a ‘’hippy’ or ‘flower child’ vibe.  This “Fair Trade” business offers several types of coffee beans to go (website shows 12 varieties) plus all those complex drinks, some snacks/baked goods and a few other gift type items.

Laurie had a very nice latte and she bought a bag of coffee beans for our larder.  This Artistic Bean location is at 1738 West Broadway (US Hwy 411) in Maryville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-980-8353.  The Artistic Bean is on Facebook and the Web.  Check this coffee house out at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheArtisticBeanMaryville/about/?ref=page_internal, or http://artisticbeanmaryville.com/.  I believe that the first Artistic Bean is located in Townsend Tennessee.

Lots of photos…not too much verbiage.  I hope you made it all the way through this posting!  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave