On to Wears Valley and Beyond!

…continuing with Laurie’s sister Bonnie’s visit with her husband Bill and their granddaughter Avery.

Following our tour of Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains National Park, we backtracked a little bit and picked up the new scenic section of the Foothills Parkway, heading across to the north end of Wears Valley Tennessee…

The Foothills Parkway is a National Parkway that crosses the top of the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee.  If it’s ever finished in its entirety, it will stretch for 72.1 miles, connecting US Hwy 129 at the Little Tennessee River with I-40 along the Pigeon River to the northeast.

The photos shown above are views looking across Wears Valley toward the Great Smoky Mountains.  This particular segment of the Parkway is quite spectacular.  It just opened for traffic this past November.

The Foothills Parkway is the oldest unfinished highway project in the state.  Funding difficulties have plagued the project ever since the US Congress authorized its construction in 1944.  The right of way for the full length has been acquired but even with this new section, just over half of the Parkway has been completed.

It was a pretty day for our drive and it was a couple degrees cooler up along the ridges that the Parkway follows.  Flowers and lots of greenery combined with some impressive vistas made for pleasing photos…

I discovered that the foothills of the Smokey Mountains began drawing tourists as early as the mid-1800s.  Mineral-rich mountain springs, considered to have health-restoring abilities, led to the construction of resort hotels throughout the area.  One of these resort hotels was the “Seven Gables Hotel” at Montvale Springs in Blount County Tennessee.  The 3-story hotel was built on over 3,800 acres.  It had large 200 foot long porches on each floor, with 125 rooms.  There also were 60 cottages with some of them being used to house the servants of the hotel’s guests.

The property was landscaped with exotic trees and bushes from places like California and Japan.  Some of them remain to this day… The hotel became known as “The Saratoga of the South”.  At its peak, Montvale and this hotel was one of the most fashionable of the great watering places, with luxurious accommodations, food and entertainment.  Today, Montvale is a summer camp…and the hotel is long gone.

This is another view of Wears Valley.  This new segment of the Foothills Parkway follows along one side of the valley for much of its length.  The valley is actually Wear Cove and it runs parallel with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

Originally, the valley was known as Crowson Cove, named after its first settler, Aaron Crowson.  No one knows why the name was changed.  The Valley was named after Samuel Wear (1753 – 1817), a Revolutionary War veteran who built a fort near the entrance to Wear Cove in what is now Pigeon Forge Tennessee. 

Yes indeed…another photo of Bonnie, Avery and Bill…all sitting on the wall at one of the viewpoints along the Parkway.  Hey, when you have company you have to memorialize each place and event!

When the Great Smoky Mountains wildfires did so much damage in nearby Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, a downed power line ignited a blaze at the northern end of Wears Valley as well.  About 40 home were destroyed with another 40 being damaged.

We exited the Parkway into Wears Valley and we were really hungry by now.  Bonnie got on her smart phone and searched for someplace nearby that would fill our needs.  She spotted Bob’s Burgers that was right along our route and fairly close to our location.  It was rated 4.5 stars or 5 stars on Yelp, TripAdvisor and Facebook with a combined 60 reviews…

We almost sailed right on by Bob’s Burgers!  It’s buried in one corner of an Antique Mall and the only sign for the restaurant is on a window at one end of the building.

Inside the antique mall, Bob’s Burgers consisted of this counter with stools plus a handful of tables in one corner of the building.  They had just opened for the day and the staff consisted of this young fellow.  He had to heat up the grill so we had time to explore.

This particular antique mall with its various booths was indeed more interesting than average for this type of venture.  We wandered around and found quite a variety of antiques and collectibles…

Ordering lunch was fairly simple…as the menu was fairly basic.  It was basically burgers and a grilled cheese sandwich although the on-line menu shows items such as a Cheesesteak Basket, Corndog Basket and a Cheeseburger Burrito.

Except for Avery, we all ordered Burger Baskets.  They came with crinkle cut French Fries and a beverage. ($9.99) Bacon was $1.00 extra and cheese added $.69 cents to the bill.  The Grilled Cheese Basket was $7.99.

The burgers weren’t exceptional but they were a bit above average.  The fries were pretty decent too.  The price was right!  Our cook and server was very nice.  He did mention that Bob’s Burgers had recently changed ownership.  Bob’s Burgers is located in the Antique Mall at 1836 Wears Valley Road in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.  Phone: 865-384-0467.  This restaurant is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bobtn58/.

Bob’s Burgers and the Antique Mall were a convenient stop as Avery had another goal in mind…and it was located almost directly across the street from our lunch destination.

This is Goats on the Roof of the Smokies Mountains…sorry for the wording, but that’s the way they list it…Smokies Mountains instead of Smoky Mountains.  So why Goats on a Roof?!

The goat in the photo is on the roof guarding his ‘food conveyor’ belt that reaches up to him on the second floor.  Energetic visitors…mostly children…hop on a ‘goat cycle’ at ground level and as they pedal, they move food up the conveyor belt to the hungry goats. 

The idea of having live goats on a roof dates back more than 40 years to Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Door County Wisconsin.  Back then, the Johnson family began letting goats graze on the sodded roof of their Sister Bay Wisconsin restaurant.  The goal was to attract customers and it must have worked for them because they’re still in business!  Goats on the Roof in Pigeon Forge actually has a licensing agreement with the original operation up in Wisconsin…

There are more goats down below for folks to view, feed and photograph.  These commonly called Nubian goats but more properly they are really Anglo-Nubian goats…a British breed of domestic goat.  This breed was the result of cross-breeding between native British goats and a mixed population of large lop-eared goats imported from India, the Middle East and North Africa.

So…besides the goat-cycle and goat viewing what else is there to do at Goats on the Roof in Pigeon Forge?  There is a 2-level gift and souvenir shop that also sells homemade fudge and homemade ice cream.  The operation also features a ‘gem mine’, a process where visitors are given a bucket of dirt and an old fashioned water sluice which they use to sift through the dirt in their search for various gem stones.

But neither the goats on the roof, the store or the gem mine were the reason that Avery wanted to stop here…

Goats on the Roof in Pigeon Forge has created an ‘alpine’ experience by building a mountain coaster!  Each cart or sled is designed for up to 2 people…and in this case Avery was on her own.  After being strapped in and given operating instructions as well as a preview of her ride, her cart was slowly transported up the coaster to the top of the mountain/hill. 

From the top of the hill in the woods, gravity takes over for a winding, twisting 4,375 foot trip back to the bottom!  The amount of excitement you want on you downward journey is up to the passenger as they control the brake.  The carts do reach speeds of almost 30 miles per hour.

Avery’s grandma Bonnie started getting a little up tight after a few minutes.  Avery’s cart disappeared into the woods on its way up…and then we waited to see her coming down.  No sight of her for a bit with Bonnie fretting that she should have gone with Avery…and then Avery came speeding down the coaster and across the driveway to complete her trip.  She really enjoyed it! 

Goats on the Roof in Pigeon Forge Tennessee is located at 1341 Wears Valley Road.  Phone: 865-366-7139.  This tourist attraction’s website can be found at: http://goatsontheroofofthesmokies.com/index.php.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave