No kidding, I just got a PM from June 26!
OK, playing catch up now....
After 5 wonderful days spent with our grandkids (oh yeah, I think we ran into our children at some point as well), we're back at GSMNP. We came out on the occasion of our grandson's 4th Birthday.
The kiddos live just south of Charlotte, in Fort Mill. Fort Mill's current claim to fame is that it's the home of
Puckerbutt Pepper Company, home of the infamous
Carolina Reaper . This pepper holds the record for being the hottest pepper on the planet at 1,641,183 Scoville Heat units. We try to visit the store when we hit town, even though we are not what you'd call hardcore pepper eaters.
Prior to this visit we had come across the Netflix documentary
We are the Champions. Episode 2 details Puckerbutt's 1st World Championship Pepper eating contest, held in Fort Mill in 2019. To our surprise, the second place finisher, Bella was sitting behind the counter. Bella and her husband moved to Fort Mill from Ohio after the contest to work with "Smokin" Ed Currie, Puckerbutt's owner and master pepper grower. It was a real treat to get to talk to her about her experiences, and we even caught a glimpse of Ed himself, also a really nice guy. Fortunately, not everything they sell will melt your soul... We found some really tasty sauces that were right in our heat comfort zone.
The other highlight of the trip was taking the grandson to Carowinds, Charlotte's famous amusement park. At 4 years old, he was awesome, lasting almost 7 hours! We rode every ride he could get on, and he was asking for more despite falling asleep on his feet.
Now we're back near Gatlinburg (Newport more precisely), at the Newport KOA. We spent yesterday and today exploring the backroads around GSMNP, as well as hitting the spots inside the park we haven't visited before. On a previous trip, we traversed the entire Blue Ridge Parkway as part of a drive from Charlotte NC to Portland ME. We hit just the south end this trip to get us to the south park entrance, and worked our way over to Gatlinburg on 441, with stops along the way. We're pulling out tomorrow for two days at Parker's Crossing, TN. We're going to hit some Civil War sites, including Shiloh. If you haven't, you really need to stay at Parker's Crossing RV Park when you're in the area. It's a favorite spot of ours.
The Newport KOA is quite nice as well. Gravel sites, and a bit tricky to level, but quiet, with easy access to Hwy 40, and surrounded by amazing scenery.