The first stop was the entrance sign - which John had to climb!
We got a lot of waves in the pink Jeep! John picked out a onesie for his sister that says Wild and Cute!
We stopped a few other vistas…
And saw the first mill in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was owned by Mr. Reagan who wanted to make money - so he built a mill for all the other families to pay to use. Then he wanted to invest his earnings in another endeavor…
During his time, there was a program as part of the New Deal called the Civilian Conservation Corp; young main signed up to work in the forests building the parks. While they had to send home $25 of the $30 they made per month, they still had $5 in their pockets which was more than they could spend on moonshine alone! So Mr. Reagan started making pancake breakfasts for these men - and it was a HUGE success! Now there are a ridiculous number of pancakes places in the area!
We also found a few waterfalls; this one is called the fall of a thousand drips (or something like that!)
John was a big fan of Steve!
Steve had shown us a part of Pigeon Forge called the historical mill district - there they have a guy who was in Forged By Fire has a shop where you can forge your own knife. For just $15 John made his own knife! It was pretty awesome!
It was a busy hot day, but a good one! A little pool in the afternoon, followed by dinner and s’mores, rounded out our day today.
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