Chicago to Gatlinburg

Hi all - I'm taking a road trip with a friend to the Smokies (Gatlinburg), and am looking for suggestions of places to stop between here (Chicago) and there. We're not looking for any fancy restaurants, mostly just down-home, diner type places, regional cuisines (I'm guessing there will be a few places with regional specialties).

and since I've never been down that way - any suggestions for off the wall/off the path touristy places that anyone would recommend would be great too! I'm a sucker for kitsch on road trips....

thanks,
leesh

You could stop in Corbin, KY, at the original Colonel Sander's restaurant. There are a lot of displays but the food is pretty much the same. I believe that teh restaurant is on US 25W.

The Boone Tavern Inn (part of Berea College) is a student run college inn and restaurant connected with the coillege. Like the College of the South near Branson, students work their way through college by working at the inn and tavern.

http://www.boonetavernhotel.com/restaurant.asp

I have not been able to stay or eat at the inn. I seem to be in Berea only during Homecoming and Graduation times.

Outside of the Smoky Mountain NP in Townsend, TN, there are a couple of good BBQ places. Townsend is a small town without all of the congestion of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

As far as tourist stuff, if you are into bourbon, there are a number of bourbon distilleries in Kentucky that give tours. http://www.kybourbon.com/english/pages/trail.html Of the tours I've been on, I recommend Buffalo Trace (nice place, nice people, good info, good bourbon), Wild Turkey (no tasting but a lot of character, the tour guide kept cracking us up), Maker's Mark (great tour, you really get right inside the facility), and Heaven Hill (amazing visitor's center).

Less recommended: Woodford Reserve's distillery is almost worth visiting just for the drive out there, which is pure Kentucky, rolling hills, white fences, horses, just a beautiful drive, but the tour is the only one that charges money and I wasn't impressed with it. The bourbon was pretty darn good though. The Jim Beam tour is a self-guided tour, which means you basically wander around a severely limited portion of their grounds without a tour guide for a little while, looking at museum type displays of vintage equipment, including stills, a cooperage, and a vintage fire engine, then meander to the Beam house for a tasting. They do offer some of their better bourbons for tasting though; they were offering Booker's and Basil Hayden when I was there.

Funny story from the Jim Beam tour: the only people other than us on the "tour" were a middle-aged cowboy-hat-wearing guy from Pennsylvania and his wife. My friends and I were looking at the cooperage display when the two of them caught up with us. The wife started pointing things out about the display and seemed really interested in everything, but the guy just looked really agitated and impatient. He kept saying "I know, I know" and "My kin had a still, I know all about all this stuff." Finally the wife sighed, rolled her eyes and said "Fine, we can go look at the fire truck." LOL

On the food end of things, any trip down south is an excuse for multiple visits to Waffle House. You won't need to go looking; you will probably see one at nearly every interstate exit. I don't think I've ever eaten exactly the same meal twice at a Waffle House, but I do know that every time I eat there, I order some hash browns, smothered (diced onions), covered (cheese), and chunked (diced ham). Yeah, they generally look shady from the outside, but the kitchen is completely open to the dining area, and much cleaner than you might expect. Damn I love me some Waffle House.

Beyond the kitsch of Gatlinburg(hard to get beyond it actually) you'll discover that Cormac McCarthy is a hometown hero. You can't eat him(well...you could, I suppose..but you'd have to catch him first)...but, in other food news there used to be tons of peanuts shells-on-the-floor-type fish fry joints. Good Luck.

I made a road trip down there 4 years ago, so all my restaurant recommendations would be dated. But I can recommend the Corvette museum in Bowling Green, Ky. They also have a tour of the plant, but back then it was not available when I was, so I missed it. They told me it fills up fast, so you better check before you go.

I enjoyed the Jack Daniels tour, but that might be out of your way.

I also enjoyed the original KFC in Corbin, mentioned above.

The Louisville slugger tour in Louisville, Ky was a treat, especially if you are a baseball fan.

Just in case though there is a breakfast place, open through lunch, that is a block or so from the Hard Rock in Gatlinburg that had the best biscuits & gravy & bone-in ham I have had in a long time. Can’t remember the name, but the lady at the visitor’s center recommended it. If you are looking at the Hard Rock it is to your right, maybe you can ask.

Remember I was there 4 years ago.

r.

What route are you taking? This could be of help as I live in Lexingon, KY, off of I-75.

Thomas D. wrote:What route are you taking? This could be of help as I live in Lexingon, KY, off of I-75.

not quite sure - the fella is taking care of the driving route...but i'm pretty sure we'll be on I-75 for a bit of the drive.

I'm looking forward to a Waffle House meal - I haven't been to one since I moved from Key West to Chicago about 14 yrs ago...