We headed for Townsend, TN today, right outside of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Tom had a Zoom call this morning and I had one at 6 so we didn’t have much time to stop along the way but we did take as much of the scenic route as possible.
We were on the interstate around lunch time so just pulled off when we saw a food sign that wasn’t one of the usual fast food establishments. Abel’s was a big and very busy restaurant! There were many North Carolina humorous signs and Fox news was playing full time on the TV – fortunately with volume off and captions that I could ignore.
Now that sugared sweet potato fries are no longer in question, I have turned my attention to veggie burgers or non meat patties as they were called on the menu today. Back up North it has gotten hard to find a decent homemade veggie burger. Most restaurants have jumped on the Impossible Burger train and I really don’t like them – if I want something that tastes like meat I’ll just eat meat and I generally prefer to recognize most of the ingredients in my meal. On the Skyline Drive and again today I had an excellent homemade black bean patty! So the hunt is on – is this a Southern thing? I sure hope so! My burger did come with this adornment that I gifted to Tom and his cornbread
After lunch we drove the Newfound Gap Road through the Park to our destination. The views were jaw dropping! Couldn’t stop today but tomorrow we bike the Cades Cove Loop and will have Thursday to explore as well. We’re tucked away in another delightful airbnb watching a big rainstorm roll through!