CADE'S COVE

John Oliver Cabin

Cade’s Cove is home to ghostly homesteads on rolling, Cherokee-made prairies inside the mountains. The 14 mile loop road passes centenarian frontier houses, barns, churches, and a mill that anyone can walk through. The two-storey John Oliver cabin was the first to be hand-built in the cove and today has more "f**k yous" and so-and-so's family is #1 carved in the walls than perhaps the whole cove. A sign out front called “Bob was Here” tells the story of a man who was fined $100 for scratching his great, imbicilic initials into the pine. When I stepped into the cabin, I smelt a rustic,  old-timey smell that took me back to my elementary school where I was paddled for climbing railings and laughing at the punishment. I also had to write sentences. I was ten and Bob wasn't.

Cable Mill

Cable Mill is as adventurous as the day it was built by hand. First sign we read on the homestead warned us of snakes living underneath the boards of the historic structures. Just beyond the sign a small barn stood with a small serpent head popping out of the floorboards---the sign was no joke. The white house use to be a general store down the road and was purchased by a woman who owned the mill and farm. The inside is virtually unchanged with the exception of more graffiti wallpapering.
The slash-and-burn prairies were perhaps the best attraction. The clearing gave way to scenic pictures of the Smokies---dark blue and grey rocks above a green tree line and yellow fields below. The fields grew crops years ago but today they are a sea of tall grass, most likely periodically mowed by the National Park Service to retain its views and quaintness. Folks here and there lawn-chaired along the loop road. It was nice.
Even though the speed limit is 15 MPH on loop road you will be tailgated. Sight-seeing and sereneness demands a slower speed. The loop road is a well-paved, one-lane road frequented with spaces to pull aside for viewing and reducing traffic (side-spaces are common in the entire park). However, it is uncommon to see tires rapping the pavement in your mirrors. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Cade’s Cove and about two-three hours to drive and see the loop. The views were awesome. We weren’t in a hurry.

Cade's Cove