We first went to Sliding Rock (no hiking yet, just near the car park) where there were a couple of people braving the cold waters, and only one father and son team sliding from mid-way down the rock. Andrew showed everyone how it's done and slid from the top, twice! I put my hand in the water and noped right back up to the viewing platform.
Next was Looking Glass falls (still no hiking yet) which was a really pretty waterfall right near Sliding Rock.
We then drove about 1.5h to Rainbow Falls, which also has Turtleback Falls (aka Umbrella Falls) which is another place that people slide off the rocks down into the river. This one is a bit more dangerous; there's never lifeguards and there's signs everywhere saying that the risk of getting swept over from Turtleback Falls (the small slide) to Rainbow Falls (the fucking massive waterfall of doom) is very real.
The hike to Rainbow falls was really nice, and we definitely got our exercise in. The falls were beautiful and powerful, and were my favourite falls we've seen so far in the US. The warnings were quite scary though...
We hiked the extra 0.5 mile up to Turtleback Falls where Andrew spent a good while considering whether to slide or not. He noticed that the water level was way higher than any youtube videos of people doing the slide, and also there was no one doing it, and pretty much no one else around at all so thank GOD he decided not to do it. He's pretty bummed about it, but I literally cried with relief.
We rewarded ourselves with a tasting paddle and duck fat fries at the absolutely massive Sierra Nevada brewery.
This morning we said a heartfelt goodbye to Andrew's Attic at Willow Winds Cabins in Asheville (if you're ever in that part of the world, you must stay there), and made our way to Dollywood. Our drive began with a quest for dramamine for Andrew so that he could enjoy all the types of roller coasters. It really worked! He felt drowsy, but none of the roller coaster symptoms, I'm really impressed.
Dollywood was a wonderful park, similar to Port Avendtura in Spain; the theme was so well done but not tacky at all, and the roller coaster selection was seriously impressive.
Our favourite was the launch roller coaster, Lighting Rod, and we also went on Mystery Mine, Wild Eagle (this is the kind Andrew would usually avoid but was fine on!), Thunderhead, Tennessee Tornado, and Blazing Fury (more like a ghost train). Lunch at Granny Ogle's Ham and Beans was delicious, and we also enjoyed joining in with the drumming in the Drumstruck show, and seeing the bald eagle in the Wings of America show.
I remember when Andrew first mentioned Dollywood and we thought it was a funny concept, but then slowly realised this was actually a park worth going to. We've now escalated to saying that it's an absolute must do when in Tennessee, worth going out of your way for!
We're now in Knoxville for one night before heading off to Nashville, trying to get the motivation to get a drink at the rooftop bar (but it felt so good taking our shoes off...)
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