We've been in Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tn for nearly a week which has been a welcome respite from too much driving. However, as we're preparing to leave this morning the sun is out, the first time we've seen it after rain, rain, rain. The RV park has nearly 300 spaces and two dozen cabins and appears to be full. We are greeted here with a huge white cross, just like those we see on so many Baptist churches and a neon Jesus sign on the roof of the RV park office. We are definitely in the Bible Belt. It's surprising to see restrictions on alcohol in a huge tourist area and reminds me of my college days in then-dry Oklahoma, kept that way, many said, by a coalition of the Baptists and the bootleggers.
One immediately draws a comparison between Branson and Gatlinburg, but they're not at all alike. Branson is spread out across the hills and they call their main drag a "slow moving parking lot". Not here. The three towns are one long line of mostly shops, actually few shows, and hordes of cars in mostly stopped, not even slow moving, traffic. We spent over an hour last evening (I know, it was Saturday night) traversing the four miles to the hotel where the convention event was held.
But the Beech Aero Club, BACFest event, was worth the effort. They're a wonderful, especially friendly group. Of course, I was impressed that they included my book in their goodie bag and our Sierra made the cover of the current magazine. They spend most of their time in seminars about our favorite group of airplanes and then in their spare time sit around jawing on the same subject. They're very welcoming and warm.
We're off today to Norman, Oklahoma for the Gamma Phi Beta reunion.
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