(Day 17: Saturday, June 12th): Our first objective today is Point Park (left) which is about 8-miles from our overnight stay. It is a steep drive up Lookout Mountain, where we park near the Point Park Visitor Centre.

Point Park is a ten acre Civil War memorial park that overlooks the Lookout Mountain Battlefield and the city of Chattanooga. There is a paved walking path around the park that takes us by several historic tablets, monuments, Confederate artillery positions, and a scenic overlook of the winding Tennessee River. But the park is dominated by the 95-foot high New York Peace Memorial (right); on top of this column, Union and Confederate soldiers shake hands under one flag.

The park also features the New York State Monument (below) that commemorates the troops from New York, involved in the Battle of Lookout Mountain.

Further down Lookout Mountain is the entrance to Ruby Falls. Located 1,100-feet beneath the top of Lookout Mountain, the waterfall plunges 145-feet at the rate of 300 gallons per minute. We descend by lift for a one hour guided tour where we are able to walk all round the deepest and highest underground waterfall in America. We learn that he source and destiny of the water of Ruby Falls is unknown.

The sometimes narrow, and occasionally low, passage that leads to the waterfall passes some excellent calcite formations. Ruby Falls is beautifully lit and it is an amazing experience to see such a high waterfall so deep underground and to be able to completely circle it (below).

After having coffee at a snack bar adjoining the falls, we return to the Chickamauga Battlefield we visited yesterday and watch a 26-minute audio-visual programme that explains the battle and its place in the Civil War. The presentation is in a wide-screen format in a lovely theatre. The visitor centre (that was closed when we reached it yesterday) has an impressive display of weapons.

 

Although we have spent part of the morning exploring an underground water feature, our next objective is also a cave. This time, instead of a waterfall, it is an underground lake: the Lost Sea, which is located at Sweetwater, Tennessee, to the northeast of Chattanooga, on the route to tonight's hotel at Pigeon Forge.

 

The Lost Sea is signposted as the world's largest underground lake, but that boast was made before the discovery (in 1986) of a larger lake in Namibia. The 4.5-acre lake is reached by a descent that is initially gradual but becomes steeper. We then take a trip on the lake in a quiet, electric-powered, glass-bottomed boat, across the clear water. The pilot throws food to attract the large rainbow trout that have been introduced to the lake as a tourist attraction. The steep climb back requires two stops for rests.

After our visit to the Lost Sea we resume our drive towards Pigeon Forge, stopping at Madisonville to purchase salads, sandwiches, banana pudding, and strawberries at a supermarket. Continuing northeast we drive through very pleasant countryside with the Chilhowee Mountains to our right. We make fast progress on quiet country roads to Harrisburg, where we turn south towards the Great Smoky Mountains.

 

It is about 8:30pm when the rural countryside is replaced by the commercialisation that surrounds a major tourist attraction. We have arrived at Pigeon Forge - the location of Dollywood. After having spent a night in a railway carriage, our accommodation for the next three nights is a luxurious one-bedroom suite at a Hampton Inn, in which we relax as we eat our bought-in meal.

(Day 18: Sunday, June 13th): Our night of luxury in the Hampton Inn suite is followed by the mundane task of an early morning visit to the Smoky Mountain Laundry. Then, after coffee in the hotel lobby, we make the short drive to Dolly Parton's Dollywood. In a recreated 1880 mountain village, scores of talented and friendly craftspeople demonstrate their artistry. There are many amusement rides but music is the park's underpinning, and we make seeing the various shows our main priority - these are The Kinfolks Show (a tribute to Dolly that features a very good saxophone player); Let The Good Times Roll (fifties rock and roll); Heartsong (a very good multi-media presentation narrated by Dolly Parton that traces her rise to stardom from a backwoods upbringing in Sevier County, east Tennessee, the location for Dollywood); Country Treasures (a one-hour show featuring the Grand Ole Opry's Jeannie Seely); and the impressive JoDee Messina in the Celebrity Theatre. In between the shows we look at the shops and some of the craft demonstrations, view some injured bald eagles in a natural outdoor aviary, and have a good value meal at Aunt Granny's Dixie Fixins.

The grounds of the Hampton Inn include a stunning yucca plant.