Right after Savannah, the state of Georgia ends. One of the most famous South Carolina Island’s is Hilton Head Island. Hilton Head is about an hour from Tybee Island. It’s a rather touristic place. Tourism on the island prospers. There are many resort hotels, the compulsory golf course, beaches and many activities – basically anything you can think of. Also bars, clubs, nightlife, sport events, many offers for tourists. Right before Hilton Head Island, there is a nature protection area: Pinckney National Wildlife Refuge. You can go hiking, walk on the beach, do all kinds of ocean-related activities (kayaking, dolphin watching, fishing, jet ski, sailing, etc.). There are two big shopping malls. But it’s rather one shopping mall split into two parts. There are also many old buildings, plantations etc. Apart from that, Hilton Head has a very busy art life including theater, ballet, sculpturing, and painting. All in all it is probably the most diverse and biggest of all the islands.

Insiders’ Tip at the South Carolina Coast: Hunting Island and Kiawah Island

North of Hilton Head Island are some more islands like Prichards Island, Hunting Island and Folly Island. I only want to mention Hunting Island and Kiawah Island. Hunting Island is a nature protection area, reachable from the mainland on highway 21 (via I-95) and is located right between Savannah and Charleston. It’s not a national park but a South Carolina State Park. Many locals like to visit here. The island has camping and lodges but no big hotels. Again, you get to see mainly flora and fauna. For film lovers: the Forest Gump Vietnam Scenes were shot here.

http://southcarolinaparks.com/huntingtonbeach/introduction.aspx

Kiawah Island State Park is another interesting place. If you know this blog, you know that I like to point out beaches that won awards from Dr. Beach. Usually, that means these beaches are in their natural state, calm and have very few touristic equipment and buildings around. Also no huge hotels close to the beach. All of this is the case in Kiawah Island. It’s a one-hour-drive from Charleston (south on highway 700). It’s better to reach than Hunting Island. Both islands are calm and secluded without any big hotels.

About the South Carolina Islands

I have not seen all of the South Carolina Islands. The very popular Myrtle Beach is one of the things I don’t know so far. I anyways want to tell you how I see things. My travel agency only offers hotels on Hilton Head Island. They did not have anything for all the other islands and could not say anything about these places. As mentioned above, Hilton Head Island is very successful. Anything you need – you will get it here. The beaches are beautiful; there is a big variety of hotels, restaurants and activities. Nevertheless, I cannot fully recommend Hilton Head Island. To me, everything seemed a bit too fancy, a bit too crowded a bit too touristic. Just one example: I found an ad somewhere that you can explore a swamp area on stilts, without getting your feet wet (???). How does that work? I don’t know. Having a show like this is not my kind of thing. If I want to explore nature, I get dirty. I don’t need a soft version of that.

The United States are far away from Germany. It’s not cheap to even reach there. I want to see nature that I don’t have at home, experience things that are “typical USA”. Hilton Head Island is a perfect spot for a family holiday, an entire summer holiday or something like that. But I can have that kind of holiday at many places in Europe, for much less money, short flights and all in all less effort to reach. Hilton Head is not a winter destination. To me, this island does not have anything that I cannot get easier anywhere else. I don’t need to travel to the US for something like that. I prefer the other island with their nature protection programs. I really liked these.

This article is Part 2.

Part 1 can be found here:

Little Known Islands in Georgia and South Carolina Part 1: The Golden Isles of Georgia

Der Beitrag Little Known Islands in Georgia and South Carolina Part 2: Hilton Head Island, Hunting Island and Kiawah Island erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

From Jacksonville to Savannah to Charleston: Islands along the East coast

This routes start at the northeastern end of Florida: Jacksonville and leads along the coast to Charleston. I describe all the islands in this order: from South to North. You drive through two different states on this route: Georgia and South Carolina. This is how I group the island. Georgia markets its islands with a nice slogan: “the Golden Isles of Georgia”. The South Carolina description includes anything till Charleston and excludes anything north of Charleston. Famous beaches like Wilmington and Myrtle Beach are not on the list.

The Golden Isles of Georgia: Jekyll Island and Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island – a protected area than can only be reached on a boat – is at the very South of Georgia. It’s the largest of the so-called “Golden Isles” and has restrictions concerning visitors. Part of the national park Cumberland Island National Seashore is open to public, entrance is 7 dollars.

https://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm

North of Cumberland Island is a smaller island called Jekyll Island. It’s not far to both islands in the north and south but Jekyll Island anyways has its own road to the main land (I 95 and hgw 17). Jekyll Island is quite exactly in the middle between Jacksonville and Savannah (120 km to Jacksonville, 150 km to Savannah). Jekyll Island also has many nature protection programs: the beach is a state park and totally left in its natural state. In the 19th and 20th century, many wealthy American had their holiday homes here. You can still visit their grand homes. Georgia State has owned the island since mid 20th century in order to maintain its status quo. Also guided tours are available. The Georgia Sea Turtle Center – an animal rescue and protection program – needs to be mentioned in particular. It’s a state program to protect and help wounded turtles. Some more mammals, reptiles and birds are living on the island. If you are lucky, you get to see some of them. There are also some middle class hotels, camping areas and many kilometers of pure beach.

The Golden Isles of Georgia: St. Simons Island, Little St. Simons Island, Sea Island

Further north, a group of three islands can be found. The main island and starting point to the two others is St. Simons Island – a larger island with gulf, tennis, and en entire touristic infrastructure (shopping, restaurants, nightlife, etc.). St. Simons has a bridge to the main land and is easy to reach. Much more laid back is Little St. Simons Island, only reachable by boat from St. Simons Island. It’s a privately owned island and its first priority is to protect the nature. It has only offers a restricted the number of overnight stays. Many rare animals live on this island, for example water turtles come here to breed. The island is very famous for its diversity of birds. Here you find a piece of pure nature on an island that has won several awards for its protection programs.

The second island than can be reached from the main island St. Simons is Sea Island. This time a boat is not necessary, both islands are connected by a bridge. Sea Island has many upscale resort hotels and weekend houses and is only open to guest with hotel bookings or house owners. The island has many golf clubs and is in general a fancy, sophisticated island for the up-market. George Bush hosted a G8 meeting here in 2004.

Savannah’s City Beach: Tybee Island

Tybee Island is Savannah’s city beach. It’s only 30 minutes from Savannah to Tybee. City Beach sounds a bit negative and does not describe this island properly. It’s a small, nice island with many restaurants, small roads and loads of beach. Its atmosphere is cozy and laid-back; it’s not too fancy (like Sea Island) and not too far away. Only the northern part of the island has streets. There are many beach cottages for rent but also motels and very few luxury places. All in all a colorful mix and definitely worth a trip. Wormsloe Plantation is very close (see Plantations of the American South). Doing both makes a good combination.

http://visittybee.com/

Which Georgia Island is the Right One for Me?

All Georgia Island have a very different character. All islands without a road to the main land (Cumberland Island and Little St. Simons Island) are very deserted and usually protected. You get to see beautiful nature, rare animals and plants and all kinds of protection programs. You need some advance planning to stay here and you need to bring enough time. Both islands have limited access. Find out if you need to be an overnight guest to be allowed to enter the island at all.

Tybee Island, Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island are easy to reach. I would not recommend Sea Island, I found it a bit too fancy, too exclusive and too sophisticated. I have great sympathies for Tybee Island. German travel agencies did not offer any hotels on Tybee Island at all. Same for St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. I really don’t understand why. All these islands are attractive holiday destinations, and Americans like to spend their summer holidays there. Here in Germany these places are totally unknown. I can strongly recommend going there if you are interested in these kinds of places. It’s very beautiful; all these islands deserve a visit. Most likely, you need to book online my travel agency could not find anything except Hilton Head Island.

Geographically you are moving farther north (see Northern Florida). A winter is much warmer than anything here in Germany but not warm enough for a beach holiday. Moreover, winter days are short. These islands are not an all-year-round summer destination. December, January and February are definitely too cold for a beach holiday. From Mai till September, it’s warm. The “between months” March, April, October and November are convenient but not warm enough to swim. We were there in November, it was T-shirt weather. Basically our spring. The beaches were wonderful but we could not swim or sunbathe. You always need to consider that it’s dark at five. That means, visiting in off-season only is the right thing for enthusiasts.

This article continues in:

Little Known Islands in Georgia and South Carolina Part 2: Hilton Head Island, Hunting Island and Kiawah Island

Der Beitrag Little Known Islands in Georgia and South Carolina Part 1: The Golden Isles of Georgia erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Non-Stop Flights vs. Multiple-Stop Flights

I live in the South of Germany. Stuttgart is usually the best and easiest solution for us. But I’m not a fan of taking a flight from Stuttgart to Frankfurt (the most important airport in Germany) and a larger plane from Frankfurt to the US, maybe even requiring a second stop in the US. I had similar offers from Munich (Stuttgart – Munich – New York- Miami for example). These connections can easily have a total travel time of 20 hours or more, never forget waiting time, time to make sure you don’t miss a flight etc. Doing that needs energy, persistence and time. Spending too much time waiting at airport is really not such a great thing to do.

Assets of a Connection from Stuttgart to Atlanta (Delta Airline)

Over many years of traveling and many different experiences, I turned out liking one thing: Stuttgart has a daily connection to Atlanta. This flight is operated by Delta Airlines.

On the plus side of this flight are:

• Getting a connecting flight from Atlanta is really easy. Atlanta Airport is huge. According to Wikipedia it has the highest number of passengers worldwide. You can go to any place in the US from here, even smaller airports. There are also many connections to Mexico, Canada, and Latin America. Delta Airlines in particular has many options but not exclusively Delta, many other airlines as well.
• The flight Stuttgart – Atlanta was started many years ago. It is a well-established connection. You don’t need to worry about the flight being canceled all of a sudden. There are still US soldiers in Stuttgart, their travels home are very likely part of the reason why that flight has been successful for so long.
• It’s a 9.5 hours flight. That’s long but kind of necessary to reach the US. But it’s not as long and painful and almost unbearable as a flight to Los Angeles (12 hours). In these terribly small, extremely uncomfortable Economy Class seats, 10 hours is kind of a maximum to me. After 10 hours time stands still and I barely manage to kill the last two hours. I’m always happy to stop in Atlanta.
• So far I have had only positive experiences when it comes to organization and routines in Atlanta airport. Atlanta has two terminals: national and international. A subway connects different parts of the terminal. The airport has several zones, named from A – F. All international flights leave from E and F. Having these separate six zones makes the crowds a bit smaller. Because you only spend time in your own zone, or only change from one zone to the other, everything is less full and less crowded than in many other airports. In spite of the fact that Atlanta airport is so huge, this is always a major asset. Every zone has a shopping area, restaurants, shops and cafés. People have possibilities to spread and that makes waiting times ok.
• Stuttgart Airport is a smaller airport with very few international flights. You don’t need to plan too much extra time (the time you plan to make sure you don’t miss the flight because of long waiting lines). Even the hand luggage security check is usually done quickly. You don’t need to be at the airport four hours before the flight.
• You arrive in the US with a big plane of course (Boeing 767) but not an airbus A 380. A few numbers: Boeing 737 has 375 seats, A-380 850. This immediately has consequences at the immigration counters. Immigration to the US always takes a long time and is rather difficult. With fewer co-travelers in the plane, you can save a significant amount of time and spend much less time waiting in the line. I never had to wait more than 30 minutes; other people in different flights told me stories about waiting for 2 hours or more.

Things that Might Bother You about That Stuttgart – Atlanta Connection

No, Delta Airlines is not paying me, neither is Atlanta Airport. I only describe my experiences. Of course, some things about this connection might bother you as well:

• Stuttgart is in the South of Germany. Maybe that is not so good for people in the North of the country. There is also a connection Düsseldorf – Atlanta. Maybe that is an option for you.
• Atlanta is huge; you should definitely plan enough time to change planes there. Travel agencies recommend 2 hours of buffer. I agree, I think that is about right. The most critical point is always immigration and how long that takes. Even walking distances (and distances you do by subway) are not that short, always plan enough time for that. On the plus side: Atlanta always has many connections to basically any US airport. You can always book the next flight and have enough time.
• Geographically, Atlanta only makes sense for some US cities. It’s not good for a trip from Germany to New York or Boston. But it worked well for Miami.
• Their planes are not super-new. On one flight I did not have my own screen at the seat, just overhead entertainment. But that was a while ago, in the last couple of years I always had my own screen.

Recommendations

I’m a fan of that Stuttgart (of even Düsseldorf) – Atlanta flight. I suggest taking it whenever you are heading to the South (Florida, South or North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, etc.) or the West (California, Nevada) of the country. It does not make sense for East Coast Cities. A stop in Atlanta is also good for flights to Mexico or Latin America. Atlanta has so many connections anywhere, definitely always a good option. I would only choose Frankfurt if I get a very good non-stop connection to exactly where I want to go.

Website of Stuttgart Airport: http://www.stuttgart-airport.com/?cl=en

Atlanta: http://www.atl.com/

Der Beitrag Some Suggestions on How To Book A Flight To the USA erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Coca Cola Museum: World of Coca Cola Atlanta

The Coke Museum is in Atlanta’s Downtown, close to the Olympic Park. It’s not cheap, they charge 16 dollars. The square in front of the museum is called Pemberton Place, named after the inventor of Coca Cola. You enter in groups. In the first room, you have to wait a bit until the group is big enough. This room shows some Coca Cola decorations. A tour guides leads everyone to a second room full of kitsch and many Coca Cola Stories are told. Only after listening to this lecture, you get to move freely and independently in the museum.

A central room called “the lobby” connects various other rooms. There are exhibits about how the soda was developed (Pharmacist John Pemberton invented it), a cinema with an endless stream of Coke ads, an exhibit that shows how bottles are filled and an extra room than only deals with the question what Coke’s secret formula is (of course, not telling it). There is a Coca Cola Polar Bear in the lobby. That is where all children gather. Cheesy things about Coca Cola are everywhere, loads of old and new merchandise. So far, so good. Until this point, something you can do but don’t really need to. To me, the Tasting Room made it. It’s a room full of these typical Soda taping systems. You can try any soda worldwide, including sub-brands like Fanta, Sprite, etc. That is indeed something! You can drink as much as you want, the only limit is the amount of sweet sugary soda that you are able to process and digest.

These taping system are organized in groups of continents. All sodas from Africa were extremely sweet, too sweet for me. But quite interesting to try that. The German sodas were Mezzo-Mix (to non-German a mix of Coke and Fanta) and Bonaqua-Lemon. The Indian soda was Mazaa (a viscous Mango juice). Did you know that Mezzo-Mix is only available in Germany, made for the German market? I didn’t. I liked the tasting, I wanted to try at least a sip of everything. But that did not work, in the end it was a bit too much. It was only then when I realized how different these Coca Cola products are in every country.

At the exit you can take a sample glass bottle of Coke. You exit through a big gift shop with all kinds of Coca Cola stuff (clothes, key chains, statues, etc.). Nice to watch but a little expensive. None of us bought anything.

The Coca Cola Museum is good if you like these different sodas. Everything else is nice, of course done accurately and provides quite some information. But it can always be shortened to “Coca Cola is great”. After the third room, I was thinking: ok, I know it, Coke is great and has changed the world. On their website, Coke says you need 2 hours to do the museum. I think that is right, you don’t need more time. I don’t suggest not doing the museum but don’t expect too much for your 16 dollars.

Georgia Aquarium

Right opposite of the Coca Cola Museum is the Georgia Aquarium. More than 500 species can be seen here, big, small, mammals, reptiles and fish. The Aquarium has several rooms but only two are really outstanding: Ocean Voyager and Pacific Cold Water Quest.

Whale Sharks, Sea Turtles and Manta Rays: Ocean Voyager

Ocean Voyager is a huge aquarium full of fish, mammals in particular whale sharks and sea turtles. If you follow the regular route (easy, just follow the crowds) you walk through a glass tunnel and see animals right next to you and on top of you. Just wait a little bit and you will most likely see a turtle or a whale shark swimming by. Following the exhibit, you walk by several smaller and bigger windows. In the end, you reach a kind of exhibit room with huge panoramic windows. This is where s little performance is done. If you think about Sea World and their circus shows, you are wrong. That’s not what they do, it’s much more relaxed.

An employee clears the space in front of the window. That takes a while but when everyone is finally in the back, you see a clear window for the first time and can finally take a pic with no one on it. At this point you already see an incredible amount of different water animals. They give all kinds of information about these animals. In a second step, three divers dive into the aquarium. One diver has a mike and is audible in the room. He answers questions from the audience. The divers’ bubbles attract many animals, now you can see easily how many animals live in that water tank. Moreover, I only realized the sheer size of some fish in comparison to these divers. The animals don’t seem stressed of freaked out, there are no shows and performances.

Georgia Pacific Cold Water Quest: Penguins and Beluga Whales

I second thing I remember are the penguins. You can stand in front of their compound and see them through a glass window only a few yards away. But there is also a little additional trick: you can crawl in a small tunnel (kind of under the compound) and look through a cylinder. The cylinder is really only big enough for one head and has very thick plastic glass. You don’t disturb or upset the penguins but it still feels like a penguin is standing right next to your head.

The penguin compound is part of the Georgia Pacific Cold Water Quest which also has otters, beluga whales and more polar residents.

More Water Tanks

There is a second aquarium with many colorful fresh-water fish from tropical regions (including clown fish, seahorse, etc.). There is also a dolphin tank and just recently sea lions. Dolphins show little tricks but no circus show like sea world.

Controversies and Issues

When you are in general against keeping animals in captivity, you will say it’s not possible to keep these big water animals adequately and appropriate to their needs. Georgia Aquarium has had some problems with beluga whales dying. You can take this as a proof their life in captivity is not good.

We were there anyways and supported the Aquarium. I’m not feeling guilty because of that. They do at lot for their animals; the polar region for example is entirely closed to maintain a cold surrounding. These animals don’t sweat in Atlanta’s heat. The dolphins barely perform at all they just jump out of the water two or three times. Their trainers stay out of the water. The glass is very thick, knocking would not reach the animals (the windows are double windows with empty room in between them). The cylinder in the penguin area does not bother the animals; everyone still has enough distance to the animals. There is no circus, no tricks and no music. They talk a lot about environmental protection and conserving species.

The big panorama window shows how peaceful and resting in itself this underwater world is. The divers don’t disturb the animals, nature has divers as well and moreover water traffic. This world would remain invisible to most average people. Only divers can experience this world, but these aquariums reach more people and also children. If people cannot see this word, they cannot develop a conscience to protect it. We need aquariums for that. They can only try to keep these animals as good as possible; there is no perfect way to do it.

I know, many people have very different arguments and very different opinions and strongly oppose any way to keep animals in captivity. You need to decide yourself if Georgia Aquarium is the right thing for you. I was there and I’m glad I was.

Some Advice

We were there in winter, in low season, on a Monday morning. Even then, it was already crowded: many people, screaming children, and hullabaloo. If you cannot see anything in the windows, because there are so many people in front of you, it’s probably not that nice any more. If possible, go there early in the morning or in the evening, definitely not when everyone else is there. Another thing is: they charge 50 dollars per person. That’s really expensive, too expensive.

CNN Studio Tour

The CNN headquarters is only a few meters from Coca Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. You can do a tour to the world of news. The fee is 16 dollars and the tour goes one time through the building.

The CNN skyscraper is open to public right at the entrance you can book the CNN Studio Tour. Lonely Planet does not like this tour, they say don’t expect much. But I liked it! You take the longest free-standing escalator in the world (and it’s a really steep climb!). You see a replica of a TV studio. Here they show how news is made, how a teleprompter works and how the footage is made. They shortly play the director’s audio comments from the current show. The next thing you see is a weather map and you see how the weather forecast is made. You walk by a TV studio where a live show is about to start. I waited a bit and really saw the host who was doing a live broadcast. All the cameras and dollies usually remain invisible. The last thing is a gallery where you walk and see the newsroom which is the editors’ open plan office. All the editors sit at their tables, many of them have signs that say “CNN Tour tweet me”.

There are some special tours and VIP tours as well. But I cannot say anything about these. The tour was interesting and we could walk a bit in the CNN building. (Even though there is a security guy in every corner and at every door to make sure you don’t take the wrong way.).

Back in the lobby, you find the compulsory gift shop full of CNN stuff and a Food Court which is open to public. These food courts mean there are many different restaurants with takeaway food and beverages. When you travel in a group, these places are good to make sure everyone finds the right thing. Tables and Chairs in the middle of the room. CNN also has public toilets. These might come in handy after the Coca Cola tasting

Merriott Hotel and Westin Tower

Two things in Atlanta that are for free are the Marriott Hotel and the Westin Tower. The Marriott Hotel has a very impressive lobby, more like an atrium with very unusual architecture. Many scenes from “The Hunger Games” were shot here (when the protagonists are in the capital). If you are free from giddiness and don’t mind heights, you can take the elevator up. I don’t like heights but I did it anyways, quite exhausting I have to say. I have never felt that dizzy looking down. It has to be the very asymmetrical structure of the building.

The Westin Tower is remarkably higher. The Westin Hotel has a tower; its elevator is free of charge. There is a bar on top and you can drink something and enjoy the view. The dizzymaking Marriot Hotel does not even have half the size and looks really tiny from Westin Tower. I would always recommend Westin Tower; its 360 degrees view is absolutely stunning.

Right next to Westin Tower is the Peachtree Center, the bridges that connect the upstairs floors are easily visible. Underground Atlanta, a shopping center below ground, is here as well. Underground Atlanta has clubs, bars, shops and restaurants. We only walked there shortly. You can visit it, but you don’t need to.

Olympic Park

The Olympic Park in Atlanta’s Downtown is quite nice. In November, they already had their Christmas decorations everywhere. In the South, this seems to be very important at Christmas.

I also recommend a little walking tour in downtown to see all the skyscrapers.

How to Combine Things

The Coca Cola Museum, CNN and the Georgia Aquarium are very close. Right next to the Coca Cola Museum is a Center for Civil and Human Rights. We did not have enough time to do that, also we missed all the Martin Luther King Sights (but we did a very nice Museum about Freeing Slaves in Memphis, take a look here). You can walk to any of these places.
Downtown is not far. Westin Hotel, Marriott Hotel and Underground Atlanta are all in walking distance. We did all of this in 2 days; we spent the third day watching football (see Football in Atlanta).

If I ever come back to Atlanta, I would do the Center for Civil and Human Rights, King Center and the Martin Luther King birthplace. Both are a little outside, though.

Trivia

Many streets and center in Atlanta are called Peachtree. Georgia, the state, is called Peachtree State. You need to pay attention to not get confused with addresses and places.

Der Beitrag Atlanta – Just Coca Cola’s City or More? erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Where It Is and How It’s Called

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in Tennessee and North Carolina, the closest town is Knoxville, Tn. You can best reach the Great Smoky Mountains from the two cities Atlanta and Charlotte. From Atlanta, it’s a 3-hour-drive (260 km, Interstate 85, Highway 23 and 441). There are two smaller villages close to the park: Cherokee (at the park’s main entrance) and Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg (west of the park). Both have many hotel options available. Highway 441 goes through the park from Cherokee to Gatlinburg.

Great Smoky Mountains is the official name, but the forest is most commonly called Smokies. The name comes from the fact that the view is in general bad: because of high humidity, large parts of the mountain are covered in smoky clouds.

Booking a Hotel in Cherokee: Harrrah’s Cherokee Casino

We stayed in Cherokee, east of the park. Cherokee is a little village, basically a transit place to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Quality Inn Hotel was, as expected, good and cheap. We were totally surprised to see a casino right on the opposite side of the road. Not a small casino, but a huge hotel called Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, a hotel with restaurants, buffets and of course gambling: a huge complex right in the middle of nowhere. According to Wikipedia, the hotel has 1108 rooms. It’s the only place in Cherokee that serves alcohol. I was expecting to find a hotel that size in Las Vegas but not in Cherokee, a little village with a bit over 2000 residents.

Clingman’s Dome

The Smokies is one of the very few national parks in the US that is free (that means you don’t have to pay admission fee). The forest is very important for environmental protection and even became UNESCO world heritage in the 1980s. For this, the very old parts of the forest (that have existed even before the European settlers came) are particularly important. Highest peak of the forest is Clingman’s Dome (2015 m). You can walk there on a paved, solid path. It’s only a few hundred meters from the parking space but it’s quite a climb and not totally easy. You don’t need to be a professional climber for that it’s only a steeply rising walking lane. There is an observation tower at the peak that can be reached on a long, winding bridge. The bridge made me a bit dizzy but I’m uncomfortable with heights anyways. You can indeed reach the tower easily by just walking there.

Chimney Top Trail and Newfound Gap

We also walked along Chimney Top Trail. We wanted to do a short hike that is doable in regular running shoes and anyways leaves the regular, paved roads. We did not walk until the very end, the Chimney Top. On this hike, you get to see a forest, nature and a little creek. Signs are everywhere, the hiking path is easy to find. The visitor center has free maps that describe exactly where all the hikes lead, how long and how difficult these hikes are. That is always very helpful. We always try to find easy hikes with no climbing. We also reasonaly long because we usually don’t have time to hike 10 or 12 miles per day.

Newfound Gap is right next to highway 441 and is good spot to stop for the view. Gap refers to a low point between the mountains that connects one mountain to the other. The ecosystem changes a lot here, even temperature and weather can change within short distance.

Cades Cove

Cades Cove is an area in the far northeast of the park (in the Tennessee part, 57 miles from Cherokee). Cades Cove was the center of early settlement: a well isolated, green valley with meadows and grass. The valley still has some leftovers from the early settlers: a Methodist church, a Baptist church, an old wooden house, a mill and a little creek. The best way to see the valley and all the remaining buildings is to drive the Cades Cove Loop Road. It’s an 11-miles-one-way-loop-road (20 km). You drive very slowly and can stop whenever you see something interesting. You can also rent a bicycle and do the loop on the bike.

Cades Cove is the main attraction of the Smokies and attracts most visitors. It’s always busy. You drive the loop in a bit of a chain. That mean you just follow the car in front of you. If you are on the loop, there is no way to turn around and go back, you can only do the entire loop. The valley is very beautiful the early settlers have indeed chosen a very nice place to stay. The visitor center is half way on the loop, next to the mill.

We made a mistake and took the loop twice. The GPS gave us some wrong information. The GPS lead us to an exit that was indeed a 20 mile unpaved road. When we saw that, we were already on the loop and had to finish it a second time. You definitely need to plan enough time for that loop, you cannot drive fast at all. You need at least 2 hours (better 3, to have time to stop).

The official park website says the GPS is wrong in the park. We did not know that and made that mistake. Some advice: get a map from the visitor center and use that map instead.

There are many more hikes, paths and camping shacks in the park.

Some Advice and General Information

We liked the park. At the beginning, you get to see a huge are of forest. It looks a bit like the Black Forest. Yet, in the US things are always bigger. Same counts for the Smokies.
We liked the combination we did: a viewpoint, hiking in the forest and seeing the valley of an early settlement. I would also recommend doing something like that. The national park has many faces. Besides Clingman’s Dome, there are many more viewpoints like Rich Mountain Road which has a great view of the Cades Cove Valley or Abraham’s Creek. Newfound Gap is easy to reach, right at highway 441. Cades Cove is not the only valley; a second valley is called Cataloochee Valley. There are two waterfalls called Deep Creek and the Damm in Fontana. There are many hiking paths here, you should pick the one you do according to time, motivation, and fitness level. It’s definitely recommendable to leave your car and do at least some walking.

In the Smokies, I asked myself quite some times: where is the forest line? There is still heavy coniferous forest in Clingman’s Dome on 2000 meters. I always thought, the forest stops somewhere at around 2000 meters? I don’t know much about that, maybe someone can answer that.

I think, without a car, it’s very difficult to do the Smokies. We drove along 441 in one day (including a tunnel right through a mountain) and did some viewpoints, hiking and Newfound Gap. The following day, we did Cades Cove and its loop and left the park on the west (heading to Nashville). Going back and forth makes little sense because of the sheer size of the park. It’s better to make a plan about how these routes fit together.

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is from here. People here are obviously proud of here. Dolly Parton ads and gifts are everywhere, also pics and CDs. Pigeon Forge has a Dolly Parton amusement area, which we did not visit. The movie Serena (2014) with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper plays in the Great Smoky Mountains but was shot somewhere else.

Asheville: Biltmore Estate

Biltmore estate in Asheville is one hour from Cherokee. It’s America’s largest private home, a huge Renaissance-styled mansion from the late 19th century. I really wanted to go there but because of the jetlag, we were all extremely tired in the evening and did not do it. I still regret that! Now, I would definitely drive that one hour to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate.

Der Beitrag The Great Smoky Mountains: a Forest covering an Extensive Area of More than 200,000 Hectares erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.

Football in the US

Most football games are on a Sunday. Some are on weekdays in the evening. We went to a Sunday match, 1 pm in the old Atlanta Georgia Dome: Atlanta Falcons vs. Indianapolis Colts.

It was a bit of work to include that in our tour. As you can see in all the other articles, we visited several other cities and places. Several factors play a role; the teams usually have 2 matches a month at home. That is why you don’t have that many options in general. We could have made a visit in Memphis or New Orleans. To us, it was about seeing a football match at all, not a particular team. Tickets in New Orleans were sold out that seems to be a standard thing there. Tickets always sell out quickly. Memphis did not work for us time wise. When we were there, the team had no matches in Memphis, only somewhere else.
Atlanta only worked because we changed something in our tour. We paused an entire day to be in Atlanta on a Sunday.

Atlanta Falcons in Georgia Dome

Atlanta Falcons compete in the NFC South, as well as New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The teams’ stars are quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones. These were also the two jerseys I saw in the audience. The crowds were cheering the most when these two came in (To all Football Nerds: I do not know football very well, I don’t claim to describe everything in here).

The match was in Georgia Dome, Atlanta’s old arena. The new stadium is built right behind it and was still under construction when we were there. It’s supposed to be ready in 2017, the old Georgia Dome will be demolished and more parking space will be built there.
Buying tickets was super-easy. The Atlanta Falcons website directed me to the shop. I could buy these tickets with my credit card und just print them at home. Because these sarenas are so huge, tickets are not that difficult to get. Basketball for example is way more difficult.

Arriving at the Georgia Dome: Party Everywhere at the Parking Area

Just driving close to the Georgia Dome was quite something. We took our rental car and followed the signs in Atlanta to the Dome. That wasn’t a problem at all. Obviously, the closer you get to the stadium, the more the traffic slows down. Moving slowly gave us time to watch everything around us. The atmosphere is really very special: people are basically having a barbecue party in the parking areas. Everyone is in a good mood and happy. Loud music and huge stereos with musical equipment and bass are everywhere. People gather, have a barbecue and listen to music. We were at the stadium very early but everyone was already there. Seems to be a thing to have a pre-party. I only know something like that in Germany when Schumacher was super-popular and people were having these kinds of things at a Formular One race. I cannot say if all these people have a ticket and watch the match or if they just spend time in front of the stadium.

Parking at the Georgia Dome

Parking is easily available, the stadium’s parking area is huge. Parking guides are everywhere. Just follows the car line and you will find a spot. But the fee is 40 dollars! Paying is easy you just give the money to a parking guide at the entrance and get a piece of paper that you put on your dash. As it is the case with big parking areas, everything looks the same. Make sure you remember where you are parked.

Security Check at the Entrance: No-Bag-Policy

One thing that is very unusual for us is the fact that you are not allowed to take any bags with you. This is called No-Bag-Policy. This also means no handbags for the ladies. When I read that on my ticket, I wasn’t sure how strictly this is enforced. I was thinking women do not like to be separated from their handbags. This is a huge difference between the US and Germany: American simply accepts this as a necessary restriction to increase security (or feel you have increased security, depends on your point of view). There is one option to take a handbag into the stadium: every NFL team offers a small, transparent plastic handbag. These bags are allowed. Also, little ZIP plastic bags, similar to the one in the plane. Very small handbags (about the size of a hand) are also possible. Any larger bag like daypacks, rucksacks, seating cushions, camera bags etc. are not allowed. The NFL has a website with all information about this (link below).

I only took my phone and a little compact camera with me (at the beginning in my hand, later in my jacket’s pocket) and left everything else in the car. All pockets (trousers and jackets) need to be empty at the security check and items need to be carried in your hand. Security seemed rather strict to me. I was checked, really checked and security is properly enforced. At a German football match, this is not happening like that. I usually get checked very casually or not at all (not only me, women in general). So that is a huge difference.

Finding you seat in the stadium is not difficult, you can go in anywhere you want and walk an entire round tour in the stadium, if you are at the wrong end. This is again a huge difference to football in Germany where you are just allowed to use the one right entrance and where most of the work goes into keeping different fan groups separately. This was not the case in Atlanta, in that context things were way easier for us.
The stadium only needs one word: huge! 70,000 people fit in and the roof was closed. It wasn’t cool, windy or drafty like a regular German football match.

The Game is About to Start

Now you get to see the cheerleaders and their quite impressive choreographies. With lots of noise (music, fire and confetti) all the players enter. First, the 20 stars of the team, each of them has their name called out and walks in alone. After that the “rest” of the team (about 50 people) walks in all together. All the substitute players (basically most players) sit on benches right in front of the audience. There are no walls, no canopies and no other methods the shelter and protect the players. The players sit on a bench (or stand in front of it) right in front of the audience. Again a main difference to football in Germany.

All the fans make a lot of noise: they cheer, applause, yell and support. But there is no other equipment, no drums, horns, trumpets, vuvuzuelas or whistles. The only thing that is there is a big screen to raise the mood. The wall usually says “rise up” and everyone starts cheering. This is also where the music comes from but it’s all taped music no live music. Samuel L. Jackson is a celebrity who supports the Atlanta Falcons and appears on the screen occasionally. The screen always does something. But it is again an entirely different fan world from everything we have in Germany. A so called fan-culture (as opposed to our football culture) does not exist or means something completely different.

Something is Always Happening

The rules are rather complex, and the game has many breaks. That is not a surprise, everyone who watches football knows that. In these breaks, the TV networks usually show ads, many ads and quiiiiiiite often. In the stadium something is always going on in these breaks. When we were there, many veterans were introduced and honored, awards were given to people, lotteries were held and the host went to different parts of the stadium to have a quiz. Once it even “rained” fanshirts from the roof of the stadium with little parachutes on them. To sum up: something was always going on, we were always kept busy. We were there in November; Veteran’s Day is in November. That is probably why we saw all these veterans, sometimes it’s a different group of people. Anyways, it was never boring.

One thing I saw all the time: the audience always walks around. People go outside, buy pizza, come back in and go back out. Like that the stadium always looks a bit empty, never full or sold-out. In fact, most people are outside waiting in the food line. Screens are everywhere many people watch the match outside on screens. Even in the washroom, screens are everywhere, including every single cabin. Maybe, it’s easier to see what is happening because everything is so complex and the camera always sees more. I have no idea, but it was something I noticed because it was something that is entirely different in Germany. Everyone buys food and goes to the washroom in the halftime break.

Final Remarks

Watching a football game in the US is a totally new experience and very fascinating. A German football match looks very different in the TV and the stadium. The same counts for American Football. I’m saying that even though I have little knowledge about football. I could basically follow and that was the most important part. Everything happening around the match is funny and entertaining. Food and Drinks have regular stadium prices, nothing special here.

We did not like to pay 40 dollar for parking, though. It was a bit too much. Coca-Cola has a parking area near its museum, with a 10-dollar-per-day fee. Walking from there to the stadium is possible, that would have been an option. Also talking the subway is possible.
The No-Bag-Policy is something new to us, in particular for women.

The Georgia Dome will soon be demolished and next year, the Atlanta will be hosting the Super Bowl in their new stadium. That’s really crazy! The old stadium was huge and seemed pretty fine to me. But I don’t know why they decided to build a new one.

Links

NFL: No-Bag-Policy: http://www.nfl.com/qs/allclear/index.jsp

Atlanta Falcons: http://www.atlantafalcons.com/

Tickets at Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_homeA_header_search&aid=805897&user_input=atlanta+falcons&q=Atlanta+Falcons

Update

In January 2017 the Atlanta Falcons have, after many years, finally reached the Super Bowl again. The last game in Georgia Dome was the semifinal against Green Bay Packers. Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are having and extraordinary season and broke several records. The Georgia Dome has been demolished. All games are now held in the new arena.

Also interesting:

Atlanta – Just Coca Cola’s City or More?

Der Beitrag Watching a Football Game in Atlanta: Atlanta Falcons erschien zuerst auf travelspotting.