Page 10 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

Gatlinburg. If you don’t want to play golf or go shopping in arts

and crafts shops or antique hopping – not much else to do. The
coast is pretty but hard to get to in most places either due to the

lack of roads to the shore or because the shoreline is privately

owned and out of bounds according to all the “Keep Out” signs.

We did enjoy seeing a couple of lighthouses – one of which we
walked to over a “causeway” of large stones that goes under

water with a good Nor’easter. Lighthouses today are all automatic
and run on electricity. There is only one lighthouse keeper left at

the oldest lighthouse in the USA in Boston.

When we were able to get to the shore away from tourist areas,

we saw several of the local fishing boats. They’re called gill boats.
They are about 35 feet long. From the side, they look like a cigar

with a short square bump on the stern that serves as the
wheelhouse. There is no deck – all the work goes on inside the

structure from a door that when closed is flush with the back of
the boat. With that door opened, the back end of the boat opens

to put the gill nets out and bring them in.

They go out 5 to 10 miles to put out their nets close to the

bottom. They go back 3 – 5 days later to haul the nets and pull in
the white fish for which they are famous. It looked cold and

dangerous with the relatively mild summer weather and lake
conditions. Can’t imagine what it’s like in the colder times of the

year.

Had wonderful berries – raspberries and cherries right out of the

field. Ate our fill. Didn’t care for the wines they make with fruits –
lots of wineries specializing in cherry wine. Too fruity with an

aftertaste.

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