The day we left Tennessee, the Little Pigeon River reflected the sky. I don't know if it will show here, but I've included that photo. Sevierville, TN to Cherokee, NC offers travelers two routes. The shortest route of 45 miles cuts through the Great Smoky Mountains, National Park. The two lane twisting road also climbs to 5048 feet in elevation. The 95 mile route along I-40 curves gently along as the four lanes pass through the mountains. 
Twenty miles of this route also include the twisty two lanes Highway 19 that winds its way back into the hills of the Cherokee Nation. We chose the longer route, and the less traveled Hwy. 19. 
The KOA Park I'd chosen turned out to be several miles NW of the town of Cherokee, and back in the hills of the Smokies. We had no reliable cell or computer service. The KOA capacity included about 200 RV sites and an additional 114 cabins. We noted about 10+ KOA trucks, vans and SUVs. This place must be hoppin' in warm weather times. Besides the usual KOA toys, this park has both an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and 5 stocked trout ponds. 
Beyond the KOA Park, the Great Smoky Mountain NP offers sightseeing, hiking and biking. The Cherokee Tribe offers Harrah's Casino, a large high stakes Bingo facility and tourist shops. Jay told us that the Cherokee tribe started the original high stakes Bingo that is now popular across the country. 
Harrah's new 532 room tower will connect to the current hotel and casino. The remodeling looks nearly complete.
We have visited many tribal reservations and were very impressed with how the Cherokee Tribal Council used their income. Trim multi-family housing units and a new theater in downtown Cherokee look like good investments.
We saw what looked like a couple of high schools around the area, but the newest complex took our breath away. The beautifully designed K-12 structure of white stone, glass panes and turquoises accents sits behind a fence of white stone columns supporting burnt orange steel grids.
The Alpine shaped entries connect to the two-story dormered buildings, I assume, are classrooms. Besides the ones we saw in front, four or five more create a courtyard behind the right side. I think I saw a total of seven "classroom" buildings in the design. 
The high school occupies the left side of the complex with the football field and gym on the end. Between the main buildings and the road, a state of the art oval track surrounds a soccer field. Baseball and softball fields provide the end of the right side. A large elementary playground also fills the back part of the right side. A Very Impressive structure!
Wherever possible the Cherokee language and English language appear together. Cherokee men in traditional dress (plus jeans for warmth) present programs outside the tourist shops. They tell of their language and culture.
Most if not all street signs reflect both languages.
Downtown Cherokee provides strip malls of shops selling moccasins, leather products, blankets, beaded jewelry, fudge and ice cream. A few restaurants stand between the shops. Many of these shops look like tourist traps, or interesting places to explore. 
The more quality Cherokee crafts are found in the Qualla Artisan Center. Baskets, beaded jewelry, wood carved masks, bowls, and sculptures sat lovely to look at, expensive to own. A less expensive wall of beaded jewelry lured tourist discouraged by the price of quality. A separate gallery of glass cases displayed objects created by local artists. One of the basket collections caught my eye.
Decorated bears posed on various corners of town, just like the moose of Bennington, VT, the cows of Harrisburg, PA and the dolphins of Halifax, NS.The campers next to us were here to fish. When Derrille told them of our trip, they asked what we were doing in Cherokee. Good question! It offered more than Renfro Valley, KY, but like Renfo, some of the attractions that put it on the itinerary, were closed for the season.
Mingo Falls, located just north of the RV park, must be open. An old faded sign directed us across an old wooden bridge. A dirt parking area big enough for four or five cars snugged in next to a dirt bank. We had to check the reader board and guess that we were in the right place. Oh....by the way there were stairs...steep stairs that rose up the bank and turned behind the hill! The reader board gave the distance of 1/8 of a mile, so up we started. The 50 or so wooden steps were well built and a fairly easy climb. At the top, a forest trail of leaves, roots and mud led to an observation bridge. On the bridge, you turn, look up and stare in awe. 
A 142 foot waterfall spreads itself like a bridal veil over the outcroppings of stones as it cascades to the creek below. It reminded me of photos I've seen of Hawaiian waterfalls. This was absolutely stunning! We lingered to just enjoy the beauty of this place. This is a good reason to come to Cherokee.
We stopped at the Oconaluftee Great Smoky Mountain National Park Visitor Center. The east side of the park was a disappointment. Which may be why a new center is under construction. In the old center little room exists for exhibits or a museum. We didn't see a theater either. The gift shop held the usually items, plus this one had a tasting table for peach jam. YUM! Got me! I bought a jar each of peach and one of blackberry.
The Mountain Farm Museum on my list, turned out to be a tiny copy of what we saw at the Museum of the Appalachia, and not worth our time.
The tourist books and a ranger at the NP visitor center touted Bryson as a tourist destination. We even found a decent size book on Bryson. However we didn't find that Bryson in town. The 2-3 block downtown may have had a dozen shops, and there's a railroad museum somewhere, but other than that we must have missed some of it. We did see this old '59 Chevy that Derrille liked. We also saw an IGA store since we didn't find one in Cherokee. 
We did see an interesting river bank stabilizer made up of old cars. We wondered what the EPA would think. On the way back to Cherokee we discovered another "car bank". Hmmmm
Maggie Valley lies north of Cherokee on Highway 19. Fairly deserted in November the valley's many motels, cabins and restaurants indicate another destination for summer visitors and winter skiers. One ski lift also takes people (probably in the summer) to the Ghost Town Amusement Park. We stopped at a couple of gift shops and headed home. I didn't take photos of the shopping areas.
Concerned about moving and baking on the same day, we stayed home on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Derrille made a run to the IGA in Bryson for a couple of items. I spent the day making our pumpkin pie, wrapping Christmas and birthday gifts, and preparing the gifts for mailing. This turned out to be a very good decision.
Next: Asheville, NC
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