...the Smoky Mountains, Part Two

With only three days for our trip, Dad wanted to leave as early as possible.
So on Friday, the day our trip began, my mother picked me up from school. This was special, because normally my dad had the car at work and I rode the school bus to the stop at the bottom of Spring Valley Circle and walked home from there. It often took an hour for me to get home and that would be too much time on this day. And, I got to leave school early. What a feeling to walk out of class and leave everyone else sitting at their desks!

Joe B. and I were so excited! We had been camping before, but this trip was going to be different. We were going to states we had never been to before, to see things we had never seen before. We could tell that our Dad was happier than he had been in a while and that things were different at home.

We didn’t realize that this was because he had gotten a new job that year. Since Joe B. was born, Dad had worked at “The Fair” for long hours, often six days a week, and had gotten little pay. But in 1956 Dad got a job with the United Fuel Gas Company. It was a “good job” with decent hours, paid vacation days, and he got much more money for working there. We still were a long way from rich, but now we could afford the new used car and the new used television.

And, to our delight, we could afford to stay in a brand new Motor Court our first night out. That evening we had driven through the Kentucky mountains and through Virginia. We rode on roads that were little narrow two-lane roads – this was before the interstate highways. (in fact 1956 was the year that the interstates got funding and began to be planned) We wound up the hills and through the towns and I carefully noted which towns we went through. We even stopped and ate dinner at a restaurant - and that was exciting. By the time we got into Tennessee Dad was half-asleep as he drove along, and Mother started looking for a place to stop.

Here’s where we stayed: The Eisenhower Motor Court in Newport, Tennessee. Named after our President, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

This is a free post card from the Motor Court. On the back it says:

Eisenhower Motor Court
½ Mile West of Post Office
Newport, Tennessee.
U.S. Highway 25, 70 and 411.
Modern Hotel Rooms
Electrically Heated - - Tiled Showers
Short drive to Smoky Mountain National Park.
Esso Service Station in Connection with Court.
For Reservation – phone 3381.
Mr. & Mrs. R. C. Porter,
Owners & Managers.

Wow! We were in a “modern hotel room” for the first time in our lives! Since Joe B. and I had napped in the car, we were ready to explore. We didn’t really get a chance since Dad and Mother were exhausted and ready to drop into bed and collapse. We couldn’t even whisper to each other because we were all in the same room. When our Dad was tired he got testy, and we knew better than to rile him. So we lay still and awake in our bed and wondered what the morning would bring. We finally went to sleep wondering -- What would the Smoky Mountains be like?