More than double the length of two American football fields, 680 feet, Gatlinburg SkyBridge in Gatlinburg Tennessee is the longest single span suspension bridge in North America. I wasn't made aware of that until I made my way out the gate but nostalgic nonetheless. In the middle of the bridge lies a 30 foot long glass window with a treetop view of the Smoky Mountain forest 150 feet below.
Pura and I went there last week. We were recently dealt the shittiest hand which now consists of scheduled three hour roundtrips between Knoxville and Nashville while Vanderbilts leading GI specialist addresses chronic pancreatitis plaguing the most beautiful woman in my life. Results are trickling in. All we know right now is she's progressed from acute to chronic and a dude with all the money in the world named Steve Jobs died from the same painfully debilitating disease.
We saw it on our way back to Knoxville or en route to Nashville or both, probably both, American roadways are blanketed with them.
About an hour East of us in the opposite direction of Nashville is Gatlinburg, historic 1806 settlement and part of the original 13 colonies.
I twisted one up, we passed it back and forth. Cruise control / steering assist. We did things like roll the windows up and down, sunroof open / closed. Aimlessly tuned Spotify, muted it most the time talking reality and what if's. The hour long drive was over before it started—flew by. Now we're standing at the base of a chairlift staring at the top of a mountain when Pura said.. and I quote:
"FuuuuuuuuQ dude!"
She's got this little fear of heights thing that apparently neither of us acknowledged until after arriving in Gatlinburg. It hasn't been an issue since we viewed a top floor apartment on the docks in Liverpool two years ago—made her sick. SkyBridge wouldn't get the opportunity.
So we ɹǝʌǝɹsǝp our steps going back the way we came stopping somewhere for dinner instead: Twist, pass, cruise / steering, windows / sunroof, music / mute, reality and what if's, dinner. I went back yesterday by myself.
The bridge is supported by six lengths of 2 million mcm, the biggest, baddest, strongest, toughest aluminum conductor used to supply electrical energy—safe. It's the same stuff @splatts climbs poles with in Washington for money....
At the top of the chairlift is SkyLounge, a little souvenir joint that sells snack things, drinks and beers. Outside is a chair and table lined patio above the trees with panoramic views as far as you can see.
When I got to the bridge entrance I heard a variety of concerns ranging from elderly folk refusing to walk across because it sways too much to children crying their eyes out desperately clinging to dads arm.
I loaded this clip to YouTube just now, it's only 14 seconds, click that—epitome of right place at the right time. My buddy Brandon back home had just sent me a video clip of him riding his bike across a suspension bridge in San Felipe so I recorded that impromptu clip to one-up him. Mission accomplished.
It was pretty crowded for a weekday afternoon but it doesn't surprise me anymore, nobody works in Tennessee. I have no idea how they're doing it yet but I'm determined to learn their secret. Restaurants have the same wait time at 10am on a Tuesday as they do 8pm on a Saturday in this state and parking is a circus at SkyBridge seven days a week, 9am - 9pm. I filmed the whole thing, too, keep an eye out for 3speak footage.
Astonishing views from the Smoky Mountains, longest suspension bridge in two countries, spontaneous entertainment provided free of charge by timid tourists and a chair ride to and from the action, what more could I possibly ask for?
Prayers. Wishes. Backflips and magic tricks. Wtf ever you got, break me off with your best shot. If you know God's email address or have a magic golden shrine in the corner, genie lamp or whatever, whoever, add PuraDays to your wish-list please and mass spam a good word for the most beautiful woman in my life.
