Gatlinburg

Day One - Since Pigeon Forge had a HUGE car show going on that weekend, we avoided it like the plague until Monday. We arrive in Gatlinburg and settled into our motel which was Rocky Top Mountain Inn. It was $68 and some change for one night. Really close to the strip and it was very clean. The manager was super nice. Of course, it was old, but all of the motels are. We took a nap (actually my husband took a nap, I could barley shut my eyes I was so excited!) and then got ready to walk.

We ended up going to Legends. It was busy, but there wasn't a wait. The food was pretty good. I had the Catfish and DH had the Veal Parmesan. That with a glass of wine each, the total was around $38. After dinner, we bought Ripley's combo tickets (Three attractions for $36 per person: we chose the Aquarium, Believe it or Not Museum, and Davey Crockett Golf). We decided to go ahead and go to the museum. I've been before, but I still enjoyed myself. Lots of interesting stuff to see, really reminds you of what a colorful and strange world we live in. After that, we went to Ben and Jerry's and called it a night.

Day Two - We got up early and went to McDonald's, bought a few souvenirs at Magnet World and decided we would head to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. We stopped at Ogle's homestead and got out to take a look around. There was a 3/4 mile Nature Walk that we almost didn't go down, but a lady told us it was so beautiful, so we thought why not. As soon as we got 20 feet down the path, three older ladies came rushing back toward us with panicked looks on their faces. They said they spotted a cub, but no sign of Momma, so they didn't want to meet her. Sure enough, I looked in the direction they were speaking of and had a chance to see the cub cross my path about another 20 feet in front of me. He was strolling along without a care in the world. DH said he looked like a teenager bear (?) and we decided to head back to the car.

I have to say, God shined his blessing on us on that one. First time we step onto a trail, BAM, we see a bear! Way cool!

We hiked the Grotto Falls trail, which was 2.4 miles, I believe, and it was gorgeous. For lunch, we went to Hard Rock Café. The Grilled Veggie sandwich was fantastic! Cool place to eat. After that, we headed to Sevierville where we would spend the remaining five days at Fairfield Smokey Mountain Resort located across the street from the Super Wal-Mart on Collier. Awesome place to stay! 2 bedroom condo with whirlpool tub and lovely view. Thank God we knew someone who owns a time share. She let us stay for free, which was such a blessing! The employees were wonderful and friendly. No one ever tried to bombard us with Time Share crap, so we were very pleased. DH was ready. When he saw them on the strip, he made a big spectacle and ran from them, leaving me. He's so crazy…

After Day Three, the vacation memories get kind of foggy, because I didn't take good notes, although I was advised to do so. I have to look at my bank account to remember what all we did.

Day Three - We decided we would do some shopping in Pigeon Forge since the car show was over. DH got a lot of stuff… I didn't find anything to die for. We headed back to Gatlinburg to go to the Aquarium and have a snack at No Way Jose's. This restaurant was not really that great (i.e. bad). Our waitress seemed to be very unhappy and unfriendly. Poor girl, she even dropped her tray of drinks. The margaritas were blah. Which reminds me, in restaurants in Pigeon Forge, there are NO DRINKS BESIDES BEER. Kind of weird, because we saw beer signs (although I knew it was dry, or at least I thought). We found that out when we went to La Carretta (Pigeon Forge). Omgah, this place was beyond bad. We ordered cheese dip and it was the consistency of milk. We asked them to take it back, drank our beer, paid, and left.

I loved the Aquarium! It's so fantastic! My favorite is Sting Ray Bay. These do not have barbs on their tails, so no worries! Unfortunately, there were two hammer head sharks in the tank with them, so it kind of ruined my experience, but I still got to pet a few. Davey Crockett golf was lots of fun, too!

Let's see, what else. We ate at Pancake Pantry and it was fabulous. I had the sweet potato pancakes. Awesome stuff. We hiked to Clingman's Dome, Laurel Falls, drove Cades Cove, went white water rafting, and Ober Gatlinburg. We went to two wineries in Pigeon Forge and raced go carts. We saw, hiked, and did a lot of stuff, thanks to all the sugguestions on this board.

A few more notes:

White water rafting was great! We weren't going to do it because DH has this thing about not being stuck like a sardine with people he doesn't know in a raft. We met another couple at our resort and we decided to go together. He ended up tipping the river guide to get us in our own boat, while four other boats had six and eight people in it. We used Rafting in the Smokies and our guides name was Ewok because he looks like a furry forest creature, that's what he said anyway. He was very interesting. I was so freaked out by the end of the "safety talk" that I almost started crying. Three ways to be rescued if you go overboard, foot entrapment, oars to the face,etc. But, it was a lot of fun and a lot of it had to do with the guide. He was hilarious and really loved what he did. We floated the Upper Pigeon out of Hartford. It was about $37 per person.

I consider myself to be of decent shape and Clingman's Dome was almost not worth it. The hike up to the observation tower was 3/4 mile. It took me AN HOUR to do this due to the elevation (I guess) and the uphill slope. We hiked Laurel Falls in a little over an hour and it was 2.6 miles! Be prepared to stop for several breaks if you decide to go up to it! The view wasn't all that clear, unfortunately, but we can say we've done it!

We also ate at the Old Mill. This place is a must! We loved it! Great food and lots off it. It was the best meal I ate during the whole trip, hands down. Our server was wonderful, too. Ober Gatlinburg's Alpine Slide is awesome. You ride a ski lift up to the top and slide down. It was definitely worth $6.50 per person (plus $3.00 parking).

I apologize that this review has absolutely no order. Hopefully, it made sense!