This year we decided to explored the great Smoky mountains. We looked around and found a decent flight into Knoxville, a smaller regional Airport. We thought it would be nice to rent a cabin in the woods, and there are a lot of options in both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Buyer or renter beware, read the reviews of several sites before booking. We chose to rent from Aunt Bug’s cabins which is conveniently located near Dollywood and just outside Pigeon Forge. The neighborhood of cabins is divvied up amongst several property management companies. Some companies maintain the cabins better than others. I think in this case, we got lucky. After reading some reviews when we returned, not everybody had good experiences with Aunt Bug’s. Except for the ants and the extra small shower, our experience was pretty good. They were centrally located to a lot of the attractions and a pretty fair value. It was a good base for our trip to Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg.
Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg
Smokey Mountains
My parents used to vacation in the Smoky Mountains and we had family members honeymoon here. There’s just something about the mountains. The park offers some great panoramic views, waterfalls, cold creeks, nature walks and serenity. Not all of this is available by stepping immediately outside of your car, you might need to walk a little bit. Make sure you bring water, bug spray, sunscreen, and a sense of adventure. And be patient, others are trying to enjoy the beauty too.
Pigeon Forge
We based ourselves in Pigeon Forge. It is in a valley below Gatlinburg and was cheaper than Gatlinburg, with just as many shops and attractions, from shows/dinner theaters like the Comedy Barn, Opery, and more. It also had some outdoor adventures like Alpine Coasters and the Outdoor Gravity Park.
Outdoor Gravity Park
This attraction had just opened up when we arrived. We were there for the ribbon cutting. It is called Outdoor Gravity Park. Grab your swimsuit, or shorts and a T-shirt, and get ready for a ride. You are taken to the top of the hill. You then crawl into a large inflatable “gerbil ball” in which the floor is filled with water. Once sealed, you were pushed over the edge in the ball Rolls down the hill. It is like a water slide and roller coaster and is amazing. We’re highly recommended checking this out.
After we dried off, we explored more and found “Goats on the Roof”.
Goats on the Roof – Alpine Roller Coast
“Goats on the roof” is just what it says. There is a building with goats, on the roof. It seems like a hokey tourist trap, selling snow-globes, postcards, t-shirts and goat food. And, it is. I mean, seriously, you can buy goat food and go outside and feed the goats. Being the animal lover Teresa is, we had to by some food for them, “they were starving” (not really, the tourists and the staff keep these animals well fed.
The kicker here though is the Alpine Roller coaster. You need to try this. You are seated in a little car on a steel track and taken up the mountain. At the top, the car is released from the chain (automatically) and your car is free to move down the mountain on the track. It is filled with twists and turns, corkscrews and hills. And to top it all off, you control the speed using hand brakes. The cars can reach up to 50 miles an hour, if you do not break at all. The brakes are handles on the car and to release the brakes, you must push the handles down. If you leave them up, the brakes are engaged. It is a thrill, a rush of adrenaline as you fly down the mountainside. There are two coasters in Pigeon Forge and we tried them both, but “Goats on the Roof” has our recommendation. Want something different, ride it at night!
4X4 ATVs
Something else that we tried is riding ATVs. It is something we had always wanted to try but never had the opportunity. We got in with the group of beginners like ourselves. They went over the safety features and the route they were going to lead us through. The trails took us up into the mountains where we saw some deer, wild turkeys, and other wildlife. We stopped at a few locations where our your guides told us stories or allowed us some photo opportunities. As we’re heading back down the mountain, we had to cross a few dry creek beds. We were kicking the dust up pretty well. As we turned the corner towards the base camp, we had to cross a length of creek. It was refreshing have a water splash up all around. If we had that type of terrain around Tampa, I think I would consider getting an ATV. It was fun.
Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg is filled with shops of all type. Whether you are looking for T-shirts, souvenirs, snow globes, Christmas ornaments (available all year round), spices, food, candies, or anything else your heart desires, you can find something in the shops at Gatlinburg. The types of shops that we sought out were the local artesian shops. We admired the paintings, pottery, the sculptures, the local honey’s and treats, the moonshine. Hell yeah, you read that right, moonshine! There were several local distilleries offering free samples of various flavors and shall we say potencies. Unfortunately, they could not ship to Florida and we could not take something like that on the plane so we settled for the samples.
DollyWood
The last day of our trip we decided to venture to Dollywood. The park entrance was on the same road as our cabin and we got there near opening time. It was the weekend and the park was already filling. Which at the trolley up to the gates and we’re getting ready to get in line for tickets. As we were looking around trying decide which line to get into, a woman approached us. She asked us if we wanted to get in and offered us tickets. She said she was a park member and had family passes that were about to expire. I started to reach in my pocket for some cash when she waved her hand and said not to worry about it just follow her and like we’re family. In and age, you tend to be a little bit leery about people offering gifts or things for free. Still, she has the tickets in hand and asked us to follow her to the gate. I asked her she’s a local or visiting and she said she was from smalltown in Kentucky called Somerset. I laughed. She looked at me a little strange and I told her that’s what my dad was born at. I asked her if she had this name or that name and her family tree. She chuckled and said something like that would not of been a coincidence, but she did not. By the time we got to the gate, the ticket standing, and we walked through. I thanked her and again offer to pay for the tickets. She refused saying she just didn’t want him to go to waste and then when her separate way.
First the most part Dollywood isn’t that bad. It has several sections or regions, some nice roller coasters and lots of little shows. We wrote the Wild Eagle (a suspended coaster), the Firechaser Express (small with a lot of flavor) and Thunderhead (a wooden coaster). I used to love wooden roller coasters, the ricketyness and not so smooth ride. But as I have gotten older, wooden coasters tend to give me a headache and neck strain.
We took a break from coasters and went to a few of the shop and shows. Teresa’s not in the country music so much. I grew up around it (along with jazz, polka, rock, contemporary and more), so I can take it or leave it. Still, but only so much Country gospel that I can take. We spent the better part of the day here, so we thought it be good leave and find a decent restaurant for dinner.
As we’re leaving I looked to Teresa and said, “dad must’ve been looking down on us today and smiling. He knows that if I paid for this, I might’ve been less happy.” That does not mean I did not have a good time and that Dollywood is not a place to go. I just think that if I paid full price for the admission, I don’t think we would’ve gotten our moneys worth.
