We left for the Smokeys on the 9th. stopping to spend the night in Lexington, Ky. Ate dinner at the Cracker Barrel. The morning of the 10th. we had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel then headed on to Pigeon Forge.
The trees started getting really pretty near Cumberland Gap....before that, all we saw were browns ..not many vivid colors due to the lack of rain. We arrived in Pigeon Forge around noon on Friday, and to our surprise, our cabin was ready for us. We drove to the cabin and unpacked. The cabin and the view was awesome !
Rested for a while, then drove down to our favorite " chill out" in Pigeon Forge....the "Creamery" patio in the Old Mill complex. There are patio tables and rocking chairs.....we chose a table and relaxed with a huge dip of Apple Cinnamon ice cream and cups of cappuccino. Later, we had a wonderful steak dinner on the patio of Bennetts..the weather was perfect for dining outside. Went back to our cabin and relaxed in the hot tub..then crashed for the night !
On Saturday, we had breakfast at a fun 50's style diner in Pigeon Forge....Mels Diner, one of our favorite places to eat....then headed to Gatlinburg where we did a little shopping then headed for "the Village" and found a patio table near the fountain...had a yummy donut from the Donut Friar with more cappuccino, sat and "people-watched" for a while before going back to Pigeon Forge for dinner at Huck Finns. This restuarant serves free "vittles" with your dinner. Hubby had fried chicken, I had the "Huck Finn" platter with catfish, clams and shrimp. The vittles were white beans, fries/mashed potatoes, hushpuppies, cole slaw and cornbread. You can't leave hungry...the portions are huge. During dinner there is a man who sings country,bluegrass songs & hymns.
Sunday was spent relaxing at the cabin..we had a quick lunch at Mels diner then went to Bennetts that night for Bar-B-Que, again, on their patio.
On Monday, we packed a picnic and headed to Chimney tops...this was our first time there.....we found a huge bolder along the stream and spread out our quilt for our picnic. The view was wonderful and so peaceful listening to the water flowing over all the rocks. After that, we drove Newfound Gap road to the top of the mountain, then took the road to Clingsmans dome....also our first time there. I cannot describe the views...except to say Awesome ! Clingsmans Dome is the highest point of the Smoky Mountains National park, with an elevation of 6,643 feet..the highest point in Tennessee, the highest point of the Appalachian Trail and second highest point in North American East of the Mississippi River. Afterwards, we drove back into Pigeon Forge, to the Creamery, rested for a while, then drove to the Apple Barn and bought Apple fritter mix and Apple butter for some friends and ourselves ! We had "patty-melts" at Mels Diner for dinner.
Tuesday...Breakfast at Mels, then shopping at the Outlet Malls.....Shopped 'till we dropped !! I bought fall clothes, shoes, two new purses, some jewerly and two new quilts. Then we went to the Old Mill complex, and met the couple who have the discoverthesmokies web site. I had talked with them several times through e-mails and it was wonderful meeting and talking with them in person. We had a nice 2 hour visit with them. Later, we used our gift card for dinner at the Outback steakhouse.......we weren't impressed....will not go back there. Back to the cabin, more hot-tubbing then called it a night.
Wednesday, we got up very early, drove into Gatlinburg to Roaring Fork Motor Trail, hoping to see bear....but it was not to be. We did enjoy the views. Afterwards, we went to the Mountain Lodge so hubby could get his Country Ham breakfast. It was great, as usual. Then we shopped the Arts & Crafts Loop and bought another set of Corinthian Bells chimes...this set keyed in G, 72" long and sounds like church bells......they are hanging on our porch with the ones keyed in C that we got two years ago....they sound beautiful together and puts hubby to sleep !! LOL ! We did more shopping in Gatlinburg, and had smoked sausages with onions/green peppers from Fannie Farkles. That evening, we drove to Cades Cove, again hoping to see bear..but again, no luck. However, we did see wild turkey, deer and a wolf. It was dark when we headed back to the cabin..and hubby was exausted after driving the winding, mountainous roads back...very scary in the dark and it was a looong day !!
Thursday, we stayed in Pigeon Forge most of the day, finishing our shopping list for Christmas, relaxing at the Creamery patio again . That night, we packed up for the long trip back home.
Friday morning we stopped at Mels for breakfast, said good bye to our waitresses who have always treated us as "home-folks"...and headed back to flat land and cornfields again. We had a wonderful vacation but are always sad to leave our "second home" in the mountains...that's why we are planning to make it our home in the near future.
