First and Last: Gatlinburg

For those of you who love to visit Gatlinburg, don't read any further.  This post will be a harsh critique of the city :)

Clay and I somehow happened upon a 2 day weekend (I say that b/c the only time we get 2 days off in a row at the same time is if someone takes a day off).  It was the Sunday before Labor day and Labor Day, so we decided to take a trip to Gatlinburg.  I had been there years ago but I didn't do much more that look at the Christmas lights and ice skate so I didn't really remember what it was all about.  I knew it would be touristy, with a lot of shops, but that sort of thing isn't bad every once in a while.

Before I get into our trip, I must explain something about myself.  I dislike Myrtle beach.  I don't understand the point of driving all the way to the beach to shop at Gap or Claire's.  If I'm driving 4 hours and find myself shopping, I would like to shop at some local place that makes soap or driftwood art.  The people get on my nerves too.  I say this because when I came home and asked people about Gatlinburg, they all called it, "Myrtle Beach in the sky."  Very fitting.  I should have asked before we left!

Well, we got to Gatlinburg and started off by shopping local crafters along an 8 mile loop road.  We saw everything from soap, glass blowers, painters, wood carvers, pottery and antiques.  Clay and I bought some local honey, a miniature pottery jug shaped like a fish (I put in my shadow box), and a blown glass Christmas ornament (we watch him make our particular ornament).  We like to get a Christmas ornament from places that we visit.  This leg of the trip was fun!  Nugget came with us into all the stores and we enjoyed ourselves.

Afterwards, we checked into our hotel, left Nugget, and set off to tackle downtown Gatlinburg.  Here comes my frustration:  most of the businesses were cheesy junk, swords, cheap purses, crappy souvenirs, carnival-like activities, or not-so-yummy food!  There!  I said it!  The stores that did have potential, like the cheese shop, or beef jerky were also disappointments as they were small with little variety and awkward customer service.  Had it been more of the Blowing Rock establishments, things would been more awesome.  We also had to navigate amongst crowds of rednecks!  Sorry, it's the truth!

There were some redeeming moments.  We enjoyed whiskey, wine, and moonshine tasting.  Our whiskey tasting came to an end when someone threw up behind us :/  We also visited the candy store for some taffy and other yummies.  The aquarium, although expensive, was awesome.  There is a tunnel you walk through where you are basically in the tank and the fish and sharks are swimming above you :)  We also sat in on an open-air bluegrass concert that was really good!  Clay enjoyed our stop at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.

The food was lacking.  We stopped at a doughnut shop, which was ok (our hot'n'ready Krispy Kreme on the way home the next day was way better).  We ate dinner at the Smokey Mt. Brewery where the beer was watered down and not great.  Clay was served the wrong beer and then cold/soggy fries which our waitress took care of but acted like it put her out to fix the issue. The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel...gross is all I can say.  I am convinced that these touristy areas don't work hard to get repeat customers b/c they only have to lure you in once...then there is a new victim the next day.

Taffy being made

On Monday we headed to the Smokey Mt. National Park which includes Cade's Cove.  Cade's Cove is know for being able to see wildlife, such as bears and elk, as well as it's structures that are original to the area.  We got to see old houses, churches and stopped at the mill.  At the mill, we saw a demonstration of someone making Sorghum Molasses as well as corn meal.  Of course we had to buy some of each :)  Cade's Cove was gorgeous!  The stop and go traffic got on my nerves though b/c people were slowing down to see animals...when there were none!  There were plenty of pull-off places to prevent this sort of traffic.

The icing on the cake of our trip was when we went on a 1.3ish mile hike to see a waterfall.  The whole trip, all I wanted was to see as many waterfalls as we could, but we read that dogs were not allowed on the trails.  Well, as we had already checked out of the hotel, we had Nugget with us.  We put her in Clay's bookbag with her head sticking out in hopes that nobody would say anything about her being with us. Sure enough, we were probably .25 miles away from the waterfall when a park ranger kicked us off of the trail!  Really???  She's in a bag!  Does she even count as a dog at that point?  What is the difference between her and these crazy kids we saw on the trail?  We were upset, but decided that situation would be worthy of a Seinfeld episode!  After that, we headed home.  We finally got some good food at Chik-fil-a and Krispy Kreme :)

Clay hikes with his coffee...

Sorghum being made

The mill that made the corn meal.

Nugget was exhausted on the way home!

Before I am accused of being completely negative, Clay and I still had a great time despite the substandard experiences.  We enjoyed each other and had fun piddling around.  Cades Cove was gorgeous, and the weather was good.  And who can complain about free liquor?  Needless to say, we will not be going back.  We will take a road less traveled and shoot for a trip with more character and local presence.