October 11-13
This was the third annual girls trip to Gatlinburg with two of my dear friends, Karen and Michelle. I did go back and write two short posts on our previous trips where we did some fun trails in the area. Be sure to check those out if you want to go hiking in the Smokys.
We made the mistake of planning our getaway the same weekend as fall break in our state. So needless to say it was a madhouse but we made the best of it!
We left on Friday night. After getting a little lost due to our gps and taking some very sketchy road we arrived at the Deer Ridge Mountain Resort sometime after midnight. We stayed in condo unit E203.
Even though it meant we got very little sleep, we decided to get up early and drive to the Cade’s Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Neither Karen nor I have ever seen a bear in all the times we’ve been to Gatlinburg and we were determined. I should also add Karen is an amazing photographer and deserved to have the opportunity to photograph a bear.
Off we went and saw a lot of turkeys on our way which made us hopeful to see more wildlife. And FINALLY we saw a BEAR!
Due to the line of cars and people we didn’t get to see them too close but we remained hopeful. Later on our drive there was a cub near the rode and we were able to pull over and get some pictures.
photo by Karen
On our way back into Gatlinburg we made some stops in the park for pictures (one of these stops was at The Sinks Bridge) but we were also starving at the point. We drove to Pigeon Forge and had lunch at Smoky Mountain Brewery. We had planned to check out Anakeesta, one of the newest attractions in the area, that afternoon. However, after seeing the line we decided to put that off until the next morning.
We parked and walked among the crowds of people down the Gatlinburg strip where we shopped and tasted the hard cider at Tennessee Cider Company. Hard cider is one of my favorites and I brought home bottles of their pineapple, watermelon and citrus mash ciders. All of these were quite tasty!
Since we were exhausted from not getting a lot of sleep the night before we went back to our resort. They were having a cookout and bluegrass band that evening so we decided that we would go check that out. It was a fun relaxing evening in the mountains.
The next morning we drove to Gatlinburg for breakfast. We waited in the line for The Donut Friar and it did not disappoint. (Note: They only take cash.)
On our walk to get breakfast we noticed the line to Anakeesta was still long, but they hadn’t opened for the day. We hoped the line would go down and upon returning that was not the case. We happened to notice a sign that said “mobile ticket entry” and this line only had a couple of people in it. So we got out our phones and bought our tickets online. This allowed us to skip the line of people waiting to buy tickets and onto the chair lift we went. Here’s to using our brains! So with that being said I highly recommend buying mobile entry tickets and skipping the line. It’s super easy and saves a lot of time!
Anakeesta was decorated for the Fall and Halloween, and it was a beautiful day to enjoy the mountain views. Also, there is a beautiful memorial that documents the tragic fires of November 2016. 14 people were killed and 190 were injured in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Gatlinburg.
Michelle and I did the tree top rope bridge walk, while Karen was off taking pictures as usual 🙂
After enjoying the morning at Anakeesta, we descended back down to Gatlinburg where we enjoyed lunch at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red. They have live music daily and the two guys we saw perform (Kevin Jagger & Steven Metz) were very talented. Also, the nachos were huge and delicious!
See you again next year!
So Many Places So Little Time 