Kayak in The Park

In April I was riding in the park on my way to Townsend and I saw many folks in kayaks as I often do in the spring. I stopped by the side of the road to watch these people. They had to portage some of the boats and patiently waited for until everyone was ready before heading downriver. This was just about 2 miles east of Townsend.

It was fun to watch them. The fella in the orange kayak stopped to talk to me about his adventure. They were heading to Townsend and he agreed the water was VERY cold this time of year! But they were wearing a kind of wet suit for kayaking. I was on my motorcycle so he explained it was similar to the rain suits we have for biking. It looked like a real adventure, but I’d have to be much younger to try this anymore!

There are outfitters in Gatlinburg area that will teach you how to kayak and rent you the equipment. Otherwise if you have your own kayak, take it along on vacation and enjoy the water. But be careful out there, rivers and rapids can be dangerous.

http://www.rapidexpeditions.com/smoky_mountain_kayaking.html
http://www.noc.com/whitewater-rafting/pigeon-river/

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Dolly Parton to be in Local Parade May 10th

Did you know Dollywood Theme park is only 15 minutes from Gatlinburg, and Southern Serenity, in Pigeon Forge? You can spend a day or two at Dolly’s theme park on your Gatlinburg vacation. If it’s warm enough you can spend all or part of your day at Dollywood’s Splash Country as well. Ticket prices can found here. But I digress – I want to tell you about the parade with an appearance by Dolly Parton herself!

Dolly in the Pigeon Forge parade

That’s right, every year for the last 25 Dolly Parton has a homecoming parade in Pigeon Forge, which also marks the beginning of the Pigeon Forge Springfest celebration

Personally I prefer to spend most of my time in Gatlinburg rather than Pigeon Forge. But if I was here the weekend of this parade I would probably attend.

 

Pigeon Forge is situated in a large, flat valley of the mountains. This could be a very pretty place, but the retail industry has overrun the area. There are a lot of opportunities to shop, and spend money on carnival-like rides, and shop, and go to the strip mall, and buy one get one free, oh – and did I mention shop? There are a lot of lights and neon, not my cup of tea, but you might like it. If you come to Gatlinburg from the north you have to come in via Pigeon Forge, but just be patient. After stoplight #10 in Pigeon Forge you enter the Foothills Parkway of the Smoky Mountains National Park and it is a beautiful 5 miles to Gatlinburg, and a short ride to the Smoky Mountains National Park entrance.

Aerial view of Pigeon Forge

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Little River Trail in Elkmont

Elkmont is now a campground in the park, but the area is also chock full of history. Elkmont was a very busy place during the logging of the area. In addition to the logging, families from Knoxville and the surrounding area would vacation here during the summers. Homes were built and fun was had in the cool mountain air. Some of these buildings still exist, but are condemned and you can only view them from the road.

Two of the buildings are available for day use; The Appalachian Clubhouse and Spence Cabin. See the Park website for more information and to make a reservation.

     

When I hiked the Little River Trail in Elkmont. I found many wildflowers in bloom and enjoyed the relatively easy hike. The trail is an old gravel road so it is very wide and easy to walk. The Little River runs right next to the trail, and there is a creek on the other side for some of the trail. I think it is a very pretty trail. The trail combines the best of the park.I love that is has water for the entire distance, beautiful vegetation, historic buildings, large boulders, and is easy to hike.

Warning for the squeamish - there is a snake and spider in the pictures below.

Little River

Little River

trillium and bonus spider

trio of trilliums

yellow trillium

creek

hello mr. snake

dogwood

yellow trillium

Dinner Shows and Movies

I must confess we don’t attend many of the dinner shows in the area, but it’s not because there are limited choices. We aren’t opposed to dinner shows, we just prefer to spend our time in the park during the day and are usually pooped out by the time the sun sets. If you like the nightlife a dinner show or two might be just the ticket to complete your Smoky Mountain vacation.

Comedy Barn (Photo credit: fahrenheit45one)

When you travel to Gatlinburg from the north the advertising starts on the Interstate and continues to bombard you about all the different dinner shows in the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. Most of them are in Pigeon Forge.

Just a few of the dinner shows that come to mind are Fanny Adams, Comedy Barn, Dixie Stampede, Lumberjack Feud, and the Smith Family something or other. These apparently did the best job of advertising as I remembered them, and I’ve only been to one of them!

Phil (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve been to the Dixie Stampede and can tell you that the setup is similar to Medieval Times, and I think many of the other dinner shows are similar. You are seated around the arena or stage at a table facing the show. The food is prepared en masse and served while the show is taking place. Food at the Dixie Stampede was abundant and good, although I wouldn’t attend just for the food, and the show was very entertaining. It was a fun evening.

Show listings by city:
Sevierville
Pigeon Forge
Gatlinburg

If you are interested in a movie date night you’ll find The Forge Cinemas in Pigeon Forge. There is also a Movie Theater in Sevierville, their schedule can be found at Fandango.com.

Smoky Mountain Area Wineries

We’ll be in Gatlinburg soon for yet another vacation week – and as usual I can’t wait! One of our favorite things to do when we travel is visit local wineries, and of course experience a tasting and hopefully buy a bottle or two of wine.

When people consider vacationing near Smoky Mountain National Park I don’t think the first thing that comes to mind are wineries.But there are a few in the area and we’ve been to two in Gatlinburg.

Smoky Mountain Winery

We visited Smoky Mountain Winery a few years ago and as I remember they didn’t have a lot of wines made from local grapes, which is why we like to visit local wineries. We bought a bottle of wine, but weren’t very impressed so we haven’t been back. You may like it though. Check out what others have to say about Smoky Mountain Winery on Trip Advisor.

Sugarland Cellars

Our favorite winery in Gatlinburg is Sugarland Cellars. They are right downtown, just north of stoplight #10 on the right side. They are new to downtown and have a beautiful new facility where they make the wine, bottle it, offer samplings, and of course sell wine! They also have a large parking lot for guests which is a bonus in downtown Gatlinburg. We’ve been there on every trip we’ve taken since they opened, a tradition I think needs to continue! We will be going again at the end of the month and taking others with us as we’ve done in the past. Should be fun.

There are other wineries in the area to visit, some in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. We’ve not been to any of those, but probably will venture to some of them in the future.

Gatlinburg Holiday Light Show via Trolley

Gatlinburg Trolley Ride of Lights November 2012 to January 2013

Every year Gatlinburg lights up the night with millions of lights in displays throughout downtown and the surrounding area including Highway 321. There are many different scenes depicted and some even appear to be moving. Kids and adults alike can enjoy the night-time scenery.

Lighted displays

Over the past 23 years Gatlinburg has changed their lights from incandescent to LED resulting in a huge electricity savings, over 95%. The amount of electricity now used to power the lights for 120 days previously powered the lights for only three days!

River Road Covered in Lights

The light show runs every year from early November to the last day of February. You can drive the Gatlinburg area yourself to see the lights. We like to take the Trolley which is available right next to the Ripley’s Aquarium at traffic light #5. This season the Trolley Ride of Lights will run until January 26, 2013. For $5 you can hop on the Trolley and a local resident storyteller will fill you in on the history of Gatlinburg. It is a fun and fascinating ride, and I recommend it!

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Wilderness Wildlife Week

Wilderness Wildlife Week Photos

I got an online newsletter from Jim Eastin at “Taking Better Photos” which reminded me of the Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, just up the road from Gatlinburg.  This event takes place at the Music Road Hotel and Convention Center. All lectures and seminars are FREE to the public. Jim Eastin will be teaching classes there on January 12th and 17th. In addition to classes there are organized hikes and field trips as well. There is even a photo contest for you amateur photographers.

What a wonderful way to take a mid-winter vacation with the family! We haven’t attended yet but it is on my bucket list to get to some of these interesting lectures about the area.  You can view the Class List to see the subjects and find out who is presenting, or pack your lunch and head out with the group on an organized hike. There is a wide array of subjects from photography to snakes to fly fishing to music. A bit of everything for everyone including classes for kids. Sounds fun!

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