#293 Visit The Smoky Mountains Of Tenneesee

I have been following the news of the Smoky Mountain Wildfires with a heavy heart. It has been so devastating. 1000s of homes and business have been destroyed. So many families have lost everything they own, including their livelihood. 14 people were killed in those fires. Many more were injured. I have no idea how many animals perished in those wildfires fires nor do I want to know. So many animals were chased from their woodland homes and food sources by the hasty, wind driven flames. Acres upon acres of precious forestry has become scorched earth. The charred remains of this wicked fire will affect generations.

And here is where this story begins........

"Mom? Where does this road end?"
"I believe it ends in Tennessee."
This was one of the conversations my kids and I would have on the way to see their Grammom in Schuylkill Haven. We were driving I-81 south. The kids would always be like "Wow! This is a really long road."

I would tell my kids how after prom, when I was a senior in high school, a group of my friends were going to drive 81-South to Tennessee. I was invited along. My kids asked me if I had gone on the trip. I told them that I ended up going to Hershey Park with a few other friends instead because I knew Pop Pop, aka my dad, would not have been thrilled with an after prom jaunt to Tennessee. Their eyes would get wide, then they would laugh and say "Silly Pop Pop". They had no idea how much I tortured that man with my gypsy soul.

I informed my offspring that I still wanted to go on that trip. I still wanted to journey down 1-81 to see where this road ended. It almost haunted me. I thought about it many times while driving I-81 South. Then, in the summer of 2003, President George Bush started giving families an $800 tax refund check. We decided we were going to use our check to take a random family road trip to see where I-81 ended in Tennessee. I was about to make a dream, reality. We packed up the kids and off we went.

The sage words Pop Pop, aka my dad gave me before our trip, "Don't speed. They don't like Yankees in the South." Ironically, he gave me that identical advice before I headed down to NOLA 7 years later in 2010. Thanks dad. You don't sound at all like your dad, aka my GP. Hahahaha!

He wasn't completely wrong though. Most of the people in the South I came in contact with were not only very nice and really cool but, they were also more fascinated with my accent than whether I was a Blue Coat or a Grey Coat. However, there were a few that were rude to me as soon as they heard me speak. Whatever. The war ended like 140+ years ago. Let it go.

Back to my plan. We decided to leave at midnight. We figured on arriving in Tennessee around breakfast time. I had my big 50 state atlas book with me because GPS was still pretty non existent. I also brought my police scanner. We were able to hook it up to the car which was pretty cool. I remember when we were crossing the Potomac River, this weird, evangelical show started coming over the channels of my police scanner. It was very 1970's. There was organ music playing in the background as a soft spoken guy talked about people. It faded in and out for about five minutes before it was gone. Creeped me out a little. Not gonna lie. What were we getting ourselves into I thought?

Thankfully I did do some research prior to the night we left. I spoke with some people who had been to places in the South other than Florida. Almost everyone I spoke with that had been on this journey swore by Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. They told me I would not be sorry taking my family there. I told them nothing was set in stone. We were not 100% on where we were going but I was very appreciative of their advice.

Not going to lie, I was actually relieved to know this information. I was worried were were going to drive 11-12 hours only to find nothing, then have to turn around and come back home. Boy, was I wrong. Still, I figured we could stop at all the welcome areas to get brochures and coupon books filled with information on places to go and things to do. I was also nervous because we were certainly on a budget. We did not have much more than the $800 tax refund. We wanted fun but we also needed affordable.

It was the longest drive I has thus taken so far in my life at that point in time. Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia all had the same mountain scenery that Pennsylvania had. Of course I needed to remind myself were were driving along the Appalachian Mountain range so the scenery was going to be the same. I don't know why but some weird part of me expected to see palm trees. I laugh at that now but back then, I thought anything midway through Virginia had to have some palm trees. Wrong! There were no exotic animals along the roadside either. Just cows.

Once we hit Bristol Virginia I started to really get excited. This is the city that is in two states! This was the city of one of NASCAR's short tracks. (Back then I was still pretty big into NASCAR. Not anymore.) I believe I also saw the Burton brothers racing headquarters along I-81 South near Bristol. Not 100% sure it was them but it was definitely a famous NASCAR racing team's headquarters.

A view of the Little Pigeon River

We stopped at the Welcome Center once we entered Tennessee. I picked up a bunch of travel info and we headed to a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. (Cracker Barrels and Waffle Houses are everywhere down there.) At breakfast we decided to definitely check out Pigeon Forge, then possibly head down to Chattanooga or back up to Knoxville. We hopped in the Chevy Lumina and continued to the end of 1-81 South. The kids and I celebrated! We did it! We drove to the end of I-81 South. And yes, it does end in Tennessee.

From I-81 South our journey took us onto I-40 West. From there, we drove into Pigeon Forge. We found a really cheap hotel in one of the travel mags called the Royal Inn for $29 a night. It had a pool and clean rooms. When we pulled up I realized it was pretty much a Days Inn. LOL! The owner of the hotel told us we came at the perfect time. It was the first week of off season. I was taken aback by that. It was only the middle of August. Up North, that was still prime time. The owner told me the kids went back to school last week, hence, it is now the off season. He also reminded me their tourist season starts a lot earlier than ours up North. Good point.

Royale with cheese.

We were all tired and needed a nap after our 11 hour drive. We headed to our room to sleep. I had only reserved one night because we were still not sure what our game plan would be. Once everyone was rested and ready to go explore, we hit the main drag. We drove down the strip through Pigeon Forge, into Gatlinburg.

We were honestly shocked and amazed at how much stuff there was to see and do here. There were restaurants, museums, outlet shops, miniature golf parks, theme parks, the aquarium, theaters, fireworks supermarkets. Yes, I said Fireworks Supermarkets! Let's light up some cannons and sparklers and shit!  Man, the south was cool! How come I had never heard of this gem of an area before the last few weeks???

Another view of the Little Pigeon River. So Pretty!

I am so sheltered, I laughed to myself. We had four days to vacation before we had to head back North. After very minimal discussion, we came to a family decision that we would like to spend all four days here. There was plenty to see and do, and gathering from the brochures and travel magazines I collected, we could definitely afford four days here. When we arrived back at the hotel, I booked our room for three more nights.

Here are some of the places we enjoyed in the Smokey Mountains.

1. The Great American Steak and Buffet Company
We decided to eat dinner at a place a friend of mine recommended. The Great American Steak and Buffet Company was owned by country singer Alan Jackson. And while I am definitely not a huge country music fan, I know who he is. I also find it ironic and very amusing that I am vacationing in an area which included a theater owned by the band Alabama and a theme park owned by Dolly Parton.

The state of Tennessee was the home of country music but this rocker chick was down with that. It wasn't like I had to listen to it. (Yes I did. Just about every store, restaurant and radio station played country music or religious music. I was also in the Bible belt.) The buffet was outstanding. For $14 they had all you can eat Prime Rib, NY Strips, ribs and fried chicken!! I think I may have sang a bar or two of a song that had "chicken fried" in it. I didn't even know I knew that song. This was so wrong. I was going to have to spend a week listening to Metallica, White Zombie and Tool, 24/7,  to cleanse the pallet.

2. Three Bears Gift Shop
Some of the items they were selling in these little souvenir shops around town were an absolute riot. You had the redneck switchblade which was made from a a clothespin, a rubber band and a Popsicle stick. There was also the redneck flashlight, which was made from a stick with a clothespin fastened to the end by a rubber band and a match inserted in the clothespin. The best were the redneck wind chimes. They were made from beer cans tied to a stick. These pics are similar to the little redneck gems we found in the shops




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In the backyard of one souvenir shop, there was an actual moonshine shanty from the early 1900's. The original moonshine tanks were still there. A family of 8 once lived in the one room shack. It smelled awful. The kids and I wandered around the room, amazed that so many people lived in one room. I may have also though to myself, how did the mother not lose her freakin mind because if I had to be trapped 24/7 in the same room as my family, as much as I love them, I would have definitely packed my shit and moved into the coop with the chickens. Wouldn't have taken me long either. Maybe 48 hours but probably less.

The kicker of this 1900's moonshine shanty/home to a family of 8 was.....there was an actual drive thru window!! It was still there too. You could open and close it. I know because...I opened it and closed it. Customers would either walk up to the window or ride in on their horse drawn buggy's, knock on the window, and place their order. Only.... they weren't ordering no cheeseburgers and fries, they was getting their shine on. Whoa Nelly! I found this to be so cool and rather humorous.

3. Cooter's Place 
 Just the good ol' boys, never meaning no harm......

Cooter's Pace

Hmmmmm. An area which boasts of shanties, moonshine, country music and rednecks reminds me of a Dukes of Hazzard episode. If only there was a Dukes of Hazzard museum around here. That would be sweet. Well guess what? There is Dukes of Hazzard museum down there and it's called Cooter's  Place. We so much visited this redneck relic museum too. Ben Jones, the actor who player Cooter in the Dukes owned this little treasure on the outskirts of Gatlinburg. He had some of the real cars used in the series on display including Daisy Duke's White Jeep "Dixie", Roscoe P. Coltrane's police car, Cooter's tow truck and of course, one of the numerous the General Lees.

Me and The General Lee

Dixie and feeding pigeons, cuz it's Pigeon Forge.

We had a lot of fun looking at all the memorabilia displayed throughout Cooter's Place. All of this brought me right back to Friday nights when I was a kid. My siblings and I loved watching the adventures of Uncle Jesse and his nephews, Bo and Luke Duke. They had a such a knack for pissing the living hell out of Boss Hogg and his deputies. I loved Roscoe's little basset hound too. Too cute! It really was so great growing up in the 80's. Sighs. What happened to the world?


4. Ripley's Aquarium of The Smokies
Speaking of shows from the 80's, another great show was Ripley's Believe It Or Not. I used to catch that show all the time as a kid. Some of the stuff I saw on there was just crazy and downright freaky! I had no idea Ripley's had expanded into the aquarium business until we came to Tennessee. Of course we were going to visit. They had Jaws in there! Well not that Bruce but relatives of Bruce. 

Ripley's Aquarium was amazing!

The aquarium was beautiful from the outside but was even better on the inside. It was less than half the size of the Baltimore Aquarium but I have never seen an aquarium with such amazingly crystal clear water. The tour guide informed us that this aquarium had a state of the art filtration system that was brought in from Japan. At the time, in 2003, this aquarium was the only aquarium in the United States using this Japanese system.

Sp many tropical beauties.

We were able to walk through a clear glass tunnel under the large great white tank. I remember looking up and seeing the Great White swimming right above my head. His many, many teeth were razor sharp and his belly, pure white. He was scary as hell but a very beautiful creature nonetheless. We stood under the tank in awe for a long time just watching him swim around us.

As we continued through the tunnel, we came upon many tanks and displays holding huge, willowy Man O War jellyfish, adorable glow in the dark sea horses and tons of tropical fish. My pictures do none of it justice.The glow in the dark sea horses were so pretty and teeny. They were so cute.

Shhhhhhaaaarrrrrkkkkkkkkk!!!

We headed over to the interactive part of the aquarium next. Heather was able to pet a baby manta ray in the petting tank. We had to be cautious though because they also had baby sharks swimming around in the petting tank,  which I found to be kind of odd and dangerous. The baby sharks were adorable, I must admit, but their mouths were still full of razor blade teeth. Baby or not, you still needed to be very careful.

Another awesome part of the interactive center was the traveling Titanic Expo. This expo was very informative and really cool. There were portholes we could peer through that showed what the iceberg looked like rubbing against the ship. They had a replica of the bell used to warn of oncoming icebergs. Ringing it gave me the chills. They had charts and maps explaining the depths of the ocean and where the pieces of the Titanic landed on the ocean floor. They had replications of the china and decor that graced this magnificent ship. What affected me the most though, in this amazing exhibit, was the simple water display.

Having fun in the interactive area.

The exhibit had this tank of water with portholes for everyone to place their hand inside. The water was chilled to the exact degree of the the ocean's temperature the night the Titanic sunk. I knew it was going to be cold but when I stuck my hand into that water it literally took my breath away. It was the coldest water I had ever felt. All I could think about was how those people must have suffered, entering the painfully freezing abyss of the Northern Atlantic. So devastating.To this day I remember this exhibit very clearly.


5. The Old Mill Square
The Old Mill Square includes a restaurant and quaint little shops. We did not have a chance to dine at the restaurant, but we did visit the stores and walk the grounds. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The Old Mill itself was built in 1830 to damn the Little Pigeon River. It still functions to this day. We stopped and watched the the mill wheel spin as the water spilled over the damn. It was very relaxing and peaceful. 

The Old Mill, Little Pigeon River

The Old Mill. Pigeon Forge

The grounds were filled with planters and flowers. They were so pretty and colorful. We sampled chocolate covered cherries and marshmallows from the candy store. I bought a few syrups and jams from the Ole Country Store. It was my first time trying both elderberry and gooseberry jams. Both jams had an incredible flavor. Perfect to spread over buttered toast. You could easily spend a small fortune in these shops. Everything was so nice and unique. 

6. Pop's Catfish Shack
Fried catfish is huge in the Smokey Mountains. I mean HUGE! There were little restaurants and stands all over boasting of their fried catfish specials. And while I am not a huge catfish fan, when in Rome, you do want to try some local specialties and activities. I feel it really helps you genuinely connect with the area you are visiting.

We decided on Pop's because it was all you can eat for a great price. We also liked that they still fried their fish and chicken in the original little shack they started with many moons ago. They built the restaurant around the shack. The restaurant itself had wooden walls covered with license plates from all over the country. The kids were able to spot license plates from all 50 states on the walls. Yes, even Alaska and Hawaii were representing. I thought the whole license plate decor thing was great too because it kept them occupied. I knew were going to be there awhile.

Pop's Menu

You see, we ordered the all you can eat chicken and catfish combo. This combo came with fries, cole slaw, hush puppies, beans, corn muffins and scallions. That is a lot of food. And every person got their own servings! Holy Bargains Batman! When our server brought over the fried chicken and catfish baskets, I became a little apprehensive about trying the catfish. What if I did not like it? Sighs. I took a deep breath and shoved a bite of the breaded catfish strip into my mouth.

Oh.My.God. It was delicious. I have no idea what seasonings they used in their breading but it was both spicy and flavorful without overwhelming the taste of the catfish. The catfish was most definitely fresh. It was not "fishy." They fried everything in peanut oil which also made a huge difference in the flavor.  The chicken was even more amazing than the catfish. It was some of the best chicken I had ever tried. The hush puppies were out of this world! To this day, I have yet to find hush puppies that can even come close to comparing with Pop's. If you ever visit Pigeon Forge, this restaurant is my #1 must try recommendation. Very impressive!

7. Dinosaur Walk Museum
So, if there was an almost flop on this trip, the Dinosaur Walk Museum would be it. Do not get me wrong, they have exact replicas of dinosaurs that are truly lifelike and ginormous. But, the museum is very small, there were no interactive exhibits and it cost almost $40 per person for admission. We could not do both Dollywood and the Dinosaur Museum so we let the kids pick. My daughter absolutely loved dinosaurs. She had dinosaur books, encyclopedias, movies, documentaries, figurines and stuffed animals. The kid loved her dinosaurs. Ricky liked them too because his sister did.

Dinosaur Museum

I see you B.B.

The dinosaur museum won the vote. I will say it was 100% worth the price of admission just to see the kids faces as they looked at all the life-like dinosaurs. Again, this is a very nice, clean museum. The workers were very sweet and informative. The dinosaurs were way cool.

I just felt it was about $20 too much per person. If they had dinosaur rides then hell yes, $40 would be a deal. But, they did not have dinosaur rides. They may need to look into that. Maybe they could have a T-Rex puppet show or some dinosaurs follow you around trying to bite you or something too.

8. Downtown Gatlinburg and The Village
Downtown Gatlinburg reminds me so much of Jim Thorpe, PA. The streets are lined with specialty shops, art galleries, bakeries, wineries, restaurants and motels. Many of the buildings are made of brick, wood and stone. Little cobblestone sidewalks line some of the back streets. There are fountains and flowers everywhere. Trolleys shuttle people to and from different stops around the city for just 25 cents a ride. We definitely took advantage of the Trolleys. They were so much fun to ride and a nice break from walking everywhere in the August heat. I must say, Gatlinburg truly is a quaint, beautiful mountain town. 

Beautiful Shopping Area

The Village is a group of shops off of the main strip in Gatlinburg. Thomas Kinkade had a gallery in The Village with many of his paintings on display and for sale. It was so incredible to see his colorful work in person. His attention to detail was impeccable. In case you live under a rock and have no idea who he is, he was a painter from Northern California that specialized in nature and small town America paintings. Unfortunately he passed a few years ago, but his spirit will forever live on in his beautiful artwork. He truly was the "Painter of Light" and Gatlinburg was most definitely a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life.

The Village, Gatinburg, TN

The Village cottage shops were mostly comprised of European crafts and foods ranging from Celtic blankets, English baked goods, European cheeses, Scottish perfumes and lotions, to Irish pressed and dried flowers, British candles and European family crests. It was a little slice of Europe in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. I bought a little ceramic beehive honey jar and honey candies from The Honey Pot as a memento from my Smoky Mountain trip. The honey candy tasted so soothing and sweet. I need to find more of it. I know a local farm stand in Drums, PA used to sell the candy as well.

Thomas Kinkade Gallery

At the Smoky Mountain Winery, I sampled a May Wine and I absolutely fell in love with the flavor. Never had I tried May wine before. Then again, back in 2003, I was mostly a non drinker. I did try a May Wine in NY a few years ago, and while it was very good, it did not compare to the May Wine from the Smoky Mountain Winery.

At the Pepper Palace we sampled some colorfully named hot sauces as well as some exotic jerky meat. Ostrich meat is actually really good. Tastes like turkey. We decided to pick up a few different jerkys to bring home including kangaroo jerky which is also really good. 

9. The Lodge Cast Iron Outlet and Mr. Gatti's
Sevierville is also part of the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg Area. In fact, to get to the other two towns, you have to hop on the Dolly Parton Expressway in Sevierville. Sevierville had some cool shops and restaurants as well including the Lodge Cast Iron Outlet Store. That was also a must do for me!

I love cooking with cast iron. And while I do not cook with it as much as I used to, there is nothing that can compare to an aged, seasoned cast iron skillet cooking food over an open fire. The food just tastes better. The Lodge Outlet was a cast iron cookware lover's dream. I picked up a few unique pieces from the outlet to add to my collection.

Mr. Gatti's is like the Chuck E Cheese of the South? I guess it is. For their lunch special of $20, we were able to eat at the all you can eat pizza, pasta and salad buffet plus, the kids got $5.00 in tokens to share. This was 13 years ago so I am not sure what the price would be now, but for us, it was a steal. The pizza wasn't bad. It wasn't Northern pizza by any means, not even close, but it wasn't as bad as I heard Southern pizza could be. It reminded me of  Dr. Oetker frozen pizza which I actually do like. Hey, for $20 I wasn't going to complain.

10. Pigeon Forge Factory Outlet Mall & Tanger Outlet Centers in Sevierville and Pigeon Forge.
These outlets were huge, with tons of stores. We hit quite a few of them. I was able to buy the kids most of their school clothes and supplies from these outlet stores which was very awesome!

11. The Incredible Christmas Place 
Christmas is kind of a big deal in this neck of the woods. There were quite a few Christmas shops in the area but The Incredible Christmas Place was the place to be! This store was HUGE! Seriously. It was the size of a hotel! It could have been Santa's headquarters for all I knew. It was literally head to toe Christmas on both the outside and the inside. They had every single theme and every color ornament, light and garland you could imagine. Tons of little toy trains were steaming around on tracks located throughout the entire store. There had to be at least 60-70 decorated Christmas trees in that store. Unfortunately they do not permit picture taking in their store so no pictures for me. Denied!

Holy Christmas Stuff All Year Round

There were a few things we were were not able to do on our trip. We did not get a chance to visit Christus Gardens nor Dollywood. We did not get to visit the NASCAR Cafe nor Ober Gatlinburg either. It was too hot and a burn ban was in effect so we did not get to walk on any of the Smoky Mountain trails. However, we were able to do all the things we wanted to most so we were happy about that. We played mini golf, took a trolley ride and enjoyed the great foods and beautiful scenery of the Smoky Mountains.

As we packed up and headed back towards 1 -81 North, we made sure to stop at a Sonic Drive In before we left Tennessee. At that time, there weren't any up North. I remember walking into the kitchen of the Sonic because I thought you still had to walk in to place your order. All the employees were looking at me like WTF are you doing in here?? Duh! It's a Drive In. Say's so right on the sign. Lessons learned in life.

In closing, it's been 14 years since I visited the Smoky Mountains. I drove by it briefly on my way to New Orleans 7 years ago but haven't visited since 2003. Becky was there this past summer. She told me the attractions have probably tripled since my visit. One day I may visit again, but I have so many other places to see and adventures to experience on my list. I never say never though. What I do know is that the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee will always have a special place in my heart for it's beauty, nature, amazing food and affordability.

Chrissy