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Day 1 (the drive)

We left around 10 am from Akron, OH and set off on a trip to Sevierville, TN
The trip was scheduled to take about 7.5 hours but due to a fatal accident on I-75 S we were stopped for several hours and rerouted and it was nearly a 14 hour trip.
Around midnight we arrived. We used AirBnB to book our trip and the cottage we arrived at was welcoming and our host left the door open for us

Day 2

We woke up early and met with our host Lemuel. He provided us with maps of the national park, restaurant suggestions and plenty of advice for how to best enjoy our stay.
After breakfast we headed into the Smoky Mountains National Park which was literally at the end of our driveway. We proceeded to take a long drive through the park until we hit Cade’s Cove, which is a beautiful drive with multiple stops to enjoy the park.
We stopped at several different sites where we explored old homesteads and churches.
Abram’s Falls was the highlight of our visit to Cade’s Cove. It was a beautiful 2 mile hike to a secluded waterfall with a pool at the bottom where you could sit and cool off and relax.
After the hike back from Abram’s Falls we finished the drive through Cade’s Cove where I spotted my first bear off the side of the road! My wife wouldn’t let me get too close but I loved being that near it.
Cade’s Cove took most of our day so we decided to grab dinner in Gatlinburg. We decided on a little spot called Hungry Bear BBQ…great local BBQ done right.

Day 3

We woke up early to go to breakfast at Crockett’s Breakfast Camp. HUGE portions and delicious food.
We spent most of the early afternoon on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. This trail takes you on alot of switchbacks up into the mountains. There are several beautiful vistas and many stops where you can get out and explore.
After returning to Gatlinburg we visited the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum. We love to see interesting shops and museums when on vacation and this was definitely one of them! Over 20,000 unique shakers collected by the owners mother.
We grabbed lunch at Bennett’s Pit BBQ. I really enjoyed it but you could definitely tell it was more of a “chain” restaurant than the BBQ place we had the night before.
Spent the day exploring the shops and the strip in Gatlinburg. There are many of the same shops that you see in all tourist areas but they have some that really stand out. Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery had a fantastic tasting where you get to try all of the flavors for free.
Our main stop for the day was Ripley’s Aquarium. It was fantastic. So many tanks to check out with alot of sealife you don’t see anywhere else. It wasn’t too busy on the day we visited so it was great to have time to explore.
We enjoyed dinner at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. They offer a variety special of their beers which was a great way to try all of them. We weren’t too hungry after lunch and snacking on the strip all day so we didn’t have too big of a dinner but what we did have was not too memorable. We probably wouldn’t eat there again if given the choice.

Day 4

We spent the morning relaxing on the ground of the B&B we stayed at and then headed out around lunchtime (with our luggage) to explore the nearby Sevierville. There were several small shops for local goods and antiques that we really enjoyed visiting. Our favorite was the Wears Valley Farmer’s Market which included a little truck that served the best BBQ I’ve had in a long time.
We started our journey home around 12 but we weren’t heading straight there. We drove through Pigeon Forge again so we could see all of the cool attractions such as the Titanic Exhibit, Dollywood, and Wonderworks which is a huge upside down building. This is definitely a city to visit if you have a family with young kids but my wife and I enjoy the quieter parts of the Smokies.
Our last stop was the Wheatlands Plantation which was just outside of Sevierville and may have been our favorite stop. It was run by 2 men who were extremely passionate about restoring the plantation and learning more and more of its history. There were many stories told from Civil War times until present day (including a family murder which still stained the hardwood).
On the way home we took a detour off of the path to visit Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. You can take a hike up one of the mountains to the point where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee all meet. There are also caverns to explore (if the ranger is there) and civil war trenches and cannonandes to check out. It was worth the 30 minute extension to our trip!

Year traveled: 2015

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