Starbuc's non-fort 4th of july Tennessee Vacation

[Starbuc71 162]

It was now about 6pm our fist night in Tennessee. As I stated we were hungry. A few years ago we stumbled upon a restaurant call Smokey Mountain brewery and Restaurant. It's located in Downtown Gatlinburg and is just a tad off the beaten path. They are part of a restaurant group that also includes a few more great places

This place has soft fresh bavarian pretzels seved with warm beer cheese dip. We loved these which made my wife remember the place. Here is the website http://www.coppercel...ainBrewery.html The food is really good and thier selection of thier own micro brewed beers are pretty good. We almost ate here twice over our trip but we knew we needed to check out new things.

If you have ever visited Gatlinburg, you know Parking is tight. The brewery restaurant is located on this little side street which looks like a small village. There is a huge parking lot at the end that seems like many do not know about. this is prime parking to walk the shops. here is the path leading th the lot

After a good dinner and a 1/2 day of driving it was time to head back to the RV and call it a night

The next morning we decided to do the Gatlinburg thing and take in all the shops and what not. We got up fairly early, got the kids ready and was heading into town by 9. We parked in our "secret" parking lot and headed for the streets of Gatlinburg

This was a sister restaurant to the one we went to last night

We never have ate here but heard good things about it. very rustic mountain look.

This is called Ober Gatlinburg. It's a large cable tram that will take you to the top of one of the mountains where you will find a lot of touristy crap in my opinion. We did not go since we have been up there before and it was nothing to write home about. They do have Skiing in the winter at the ski facility which does look good. They also have a bear exhibit which is really poor, an ice skating rink, a short alpine slide and a few crappy gift shops. If you have never been up the tram, it's worth it to do it once and that's it :)

As you all know, Gatlinburg is a small Mountain town known for it's arts and crafts and especially thier touist shops and restaurants. My daughter loves pancakes so a stop at Flapjacks was on the list

Next are a few shops. There are many side streets that resemble small villages with many shops. It's quite cool

I had to take this of this new restaurant bar located on the strip

Don't you love the name?

Of course the Bubba Gump Shimp Co. was still there. I have never eaten there. Is it good or is it just a novelty like planet hollywood. being a former Chef, the hole in the wall places are uually the best

...And of course what is a tourist area without some sort of Star Car attraction. I have always wanted to go in here but the wife could not see spending the $60 dollars or so for all of us to state at cars. I was temped, but she was right

You have all your regular famous cars like Bumblebee

I guess they coundn't afford the newer version...lol

The original Batmobile

I like this better than the newer version

The General Lee..come on, it's Tennessee, this had to be here....lol just kidding

And no star car place would be complete without the Flux Capacitor

Coundn't I have drove an hour and 1/2 to Orlando to see this? Probably..

But wait..... Something was missing, someone very, very important. he had to be here. I looked and looked and there he was, all shinny and new like he just rolled off the big screen

You could see my son was just as excited. Actually Herbie has been the main attraction parked out front for years. His hood opens and lights will blink at you. And to make it even better, Star cars got a new edition a while back. they got a hold of a one man herbie that was used for years on the Disney on ice show which traveled around the country.

If you look close enough, I noticed when I got home that I happened to get the mini herbie story on the easel in the back

Next up, the Starbuc family runs into a celebrity and the "General Lee" lives

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Torreya State Park is in Liberty County and it is on the Apalachicola River. There are people who believe that it borders the Garden of Eden (as proposed in the book by E. E. Calloway) and is where Noah's Ark was built. Torreya trees are believed to be the infamous gopher wood. Here is a link to the website. It is truly a gorgeous park and I have spent many days exploring there. torreya park

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Hey we park in that same place when we go into Gatlinburg too! :banana: It seems we also eat at the same restaurants.

When we were there in October they had the parade of General Lee cars down the main road. We missed it, but still saw plenty of them over that weekend.

My kids all remember that from the Ober Gatlinburg tram you can see the Barbie House. They keep asking us if we can stay there. :rofl2:

[stefa70 205]

You could see my son was just as excited.

Yes, your son looks completely overwhelmed!

Have you ever been to the Saturday night car show at Old Town in Kissimmee? Someone there usually has a Herbie all set up that honks and blinks and does "Herbie things" He always draws a big crowd,and it's fun to watch the kids' reaction.

[anolefan 8]

DW and I ate at the Cherokee Grill on our last visit and really enjoyed it.

I am really enjoying your report. We absolutely love visiting Gatlinburg and the surrounding areas.

I can't wait to see if you all did a lot of visiting inside the park!

:popcorn:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

It's been years since my last visit to Gatlinburg. I love the pictures of the cars,the museum is something I would definitely do. go figure. I like cars :rofl2: Thanks for sharing :banana:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks again for posting this report!

I have never been to Gatlinburg, but now I'm ready to go.

I would be all over that brewery with the pretzels and cheese dip!

Plus now I know where there is a secret parking place!

Have you ever been to Gatlinburg in the winter?

Has anyone reading along ever been in the winter?

I'd love to visit there sometime when there's snow on the ground.

My two youngest DD's have never seen real snow.

I would want to rent a cabin for that visit- can anyone recommend a place?

TCD

[anolefan 8]

Have you ever been to Gatlinburg in the winter?

Has anyone reading along ever been in the winter?

I'd love to visit there sometime when there's snow on the ground.

My two youngest DD's have never seen real snow.

I would want to rent a cabin for that visit- can anyone recommend a place?

TCD

Why of course! My apologies in advance Starbuc for the temporary hijack.

You are making me go old school now. I don't want any wisecracks about my hair either. These photos were actually taken in April of 2004 so it wasn't actually winter, but it was cold and as we were driving over 441 from Cherokee to Gatlinburg we saw snow! I have also been there during January when it was really cold, but didn't get any photos.

DS8 was DS2 at the time. Man how time has changed!

As far as cabin rentals, we have stayed at several places from Townsend to Gatlinburg. We have stayed at Black Bear Falls in Gatlinburg many times and have enjoyed it.

http://www.blackbearfalls.com/index.asp

We haven't stayed here, but really want to someday. We drove through here on our last visit to Gatlinburg and it was really nice. Granted it was about 5 years ago, so things may have changed.

http://gatlinburgfallsresort.com/

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Why of course! My apologies in advance Starbuc for the temporary hijack.

You are making me go old school now. I don't want any wisecracks about my hair either. These photos were actually taken in April of 2004 so it wasn't actually winter, but it was cold and as we were driving over 441 from Cherokee to Gatlinburg we saw snow! I have also been there during January when it was really cold, but didn't get any photos.

As far as cabin rentals, we have stayed at several places from Townsend to Gatlinburg. We have stayed at Black Bear Falls in Gatlinburg many times and have enjoyed it.

http://www.blackbear...s.com/index.asp

We haven't stayed here, but really want to someday. We drove through here on our last visit to Gatlinburg and it was really nice. Granted it was about 5 years ago, so things may have changed.

http://gatlinburgfallsresort.com/

Thanks, Tom!

I'll talk to you about this some more some time.

Since you specifically requested it, I won't make any cracks about your hair.

Those are great photos!

If anyone else has any recommendations on accommodations in Gatlinburg, please share!

TCD

[kampfirekim 260]

Love it Starbuc! This CG looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing your great photos... looking forward to hearing and seeing more. :)

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Wow, how beautiful is that state park and the Gatlinburg campground. I think that's what I love the best about camping-just taking in the scenery. There are parts of Oklahoma that are just gorgeous. OKC is a great place to live but doesn't have any pretty scenery. I think I would love to visit Gatlinburg one day.

[Starbuc71 162]

Torreya State Park is in Liberty County and it is on the Apalachicola River. There are people who believe that it borders the Garden of Eden (as proposed in the book by E. E. Calloway) and is where Noah's Ark was built. Torreya trees are believed to be the infamous gopher wood. Here is a link to the website. It is truly a gorgeous park and I have spent many days exploring there. torreya park

I will have to check this place out. never heard of it but it sounds awesome especially for Florida

Hey we park in that same place when we go into Gatlinburg too! :banana: It seems we also eat at the same restaurants.

When we were there in October they had the parade of General Lee cars down the main road. We missed it, but still saw plenty of them over that weekend.

My kids all remember that from the Ober Gatlinburg tram you can see the Barbie House. They keep asking us if we can stay there. :rofl2:

That is a good parking lot. We never have a problem parking there. We usually have good meals everywhere in Gatlinburg except for one place that we will be talking about soon

Yes, your son looks completely overwhelmed!

Have you ever been to the Saturday night car show at Old Town in Kissimmee? Someone there usually has a Herbie all set up that honks and blinks and does "Herbie things" He always draws a big crowd,and it's fun to watch the kids' reaction.

My son is too young to get the big picture yet...lol I used o go to Old town alot when i had my 68 Camaro. That kinda faded away when I traded it for wife and kids...lol Old town is a neat place. On of the only nice free places in Orlando to enjoy

DW and I ate at the Cherokee Grill on our last visit and really enjoyed it.

I am really enjoying your report. We absolutely love visiting Gatlinburg and the surrounding areas.

I can't wait to see if you all did a lot of visiting inside the park!

:popcorn:

We will have to hit the Cherokee Grill next time. I think I'm about 1/2 way done. I have some pics of the park coming up

It's been years since my last visit to Gatlinburg. I love the pictures of the cars,the museum is something I would definitely do. go figure. I like cars :rofl2: Thanks for sharing :banana:

I think when the kids get older we will do the Star Cars thing. I want to do it every trip since I'm a car buff...lol

Thanks again for posting this report!

I have never been to Gatlinburg, but now I'm ready to go.

I would be all over that brewery with the pretzels and cheese dip!

Plus now I know where there is a secret parking place!

Have you ever been to Gatlinburg in the winter?

Has anyone reading along ever been in the winter?

I'd love to visit there sometime when there's snow on the ground.

My two youngest DD's have never seen real snow.

I would want to rent a cabin for that visit- can anyone recommend a place?

TCD

Glad your enjoying. There has been a lot of trip reports to compete with latley...lol I have never been there in the winter. Before the kids we were there in the middle of Nov., but no snow. I hear in Jan, Feb and sometimes march, there is decent skiing at ober gatlinburg but down in the town there is not heeps of snow. believe me it does not compare to Colorado for skiing but for first timers to ski or snow tube, it's allright. One of these days we talk about renting a cabin and spending Christmas up there. We have never rented a cabin, but I hear most are pretty cool depending on price, view and location and many even have hot tub on the outside deck. Gatlinburg is a great place. I can't wait til the kids get older so we can do more of the free things the national park has to offer as far as hiking and other free things

Why of course! My apologies in advance Starbuc for the temporary hijack.

You are making me go old school now. I don't want any wisecracks about my hair either. These photos were actually taken in April of 2004 so it wasn't actually winter, but it was cold and as we were driving over 441 from Cherokee to Gatlinburg we saw snow! I have also been there during January when it was really cold, but didn't get any photos.

DS8 was DS2 at the time. Man how time has changed!

As far as cabin rentals, we have stayed at several places from Townsend to Gatlinburg. We have stayed at Black Bear Falls in Gatlinburg many times and have enjoyed it.

http://www.blackbear...s.com/index.asp

We haven't stayed here, but really want to someday. We drove through here on our last visit to Gatlinburg and it was really nice. Granted it was about 5 years ago, so things may have changed.

http://gatlinburgfallsresort.com/

Great pics Tom. We hope to see snow there someday also

Thanks, Tom!

I'll talk to you about this some more some time.

Since you specifically requested it, I won't make any cracks about your hair.

Those are great photos!

If anyone else has any recommendations on accommodations in Gatlinburg, please share!

TCD

Andrew, here is the link where we stayed pre-camper/kids. http://www.deerridge.com/index.html it's not a cabin, but a nice resort about 10 miles outside of gatlinburg near the village of Cobbly Knob. I believe they do have a few cabins to rent and they have many more around the complex. We were always very satisfied staying here. It's quiet and the views are awesome. They also have Golf real close if you play

Love it Starbuc! This CG looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing your great photos... looking forward to hearing and seeing more. :)

Thanks, I should have more this evening

Wow, how beautiful is that state park and the Gatlinburg campground. I think that's what I love the best about camping-just taking in the scenery. There are parts of Oklahoma that are just gorgeous. OKC is a great place to live but doesn't have any pretty scenery. I think I would love to visit Gatlinburg one day.

We love vacationing here and would recommend anyone to at least visit the Smokey national park at least once. I'm sure you would be back for more

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Love the trip report, thanks for posting!

That State Park looks great, I'm saving that name for future trips.

It was now about 6pm our fist night in Tennessee. As I stated we were hungry. A few years ago we stumbled upon a restaurant call Smokey Mountain brewery and Restaurant. It's located in Downtown Gatlinburg and is just a tad off the beaten path. They are part of a restaurant group that also includes a few more great places

This place has soft fresh bavarian pretzels seved with warm beer cheese dip. We loved these which made my wife remember the place. Here is the website http://www.coppercel...ainBrewery.html The food is really good and thier selection of thier own micro brewed beers are pretty good. We almost ate here twice over our trip but we knew we needed to check out new things.

When I went to Gatlinburg a few years ago around the 4th of July we discovered the Smoky Mountain Brewery! We liked it so much I think we ate there 3 more times that trip! Everything we had was good and they had live music some nights!

On a side note we pulled into Gatlinburg with no hotel reservation and we ended up staying right accross from the Brewery. It was a reasonable price and our room had a back door that overlooked a little creek, it ended up being great, I can find the name if anyone needs a hotel there.

We also camped a few nights in the Elkmont Campground, all in all I loved Gatlinburg and the Smokies and can't wait to go back.

Thanks again for the TR and I can't wait for more!

WBI

[rm0530 5]

I'm enjoying your report! My family and I used to take a week-long summer vacation and camp at Elkmont. I have many happy memories from the Smokies, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge. Have y'all ever visited Cades Cove?

[Starbuc71 162]

As our trip continues, we are still walking the streets of Gatlinburg on Friday. Near the center of Town, we stumbled upon one of my favorite places

This Cooters place. It's kind of like a museum and gift shop/memrobilia for anything and everything Dukes of Hazzard. Some of you may know who have been to Gatlinburg, Cooters used to be located at the end of town with a replica General Lee, a Hazzard County Patrol car and cooter's tow truck out front. This year it apparently looks like the city was going to use that land for parking or something and Cooters moved to a better location. Here are some pics

You can find just about anything here relating to the Dukes of hazzard. From real props to t-shirts mugs and whatever

As I stated in my last post, we ran into a celebrity. Can you guess who it is?

It was Rick Hurst. Rick played Deputy Cletus Hogg on the series. Don't ask me who the kid in the pic was. The line was long and I at least need to get a pic. I forgot to mention, Cooters is actually owned by Ben Jones who played cooter in the series. Being that it was 4th of July weekend, he had some star power at the shop. I thought to myself that he as aged, but when I did the math........ I was 9yo when he was playing Cletus probably at age 30. So all in all, he looked GREAT.

It is tradition in dowtown Gatlinburg every year that they have the first Independence Parade in the country. What I mean by that is that they have a huge parade down the main strip at exactly 12:00AM complete with huge animal balloons, floats and bands. Unfortunaley, since we have the little ones, there was no way of seeing this parade. I was bummed, but I'm sure one day we will be the morons up at midnight to watch floats and marching bands. I was a little bummed though as we were walking out of cooters the sign stated "Catherine Bach, this years MC for the 4th of July parade" I was 1/2 tempted to go but o' well

Next the wife and my daughter hit the chairlift ride on the main street

By this time we were hot and tired. We needed to get the cold A/C of the car and do a little sight seeing

[Starbuc71 162]

On with the show.... With all the trip reports now being posted, this report is starting to loose it's steam. I'm going to try and wrap this up today or tomorrow. We next decided to go up through the new found gap road that cut's right through the smokey mountains. If you never have driven this road, it's a must. I would add that you would be crazy to pull a trailer or a 5er through this road. Here is a view of the road from New Found gap

Do you see that small road? It meanders for about 36 miles between Gatlinburg and Cherokee NC. It's absolutly beautiful in the fall months

I had to take a picture of this RV. I can't believe he drove this up then down the mountain. You can't see it too clear, but there were many parts including a ladder and bumber that were being held with duct tape including access doors

Here are some pics from Clingmans dome which is a slight higher elevation than New Found gap

This is a close up shot of the 3/4 to a mile hiking path to the observation tower. With it being 95 degrees out, we opted for the close up on the camera vs. the hike

Her's my daughter at the bottom of the entrance to the park

After some more sightseeing in the car, it was back to the campgrounds. Here are some more random shots of the campgrounds

The next day was a pool day. Our children love the water so this was a nice "free" day. My oldest is just learning to swim and the shallow end at 3 feet was perfect for learning

Next up will be a ride through the cades cove area then into piegon forge and finally wrapping up the trip with the visit to our favorite theme park, Dollywood

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

Awesome TR! We love the Smokies and go often. I am not that fond of Gatlinburg's touristy stuff, but I love the surrounding area.

I have to call you out on this, though.

This is a close up shot of the 3/4 to a mile hiking path to the observation tower. With it being 95 degrees out, we opted for the close up on the camera vs. the hike

A high temp in the 80's has never been recorded at Clingmans. It's quite amazing how different the climate is on the highest peaks of the Smokies.

Here's some weather data from the 4th.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN

222 PM EDT WED JUL 6 2011

FOLLOWING IS THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION

INFORMATION, VALID FOR A 24 HOUR PERIOD ENDING AT 7:30 AM.

STATION ELEV HIGH LOW PCPN

SUGARLAND CENTER 1600 83 63 0.04

NEWFOUND GAP 5000 71 58 0.04

CADES COVE 1900 81 63 0.11

OCONALUFTEE 2040 85 63 0.38

MOUNT LECONTE 6400 68 52 0.20

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

What a cutie :banana:

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

This is called Ober Gatlinburg. It's a large cable tram that will take you to the top of one of the mountains where you will find a lot of touristy crap in my opinion. We did not go since we have been up there before and it was nothing to write home about. They do have Skiing in the winter at the ski facility which does look good. They also have a bear exhibit which is really poor, an ice skating rink, a short alpine slide and a few crappy gift shops. If you have never been up the tram, it's worth it to do it once and that's it :)

Our Scout Troop goes skiing at Ober Gatlinburg for their December campout every year. So I think the skiing is pretty good, since they return year after year.

[Starbuc71 162]

Awesome TR! We love the Smokies and go often. I am not that fond of Gatlinburg's touristy stuff, but I love the surrounding area.

I have to call you out on this, though.

A high temp in the 80's has never been recorded at Clingmans. It's quite amazing how different the climate is on the highest peaks of the Smokies.

Here's some weather data from the 4th.

Your right, it was in the mid 90's down in the town and Piegon Forge. It was cooler up there, but the wife still did not want to do the hike. We had the 90 degree wheather on our mind from walking downtown. It's 9:30 on a Friday night, I guess I got to get my head on a lttle straighter...lol

[Starbuc71 162]

Our Scout Troop goes skiing at Ober Gatlinburg for their December campout every year. So I think the skiing is pretty good, since they return year after year.

Anytime to go skiing is a good time in my book. I have never been able to ski out west yet, so I am happy with mediocre conditions we get on the east coast of the country

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Those pictures are gorgeous!

I meant to tell you earlier but your children are absolutely adorable! :)

[LORNADUCK 261]

Great trip report. We used to go every year when we didn't own a rv. The last time we went about 7 years ago we had our last MH, (as in the one before this one, due to the fact that we did go over the mtn with the MH towing a car, and we almost lost our brakes, traded it in soom after). I would love to get back there some time in the future. Think it would be a great place to have a GG!!!

[Starbuc71 162]

Great trip report. We used to go every year when we didn't own a rv. The last time we went about 7 years ago we had our last MH, (as in the one before this one, due to the fact that we did go over the mtn with the MH towing a car, and we almost lost our brakes, traded it in soom after). I would love to get back there some time in the future. Think it would be a great place to have a GG!!!

Lorna,

I spoke with owner of the campground about group gatherings and she stated she had hosted many. One of the bigger ones was the outbackers group from outbackers.com That site is dedicated to people who own keystone Outback TT and 5er's. They even have a clubhouse to use free of charge for pot lucks and what not. It was one of the fist things that came to my mind on this trip on how it was a perfect place for a GG

[anolefan 8]

Great update!

We love the drive from Cherokee to Gatlinburg. It's amazing how long 36 miles takes while driving directly through the mountains.

Good call on not hiking to Clingmans Dome in that heat, we did that once with our DS and it was a lot of work.

I'm still loving the campground pictures. That looks like a really great place to stay!

Did you guys do any tubing or swimming in the river?