A Weekend in Gatlinburg

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

My son's fall break was scheduled for October 5th (beginning at 1:00pm) through October 10th and one of our favorite places to go in the fall is Gatlinburg, TN. So that is where we decided to go. The only thing is we could only go for the weekend as he still had football practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and a game Monday night. He's the starting QB so we didn't think it was too wise to have him miss. So that combined with the cost of gas we opted to leave the camper at home and just stay right in town. So, it was my job to find a place to stay. Last year we rented a condo in town that was a couple blocks to the main road, but we decided we didn't want to stay there again. Since we ended up going out to eat anyways regardless of if we had a kitchen or not the decision was made to just get a hotel room. Using Google Maps and then Trip Advisor (to see what others thought of the places) it was narrowed down to Jack Huff's Lodge. I sent an e-mail to the owners and they replied back right away. They had a room that someone had just canceled. I went ahead and booked the room as it had the 2nd highest ratings on Trip Advisor and the location seemed ideal. We could park our car and leave it there the entire time we were there. :dance:

Friday afternoon we finally got on the road, but first we had to make a stop in Scottsboro at the Unclaimed Baggage Store. We were on the lookout for an IPod Touch for my youngest daughter. She is the only one who does not have one. Actually I don't have one either, but have been known to use my children's on numerous occasions. We were able to find one for under $100. Great now that should keep her occupied for a few more hours while we continue our journey. The only thing is there is no Wifi in the van so, she can't get any games yet. She also does not have any music on it yet. Thank goodness was just happy to have it and thought it was fun just adding birthdays to her calendar and watching the Unclaimed Baggage video that was downloaded on it over and over and over again. Still wondering how my parents managed to take car trips with my sister, brother and me and only gave us things to do like Yes and No books.

Now we have gone to Gatlinburg many times, but we have never gone on a Friday evening so we had no idea how bad the traffic was going to be. We made it through Chattanooga fine, but it was slow going through Knoxville. Not sure if it is always like this or if the fact Tennessee had a home game the next day added to it. Oh well we just trudged on knowing that we would get there a bit later than we had planned. The one thing we do not do when we go is take the exit that goes through Pigeon Forge. It adds miles to the trip, but we staying on I-40 and going around to the Cosby exit is so much nicer. We are at least moving the entire time and it reduces the amount of arguments. Yes, even for the children. :laugh:

We got to the hotel around 8:30pm. Quickly unloaded the van and went in search of a place to have dinner. We decided on The Best Italian Restaurant. Sorry no food pictures in this trip report. Anyways, let's see what did we order...oh yes my children all had fettucine alfedo, I had lasagne and my husband ordered a calzone with Italian sausage, chicken, mushrooms and spinach. He asked the waitress is it was big prior to ordering it and she told him it was the size of a football. She was not kidding! It was huge. We all agreed our food was good and made the decision that if we went again we would just order two different calzones and split them. We had way to much in leftovers. Thank goodness our room had a refrigerator and microwave.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

It's a gorgeous time of year to make the trip! I'm ready to hear more and see some pics!

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

Oh we love Best Italian. We eat there every time we go. I can eat 6 rolls alone.

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

I have GOT to go check out unclaimmed baggage.. I had no idea it was that good!!!!

Where are the pic's Missy?? I love TN in the fall to, have you ever did the Christmas at Dollywood thing? I heard it was really nice, trying to decide if i can swing it before the year ends :)

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

It's a gorgeous time of year to make the trip! I'm ready to hear more and see some pics!

We do love to go there this time of year. We were discussing how we need to try and go other times as well. More will be coming up a bit later today and yes some pictures.

Oh we love Best Italian. We eat there every time we go. I can eat 6 rolls alone.

The rolls were delicious.

I have GOT to go check out unclaimmed baggage.. I had no idea it was that good!!!!

Where are the pic's Missy?? I love TN in the fall to, have you ever did the Christmas at Dollywood thing? I heard it was really nice, trying to decide if i can swing it before the year ends :)

Unclaimed Baggage is a hit or miss type thing. It was my first time there and as we were in a hurry I didn't get a chance to look around. Hubby had taken the kids there when I went back to Michigan when my grandmother passed. The IPod Jessica got was not the newest generation, but it was as close to that as we could find. You definitely have to do your research before you go so that you know if you are getting a good deal or not.

As for pictures, I did get them into Photo Bucket last night, but as you can see this report got started really late. I need to get some work done around here and will get some pictures in later. We have never done the Christmas at Dollywood. We actually haven't been to Dollywood in years.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

I kept saying to myself that I need to get pictures of the room before I leave. Well apparently I listen to myself about as well as my children listen to me. :rofl2: Yep you guessed it I forgot to do that. Here are a couple of the outside of the hotel though.

This is where you check in. When I made my reservation I had to send in a check for one night of the stay for a deposit. They do not take credit cards for that. We were able to use the credit card to pay the balance though.

The pool was closed, but here are some pictures. It looks like it would be a lot of fun.

I did not notice it at first, but Jessica pointed out to me that it looked like the slide was being held in a hand. Sure enough she was right. It is as though it is being held in the left palm of some giant.

Saturday morning the plan was to get up early and go get breakfast. Have I ever mentioned that we are not early morning people in general. Well we're not. So I was the only one who got up at a relatively early time for us. Somewhere around 8:00am. I went ahead and got my shower while everyone else slept. Now, let me just say one thing I hate about hotel showers is when you get very little hot water and even worse no water pressure in the shower. This shower had neither of those. As soon as I turned it on the water came out full force and it was hot. I did not even need to wait for it to warm up in fact I had to turn it down a bit. After I was done getting ready I went ahead and woke everyone else up. Now we had to decide where to go eat. We were pretty close to the Pancake Pantry so the plan was the girls and I would go ahead and walk over there to wait while the guys finished getting ready. The line to get in was out the door and into the village. They do not take your name, but someone from the restaurant walks along and asks you how many in your party and gives you a piece of paper with a number on it. I was told our wait would be about 45 minutes. Not too bad.

Jessica apparently did not agree with this statement.

Steve and Drew made their way over to us and since their was still some time Steve decided he wanted to go look for a cowboy hat. So he took Jessica and Drew and headed off to do that. I told him I would text him when we got closer to the door. Now you might be thinking sure he leaves you waiting while he shops, but Rachel and I did not mind at all. It was fun people watching and we even got to experience some wonderful southern hospitality. An older gentleman in front of us had gone into the candy store which was located conveniently right next to the Pancake Pantry. He had bought some chocolate covered cherries and gave one to us. They were delicious. I know it's probably not the best way to start a day, but I just thought of them as the appetizer before our meal.

I let Steve know when we were near the front and they came back. He told me Jessica got them kicked out of the store. Guess he was taking pictures of her with some hats on and the man in the shop told him not to do that. :popo:

He did not have to delete them from the camera so, here they are. The first one actually has Drew in it too. He's at that "too cool" for pictures stage.

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

Unclaimed baggage used to be AWESOME!!! It truly was very random stuff really cheap. However, as they have grown, it has gotten more commercial and more expensive. You really have to live there (like my inlaws do) to find the really good deals.

They have also expanded to include unclaimed freight. Entire truckloads of brand new merchandise that got misdirected or double shipped, or something. For awhile that was really great, but that has gone down too. (I guess GPS tracking of shipping has gotten better.)

The best deals I have found are books. A good trashy paperback for 50 cents, can't beat that!!! Have also occasionally found Disney souveniers, but not often.

The most hilarious thing I saw there once was a huge box of Disney "American Express" fanny packs for $5.00 each. Those were given away FREE to Amex customers when you checked into a Disney resort. I have a whole pile of them. (Amex used the be the official card of Disney)

Sounds like an awesome weekend!!! I remember well, when those "school breaks" were not really breaks for the athletes. Always spent Spring Break and fall break playing baseball!!!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great report, Yvonne. One question, did your DH say why the store owner said no to pictures? I can't see what the harm would be.

By the way, now I want PANCAKES and you haven't even made it into the restaurant yet :rofl2:

[gramme 2]

Great report love the pics.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

You are getting me excited...we head to Gatlinburg this weekend.

[Starbuc71 162]

All thes Gatlinburg trip reports are making me jealous i'm not there A nice ride to avoid traffic and a ton of miles is to take Hwy 321 off of I-75 at Maryville. 321 will take you right into Townsend which is close to cades cove then through Wears valley and put you right into the middle of Piegon Forge. It will keep you out of Knoxville and most of the mess in Piegon forge.

[Starbuc71 162]

You are getting me excited...we head to Gatlinburg this weekend.

Dave, I can't wait to hear about your trip to the smokies. Are you staying at Jellystone again? If you do, check out smoky bear campgrounds across the street. great Campground

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Dave, I can't wait to hear about your trip to the smokies. Are you staying at Jellystone again? If you do, check out smoky bear campgrounds across the street. great Campground

Yeah, we're going back to Jellystone. I really like the family that owns it, and I like the Halloween activities for the kids. Will check out Smoky bear though. Always looking for other campgrounds.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Unclaimed baggage used to be AWESOME!!! It truly was very random stuff really cheap. However, as they have grown, it has gotten more commercial and more expensive. You really have to live there (like my inlaws do) to find the really good deals.

They have also expanded to include unclaimed freight. Entire truckloads of brand new merchandise that got misdirected or double shipped, or something. For awhile that was really great, but that has gone down too. (I guess GPS tracking of shipping has gotten better.)

The best deals I have found are books. A good trashy paperback for 50 cents, can't beat that!!! Have also occasionally found Disney souveniers, but not often.

The most hilarious thing I saw there once was a huge box of Disney "American Express" fanny packs for $5.00 each. Those were given away FREE to Amex customers when you checked into a Disney resort. I have a whole pile of them. (Amex used the be the official card of Disney)

Sounds like an awesome weekend!!! I remember well, when those "school breaks" were not really breaks for the athletes. Always spent Spring Break and fall break playing baseball!!!

My son use to play baseball too prior to high school. Am I a bad mom if I say that I was not at all upset when he decided to stop? Right now he plays football and basketball. His real passion is football and is hoping to play that in college. They did win their game today. Though he came home with a nice gash under his eye. Apparently someone on the other team tried to help him get his helmet off. He said actually a few did at different times, but only one called for facemask penalty.

Great report, Yvonne. One question, did your DH say why the store owner said no to pictures? I can't see what the harm would be.

By the way, now I want PANCAKES and you haven't even made it into the restaurant yet :rofl2:

I asked him, but he did not know. So did you get any pancakes yet?

Great report love the pics.

Thank you this is my first time posting a trip report. I have had so much fun reading so many of them that I thought that one about a weekend away would be a great place to start.

You are getting me excited...we head to Gatlinburg this weekend.

I am glad that we discovered Gatlinburg. Funny thing is we had been going to the general area for years as my aunt and uncle live in Walland. Most of the time when we go see them we would just stay at their house and maybe go to the outlets in Pigeon Forge. It was not until after we bought our camper that we discovered Gatlinburg. Hubby says he likes the layout of it better than Pigeon Forge. He likes that you can park your car and walk up and down the main street. I can't wait to read about your trip to Gatlinburg.

All thes Gatlinburg trip reports are making me jealous i'm not there A nice ride to avoid traffic and a ton of miles is to take Hwy 321 off of I-75 at Maryville. 321 will take you right into Townsend which is close to cades cove then through Wears valley and put you right into the middle of Piegon Forge. It will keep you out of Knoxville and most of the mess in Piegon forge.

That is how we get to my Aunt and Uncle's house who live in Walland. Going the way we do we completely miss Pigeon Forge. Most of the time Knoxville is not a problem for us.

I think Judy mentioned we should have a GG in Gatlinburg. I agree with her and like you love Smoky Bear Campground.

[stefa70 205]

Great report Yvonne. I can't believe the guy wouldn't let pictures be taken, what a party pooper! How did he know she wasn't trying them on, looking to buy one?

I must disagree with you on one point though...chocolate is a perfect way to start the day...or end the day...or get through the day. Heck, chocolate is good anytime!!!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

We made it into The Pancake Panty and were taken to our table. I will say they really cram a lot of people in there. The one thing we did not like about this place is if you wanted a side of something with your pancakes you had to order that separately. The girls each had the chocolate chip pancakes from the children’s menu as they are both still young enough to order off of it. Steve decided that he would order the Morning Star Breakfast because it actually came with a side of pancakes or toast. That way he could get pancakes and eggs. So his meal consisted of shredded hash browns topped with melted cheese and a fried egg. That was topped with diced grilled onions, pimentos, mushrooms, ham and green peppers. He chose to have the pancakes with it. Drew order the Banana Pineapple Triumph. I guess this is a Pancake Pantry original. It was banana wedges rolled up in crepe style pancakes then topped with their own pineapple syrup, powdered sugar and whipped cream. He also had a side of bacon (I think Steve may have eaten one of his slices and we ordered a side of it for the girls to share. I know horror making someone share bacon. But with the cost of the side ($3.30) there was no way we were going to get three separate orders. We thought there would be plenty to share. There were 4 slices of bacon on each of the two plates. I ordered the Red Rasberry crepes. They were filled with a red raspberry compote, topped with more of the same compote, powdered sugar and whipped cream. The girls liked their pancakes and the bacon. Drew said his was alright. Steve seemed pleased with his order. Mine was alright too. The raspberry compote was a bit too sweet for me. Over all it was a neat place to try and to be able to say we’ve been there, but I don’t think we would wait in line to go again. I think next time we would go to one of the other pancake houses in the area. It would not be as close to our hotel, but that does not matter much to us.

After breakfast we decided to walk around for a while. I was interested in taking the trolley that went into the National Park and wanted to find out where I would need to catch it. So we went to find that out. It ended up being right by the Aquarium. Deciding on the 2:30 trolley time still left us some time to walk around and have fun. Last year when we came here we played miniature golf and everyone had fun so, that is what we decided to do again. On the way to the miniature golf place we stopped by the Guiness Book of World Records Museum and got these pictures outside.

The miniature golf place we decided on was the same one we went to last year. It was a black light one and you had the option of it being 3D. When asked if we wanted to play the game in 3D Steve said, "sure." Of course it wasn't until after this that we noticed it was an extra $1 per person for that option.

A fun picture of the kids inside the miniature golf course.

I just realized there are no pictures of me on this trip. Well except for in the one above. See that hand holding the score card, golf ball and 3D glasses? Yep that's my hand. Sorry it's the best I can do for you on this trip. I will try to do better next time.

By the time we finished it was a little after 2:00. Still not sure who exactly was going to go on the trolley ride we all headed over there. In the end the guys decided they did not want to go. Now I don't know that the girls truly wanted to go too, but they wanted to go where I was going. The guys decided to go back to the room for a bit and then they were going to Blaine's to watch some college football, maybe get an appetizer and Steve wanted a beer. This was another place we had gone to last year and really enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. They headed off for their guy bonding time and the girls and I waited on the trolley. While we were waiting I noticed that we could take a trolley into Pigeon Forge. As I mentioned before my aunt and uncle live in Walland which is not too far from Pigeon Forge. So, next time we go to Gatlinburg for a longer trip I am thinking I will take the trolley over to Pigeon Forge and we will be able to meet up with each other.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Great report Yvonne. I can't believe the guy wouldn't let pictures be taken, what a party pooper! How did he know she wasn't trying them on, looking to buy one?

I must disagree with you on one point though...chocolate is a perfect way to start the day...or end the day...or get through the day. Heck, chocolate is good anytime!!!

You are right about that. Ok so maybe it's not the healthiest start to a day, but I did try to say "No Thank You", but the man insisted. I have been taught that I should respect my elders so, that is exactly what I did. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

I was getting a bit worried as the digital sign where the trolley was going to pick us up did not have the tan trolley listed. But, my worry was for nothing. :whew: The trolley showed up right on time. There were only

about 6 of us on it.

I had never taken this trip before so, I had no clue how it would work. I probably should have asked before we even boarded, but what is it they say about hindsight being 20/20?

As I mentioned we departed right by the aquarium.

Here are a couple of the girls as we are heading out of Gatlinburg.

There were three stops scheduled the first being the Sugarland Visitor Center, the second being Laurel Falls parking area and the last being Elkmont Campground. The cost for the trip was $2 per person and

exact change is required. I thought we would stop at each place get out for a bit to get some pictures and then continue on to the next stop. I cannot say if that is what happens or not, but it did not happen on

our tour. I am thinking it is because hardly anyone was on and no one seemed to want to leave the trolley.

I tried to get some pictures as we were going along, but as you can see we were traveling at a fairly fast speed. This was not the case for the ride back into town though.

The first stop the driver announced the stop and no one moved. Then at the second stop it was pretty much the same thing. I had hoped that at least someone else would have wanted to look around there as I

was hoping to do that. Oh well on we went. We arrived at the Elkmont Campground and Jessica and I both agreed we want to come camping here in the future. I thought it was only tent camping, people did

have campers. There is no electric though so, you have to have a generator. I also researched the campground when we got back and although there are bathroom there are no showers. So, an overnight stay

might be just enough.

I am not sure if she is looking at something here or trying to stay awake.

Finally we get out for a bit. This is taken at the Elkmont Campground.

After our 10 minute stay it was time to head back.

The ride back took a lot longer as everyone and their 3rd cousin was headed out of the park and into town. It was an interesting ride as a couple gentleman were having a very interesting conversation about

politics, economics how we are doomed. They were both on the same side when it came to the issues so, there was no debating going on. The trip was taking so long I kind of wish they had debated a

bit it could have been entertaining.

Here are some pictures of the ride back.

We made it back to Gatlinburg a bit late, but no one seemed to mind. I called Steve to find out where they were. They were still at Blaine's so we headed over there to meet them. After enjoying a beer and some

fried pickles we all headed back to the room to figure out where we wanted to eat dinner and to watch the Nebraska/Ohio State game. Truthfully after the first half of the game I am surprised we even left our

room, but we did.

[gramme 2]

Enjoyed your TR very much!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Sorry for not posting sooner, but I love your trip report!

Great photos!

I love the quaint retro look of your hotel/motel.

The trolley ride looks like a fun diversion, and how can you go wrong for $2.00?

I hope that there is more!

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Enjoying the report! Good thing you waited until the end to talk about beer & fried pickles, I couldn't even concentrate after that.

[Starbuc71 162]

Elkmont is a great campground. The downside like you stated is no elec. or showers in the comfort stations. The sites are great and mainly you see a lot of tents, pop-ups and your occasional TT. Not sure if they allow generators being a natioanl park or not. There is a lot of wildlife to see there and I hear you see the most bears at that campground. The is another campground at cades cove which I think has the same ammenities

[BouncingTiggers 98]

I'm really enjoying you TR. Looking foward to more.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

There are some generator loops at Elkmont, and some where they are not allowed.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Enjoyed your TR very much!

Thank You! I am having fun writing it. I think when I am done I will print it out and make a little book out of it. Usually when we go on vacations we take all these pictures and never do anything with them. I am not the scrap booking type person so doing this trip report has been a great way for me to keep a momento of the trip. I only wish I had thought to do this before. Oh well better late than never I guess.

Sorry for not posting sooner, but I love your trip report!

Great photos!

I love the quaint retro look of your hotel/motel.

The trolley ride looks like a fun diversion, and how can you go wrong for $2.00?

I hope that there is more!

TCD

I loved the retro look as well. Our room was apparently in the "newer" section of the hotel. Sometimes you have to worry if a hotel is older, but not here. The rooms were spotless. I was telling my husband I would like to go back and spend the week of 4th of July there. If we do they actually have a house that they rent as part of the hotel and I am thinking I would like to get that. You are right about the trolley ride. It was a nice diversion. I was thinking at first I would get some quiet time alone for the trip, but I did enjoy getting to share it with my girls. There is still more. After all you don't know if we hid out in the room yet for the second half of the Nebraska game or donned disguises to go out and eat. :rofl2:

Enjoying the report! Good thing you waited until the end to talk about beer & fried pickles, I couldn't even concentrate after that.

We discovered this place last year and the fried pickles were our favorite thing there. They are perfect nice and greasy!

Elkmont is a great campground. The downside like you stated is no elec. or showers in the comfort stations. The sites are great and mainly you see a lot of tents, pop-ups and your occasional TT. Not sure if they allow generators being a natioanl park or not. There is a lot of wildlife to see there and I hear you see the most bears at that campground. The is another campground at cades cove which I think has the same ammenities

I had heard about Cades Cove before, but never Elkmont. The beauty of it just driving in was breathtaking. It would be neat to camp where you could be so close to wildlife. I doubt I could convince anyone in my family to go more than a day or so though.

I'm really enjoying you TR. Looking foward to more.

Thank You I should be able to add some more tomorrow. I'll have to crack the whip and make sure my girls get their school day done first though.

There are some generator loops at Elkmont, and some where they are not allowed.

Ok so now all I have to do is ask Santa to bring us a generator for Christmas. Hmmm wonder if he can fit that in his sled?