In other news … the Boyfriend and I went for a Tourist Trap Weekend in everyone’s favorites place(s) … Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN. I have never been a huge fan of Pigeon Forge as it’s just a big tacky strip of touristy shops and activities. But, I have always had a soft spot for Gatlinburg (no less tacky or touristy but somehow more charming).
We took off Friday after work and drove through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to get there. The Tennessee side is still recovering from the Chimney Tops II Fire that ravaged the park (and ultimately the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area) last November.
Some of the things we did while in Gatlinburg:
– Breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House
– Moonshine at Sugarlands Distilling Company
– Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
– Moonshine at Doc Collier Moonshine
– Food and Drinks at Smoky Mountain Brewery
– Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium
– Rode the Skylift
– Toured Ripley’s Haunted Adventure
– Survived Gatlinburg’s Mysterious Mansion
– Window Shopped
Some things we did in Pigeon Forge:
– Saw an Alligator at a Tacky Gift Shop
– Ate at The Old Mill Restaurant
– Moonshine at Old Forge Distillery
– Drove Around to See the Sights
– Dipped in the Hotel Hot Tub and Pool
Then it was back to North Carolina via a Deliverance-style backwoods Tennessee trip courtesy of the GPS.
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As you can probably guess by the activities list, we did end up spending too much money on moonshine. I ended up with Coffee and Oatmeal Cookie moonshine from Old Forge AND Root Beer Float moonshine from Doc Collier’s. We did window shop in Ole Smoky but somehow managed to not do any tasting or purchasing. Such will power!
We can report that Gatlinburg’s Mysterious Mansion was more fun than Ripley’s Haunted Adventure (at least we thought so). It’s more maze-like with rooms that you have to figure out how to get out of while people are running around scaring the crap out of you. It’s super fun!
Here we are before getting the pants scared off of us in the Mysterious Mansion.
AND … we stumbled into Gamer’s Link, a really sweet board and card game store in Gatlinburg. They have a great selection of games and I would recommend checking them out if you visit the area.
I was just tipsy enough after our moonshine tasting at Doc Collier’s that I pulled the trigger on Arkham Horror. It’s a massive (and expensive) cooperative game based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.
I can’t wait to get some friends over and try this beast out!
