Gatlinburg ... a Practically Unplanned Adventure! June 27 - July 5, 2009 - Page 14 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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It really sticks out down there with all the brown and green so vibrant around it doesnt it. You really take some beautiful pictures and I'm grateful you have shared them with us!
Very nice. You are doing well with the pix. Joshua looks like he is having fun as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoofEme
It really sticks out down there with all the brown and green so vibrant around it doesnt it. You really take some beautiful pictures and I'm grateful you have shared them with us!
Thanks you guys! We had a lot of fun on the trip, and it's also a lot of fun to share it with others. I'm glad you're all enjoying it.
at the path surrounded by rhododendrons. That must be soooo beautiful when they are in bloom. The Walker homesite seems to have held up remarkably well. I remember alot of the homesites that are closer to the main road had quite a bit of vandalism on the inside walls. The schoolhouse and Walker house didn't look like they had been subjected to that.
Yes, ice is the major winter problem in East TN. I recall when we would go back to school after Christmas break, it was almost a given that we wouldn't have a full week of school until April. We normally had at least one day a week that we were let out of school because of the icy roads.
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School has kept me away, but I am finally caught up!!! Great photos of the scenery and I love the ones of the turkeys, they always amaze me how they are so big, yet are able to fly!! You guys are really hiking a lot, I am surprised at how well Joshua is keeping up!! My kids would have been laying on the trails exhausted!!!
Beautiful photos - this reminds me of some of the houses we saw at the Norwegian Open Air Museum in Oslo a few years ago....
Sounds interesting!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katara81
I remember alot of the homesites that are closer to the main road had quite a bit of vandalism on the inside walls. The schoolhouse and Walker house didn't look like they had been subjected to that.
I don't remember seeing anything at the Walker house, but unfortunately the schoolhouse has been hit hard. You can kind of see it in that one picture of the desks. All the desks are covered with carvings. Very sad. I guess it was treated so badly because you can drive there, but it's also secluded. I guess not too many people choose to hike out to the Walkers' so it's in much better shape.
Quote:
Yes, ice is the major winter problem in East TN. I recall when we would go back to school after Christmas break, it was almost a given that we wouldn't have a full week of school until April. We normally had at least one day a week that we were let out of school because of the icy roads.
WOW!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauren-roxy
School has kept me away, but I am finally caught up!!! Great photos of the scenery and I love the ones of the turkeys, they always amaze me how they are so big, yet are able to fly!! You guys are really hiking a lot, I am surprised at how well Joshua is keeping up!! My kids would have been laying on the trails exhausted!!!
Welcome back Lori! Joshua keeping up is probably due to the fact that it is something we've always done. His first trip to the Smokies was when he was 2. Granted we didn't do too much hiking that trip, and in town we pushed him in his stroller, but he still did quite a bit of walking. Then again when he was 4, that time we added in more trails. So this time he knew what to expect and was sort-of (I think?) looking forward to it. One thing that helps is knowing he can earn a patch and/or hiking stick medallion for a lot of the trails. Now if this was something we hadn't normally done, he probably would have been doing a lot of complaining!
Our hike back to the truck was fairly easy. At this point in the afternoon we had done all we wanted to do in the national park, so we drove back to our resort. This time, coming out of the national park, we remembered to take the shortcut. Well, not really a shortcut. Just a parallel road that doesn't get as much traffic as the parkway. We took the left-hand turn just before the traffic light. This road is not marked (meaning there's no sign by the road to show you that you can exit the park that way), but it is River Road. Like I said it runs parallel to the Parkway, from Light #10 all the way back to Light #5. I guess not too many people think about coming this way, because we were able to easily go all the way up the road. And when we merged back into the parkway at Light #5, our turn was almost immediately on the right, so we didn't have to fight that traffic for very long. This is definitely the way we will come from now on.
We made it back to the resort, and went inside to freshen up. We also needed to decide what to do tonight. I didn't really have anything planned, but we had discussed going bowling. The last time we were up here we bowled at the Pigeon Forge Community Center. They have a really nice facility, but Jay didn't feel like driving that far. He told me that he thought he remembered seeing on the local TV channel that Gatlinburg had a bowling alley. I told him I wasn't aware of it, so I pulled out the visitor guides and brochures we had picked up and started reading them. There was some type of fun center that was new since our last visit, and they did mention black-light bowling as one of their options. But all we had to go by was a small advertisement, and I couldn't tell if it was a full-sized bowling alley, or something on a smaller scale. When I showed it to Jay, he told me that wasn't it, that they had advertised for a Gatlinburg Community Center.
Well, we still hadn't turned in our resort inventory list, so Jay needed to go to the front desk to take care of that. He said he would just ask them about it while he was there. I never mentioned the inventory we had to do. When we checked in and got to our unit, there was an inventory sheet that they requested us to fill out and return within a couple of days. (Our resort in Myrtle Beach required this as well.) This is kind of annoying, but it does serve to protect you if something comes up missing. Then if you've completed the inventory they can't say that you broke or stole something. Well in addition to a couple of miscellaneous kitchen items, we were missing a broom and a carpet sweeper. So we marked those, and asked that they be delivered. I didn't intend to do any major cleaning, but I always like to have those items on hand in case we make a big mess we can clean it up instead of walking through it during the rest of our stay. By the way, they never did deliver them!
Jay walked down to turn in our inventory list, and while at the front desk asked them if Gatlinburg had a bowling alley. They told him no, but he mentioned hearing something about the community center on the TV the other day. Then they remembered - yes, Gatlinburg does have a community center! And the best part was that it was behind the high school, which was just up the road from the resort. They gave us a printout of the hours of operation and the charges. They were a little bit cheaper than the one in Pigeon Forge, but they closed at 6:00. This meant we would need to hurry up and get ready so we could bowl a couple of games before we went to eat supper.
Jay decided to drive up that way to locate it and to check it out. He didn't want to take us if it was trashy or too crowded. So while he did that Joshua and I got ready. He was back soon, and told us that it looked to be a nice place. He had gone in and looked around, and talked to the manager, or whoever it was on duty. So we decided we would go back and bowl this evening. Jay had brought his shoes and ball from home, so we only had to rent shoes for Joshua and me. We bowled one game without the bumpers, but Joshua was getting really frustrated by getting so many gutter balls. After that game we asked the man to switch us to the adjacent lane which already had the bumpers pulled out. He was happy to do so, and we bowled one more game. They only had six lanes, but two of them weren't set up. During our second game one other family came in, but other than that we were the only ones there. We had a lot of fun! For some reason I never thought to take my camera in, so I don't have any pictures. I don't remember our scores but I'm sure Jay won both games. Joshua did much better with the bumpers and was pleased with his score on the second game. He came pretty close to beating me, if I remember correctly!
From here we drove into town to eat supper. We had already decided to eat at Bennett's BBQ. We ate at the one in Gatlinburg. We knew that they had their own free parking lot, so we just drove down River Road and parked right behind their building. We ended up with a table by the window, right across the street from the Ober Gatlinburg tram station. I'll talk more about that on another day. So in between bites, I watched for the trams coming and going. Joshua had the kids cheeseburger meal, I had the pork sandwich platter and Jay had the chopped beef sandwich platter. We shared a loaded potato. The best part was that I found out they give a AAA discount! Which was especially nice since they don't normally issue coupons that are good for dinner. Joshua had some of his hamburger left over, which we took back to the room. Jay ate it as a snack either late tonight or sometime the next day.
After our meal we headed back to the resort and stayed in our unit the rest of the night. Joshua played, Jay watched TV and I called home to talk to my family and update them on what we had been doing. Eventually we got tired and decided to get ready for bed.
Next up: Day 5 - Exploring a completely different area of the park
Sounds like the perfect ending to the day!!! We love to bowl even though we don't get to do it that often. I think I need the bumpers almost more than my kids!
Sounds like the perfect ending to the day!!! We love to bowl even though we don't get to do it that often. I think I need the bumpers almost more than my kids!
I don't remember seeing anything at the Walker house, but unfortunately the schoolhouse has been hit hard. You can kind of see it in that one picture of the desks. All the desks are covered with carvings. Very sad. I guess it was treated so badly because you can drive there, but it's also secluded. I guess not too many people choose to hike out to the Walkers' so it's in much better shape.
Ah yes, I see it now that I've looked closer. That is so maddening. Why anyone would do that is just beyond me.
Yummmmm.........Bennets.
I've never been to the Gatlinburg high school, but they always used to come to the marching band competition/festival my old high school hosts. We were always jealous of their uniforms - they dress in highland regalia, kilts and all. SO cool.
Lots of random thoughts there. LOL Great updates, and great pics.
I've never been to the Gatlinburg high school, but they always used to come to the marching band competition/festival my old high school hosts. We were always jealous of their uniforms - they dress in highland regalia, kilts and all. SO cool.
Funny you should mention their uniforms. We just got our Woodmen of the World magazine in the mail the other day. (Jay's parents had purchased WOW insurance when he was little and it's still current, so we're on their mailing list.) Anyway, I guess the TN convention of WOW was held in Gatlinburg this year, and there was a picture in there of the Highlanderettes (is that right? ) who performed at the convention, all dressed up in their kilts.
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We had a lot of fun on the trip, and it's also a lot of fun to share it with others. I'm glad you're all enjoying it.
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at the path surrounded by rhododendrons. That must be soooo beautiful when they are in bloom. The Walker homesite seems to have held up remarkably well. I remember alot of the homesites that are closer to the main road had quite a bit of vandalism on the inside walls. The schoolhouse and Walker house didn't look like they had been subjected to that. 
I recall when we would go back to school after Christmas break, it was almost a given that we wouldn't have a full week of school until April. We normally had at least one day a week that we were let out of school because of the icy roads.
You can kind of see it in that one picture of the desks. All the desks are covered with carvings. 
Very sad. I guess it was treated so badly because you can drive there, but it's also secluded. I guess not too many people choose to hike out to the Walkers' so it's in much better shape.
Well, not really a shortcut. Just a parallel road that doesn't get as much traffic as the parkway. We took the left-hand turn just before the traffic light. This road is not marked (meaning there's no sign by the road to show you that you can exit the park that way), but it is River Road. Like I said it runs parallel to the Parkway, from Light #10 all the way back to Light #5. I guess not too many people think about coming this way, because we were able to easily go all the way up the road. 
I told him I wasn't aware of it, so I pulled out the visitor guides and brochures we had picked up and started reading them. There was some type of fun center that was new since our last visit, and they did mention black-light bowling as one of their options. But all we had to go by was a small advertisement, and I couldn't tell if it was a full-sized bowling alley, or something on a smaller scale. When I showed it to Jay, he told me that wasn't it, that they had advertised for a Gatlinburg Community Center.
When we checked in and got to our unit, there was an inventory sheet that they requested us to fill out and return within a couple of days. (Our resort in Myrtle Beach required this as well.) This is kind of annoying, but it does serve to protect you if something comes up missing. Then if you've completed the inventory they can't say that you broke or stole something. Well in addition to a couple of miscellaneous kitchen items, we were missing a broom and a carpet sweeper. So we marked those, and asked that they be delivered. I didn't intend to do any major cleaning, but I always like to have those items on hand in case we make a big mess we can clean it up instead of walking through it during the rest of our stay. By the way, they never did deliver them!
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