Gatlinburg ... a Practically Unplanned Adventure! June 27 - July 5, 2009 - Page 22 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Thanks for writing this TR! We are having a family reunion in Pigeon Forge this summer, and I'm sure we will be going on some of your hikes- your photos look beautiful. Looking forward to hearing what you did in PF-
Just found this TR! I've got a lot of catching up to do....... So far I've only made it through yalls first day; but so far it sounds like a great trip- We only live a few hours from Gatlinburg and have never been; so I need to pay close attention- I'm considering a trip this summer....
Definitely request the visitor guides and look up stuff online. There's so much to choose from that it can be overwhelming to wait until you arrive to decide what to do. Plus, if you decide ahead of time on certain things you can usually find better coupons online than in the brochures at the visitor centers.
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Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Gatlinburg can be a lot of fun if you can get through all of the traffic. I have always enjoyed the scenery, the shops and the aquariam. When shopping, it is like there is at least one of everything you could ever want or think that you need. I have to make a concerted effort to keep the money in my pocket. There is no more room at my house for any more STUFF.
I know! I tried to do better this time with souvenir purchases. And yes, the traffic is definitely the worst aspect. Just gotta look for the shortcuts and have your route planned out ahead of time. Another reason to request the visitor guides, to look at the main routes and alternates. The aquarium is very nice, we decided not to do it this trip. As they say, maybe next time!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Another great update.
Thanks Cheryl!
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Originally Posted by Katara81
Great update! We love to stop at The Buckboard when we're in G-burg, and isn't P. Graham Dunn's wonderful?!? We spent at least 45 minutes in that small shop last summer - when we were there, they had a nearly floor-to-ceiling-high copy of Amazing Grace on display....I think it cost around $5000.
Yeah, definitely so many things I'd love to have from that shop. We found the one in Branson when we were there in November.
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Sounds like you made some great purchases!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Another great update Christie!!
Thanks you guys!
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Originally Posted by podsnel
Thanks for writing this TR! We are having a family reunion in Pigeon Forge this summer, and I'm sure we will be going on some of your hikes- your photos look beautiful. Looking forward to hearing what you did in PF-
Thanks! Looking back, I realize we didn't do as much in Pigeon Forge this trip as what we have in the past. Mainly due to the location of our resort, I guess.
Well everyone, it looks like this trip report is just about to wind down. Sorry I missed last Sunday, but my stomach was leading a revolt against me for some reason. Will post another update in just a little while.
Having decided on our plans for this evening, we left the resort and drove up to Pigeon Forge. Since we'd be leaving for home in the morning we stopped for gas at the cheap Pilot station on our way into town. And then we drove a little further to the Walden's Landing shopping center to have supper at No Way Jose's Cantina. Last time we were here we ate at the one in Gatlinburg, so we knew that the food would be good. Jay had steak fajitas and sweet tea, I had Especial Chicken and Coke, and Joshua had a cheese quesadilla. It was all good, and we were stuffed when we left.
After our big meal, we drove around to the front of the shopping center to the Firehouse Golf mini-golf course. They had a deal where if you played both courses you got the second course for half price. We had a good time, mainly because it wasn't too crowded at the time we started. And I took way too many pictures, but every time I turned around I saw something else that I thought was so cute!
I loved this little tree!
A whole family of ducks had bedded down for the night behind this figure. It was in the back corner of the golf course, so they went unnoticed by most people.
When we started the second course the crowd had built up a little bit so I had time to pose the boys in front of the sign on the building:
Looking at this picture now, what I notice is the different colors in the shop windows.
At the end, our placements were the same on both courses. I narrowly beat Jay on the first course 44-45 and Joshua had a 67. On the second course I beat Jay 46-48 and Joshua did much better with a 58. Jay had two holes-in-one and Joshua and I each had one.
Today being Independence Day, Pigeon Forge had a fireworks show scheduled for tonight. It started just as we were leaving the golf course. People had their lawn chairs lined up on both sides of the Parkway! We decided not to stop, and just watched them as we were driving. And since there were several traffic lights it took us a while and we got to see almost the whole show before we left town. Here are some of the shots that turned out halfway decent.
By the time we drove the few miles up to Gatlinburg, they were just starting their fireworks display! So we got 2 for the price of 1, I guess you could say. I didn't get as many pictures of these because they were on the corner where we had to turn and we soon got out of range.
We were very tired when we got back, but I did take a little time to start getting some of our things together, as we would be leaving in the morning. That's always so sad. I did as much packing as I could and then we all went to bed.
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I'm back online, and I'm glad I got back to your TR. Your pictures are beautiful. I love all the wildlife pictures. The deer are beautiful. I love the one that is chowing down. What a fun looking mini-golf course. It looks like y'all had a fabulous trip.
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Love the pictures of the deer. It's amazing Jay was able to get so close to them. That miniature golf course is too cute! How cool that you got to see two fireworks shows in one night.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
What a great miniature golf course! And great pictures of the fireworks! I'm sorry it's all coming to an end!
Thanks Marnie! It seems like this trip has gone on forever since it has taken me so long to finish up the trip report!
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Originally Posted by Meggera
I'm back online, and I'm glad I got back to your TR. Your pictures are beautiful. I love all the wildlife pictures. The deer are beautiful. I love the one that is chowing down. What a fun looking mini-golf course. It looks like y'all had a fabulous trip.
Thanks, Laura! We did have a lot of fun. As usual, we didn't do as much as I had hoped for (I'm never one for a laid-back trip!) but what we did do, we enjoyed.
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Originally Posted by chezp
What a great night - love the fact that they did fireworks!
Going to WDW we tend to get spoiled and think we deserve fireworks every night on vacation! So when we go other places we forget what a big deal it is, and marvel at how many people line the streets to see them. Great atmosphere, just wish we weren't so tired and could have stopped to get a better view of them.
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Originally Posted by Katara81
Great update!
Thank you!
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
What a cute mini golf course! Love the sleeping ducks!
Aw, I loved those ducks! But I especially love that they were able to find a nice quiet place to rest, where kids wouldn't be running up disturbing them all evening.
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Originally Posted by rhinohunter
The golf course looks like a fun place to play. Nice fireworks shots.
It was fun, I was glad that it wasn't very crowded when we first started. I'm surprised at how "well" some of the fireworks shots turned out, since I was taking them as we were driving. "Well" is definitely a relative term in this case!
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Originally Posted by karadisney
I LOVE No Way Jose's!! I didn't know they have a new one in Gatlinburg. The Firehouse Golf Course is pretty cool!
It's quickly become one of our favorite restaurants to visit while in the area. Soon we won't have any nights left to try out new places! There are so many mini golf courses in the area, sometimes they either get real cheesy, or all start to look the same. This one is still fairly new and pretty well themed, so I liked it.
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Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Love the pictures of the deer. It's amazing Jay was able to get so close to them. That miniature golf course is too cute! How cool that you got to see two fireworks shows in one night.
Sometimes it seems like the animals in the park, especially the deer, are almost tame. But when you think about it, they are not hunted and are probably all very used to humans tromping through their territory on a regular basis. So pretty much, you can get closer than normal to them. Unless they're spooked by a lot of traffic or sudden noises or something like that. If we had tried to see both fireworks shows that night, there's no way we could have managed it. Just one of those things that happens every once in a while.
Finally the end of our trip had arrived, and we had to load up the truck to go home. It didn't seem too hard to get our things together, I guess we were just a little more organized this time around. We made sure we didn't forget anything in the room, then drove around to check out. That was quick and easy and we were soon on our way. Based upon our prior trips, I know now that I shouldn't pencil us in for too early of a departure. I'm not sure why it took me that long to learn that particular lesson, but once I did it has worked pretty well. So instead of trying to leave by 8, I wrote down 9, and we were only a few minutes late pulling out. And I had forgotten about this, but according to my receipts we even stopped for breakfast at the almost-adjacent Little House of Pancakes before leaving town at 9:00. So we were doing very good this time!
We had decided to drive home through Maryville, so we drove up to Pigeon Forge one last time, turned at Light #3, and made our way through Wear Valley and Townsend, then eventually Maryville. Here's where we ran into some trouble. They were doing some road work at Fort Loudoun Dam and the road was down to just one lane. Having the traffic take turns had caused it to back up a long ways, but by the time we had gotten there we figured we might as well just wait it out. Once we got up to the water I was able to take some pictures.
Joshua was fascinated with the concept of a houseboat!
Finally we made it to I-75 at Lenoir City. Because we were now about an hour behind schedule, and full from our pancake breakfast too, we decided not to stop for lunch, but to just keep driving. I took pictures periodically. Let's see how well my memory works to narrate our drive. The first set was taken driving south on I-75 as we got closer to Chattanooga.
Apparently this sign is all the rage now, we saw it several times driving into and out of the Gatlinburg area. I understand the point they're trying to make, but I found it odd that they would choose to make that point by using what appears to be an ATV, which is not permitted to drive on the interstate.
First view of Lookout Mountain:
And our drive through Chattanooga:
And making our way out of Chattanooga into the northwest corner of Georgia:
Coming into Wildwood, I noticed these clouds, and for several miles was obsessed with them. They seemed so white, and they were also quite low.
Another state line!
We stopped, as usual, at the Alabama State Welcome Center to use the restroom and pick up a new state map. While there we ate a quick bite for lunch, I just can't remember what it was. It might have just been leftover snacks from the week. I don't think we took the time to make sandwiches.
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Looking forward to hearing what you did in PF-
Will post another update in just a little while.
And great pictures of the fireworks! I'm sorry it's all coming to an end! 
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