Day 3: Gatlinburg

 Day 3 started with morning coffee at our cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennesee. 

Of course, when in Gatlinburg, you have to get pancakes for breakfast at least once. If you want a real Gatlinburg experience, you go to the Pancake Pantry. But, they only have indoor seating, and I was still trying to limit that on vacation, so instead we got take out from the Flapjacks place right near us. The portions were so big, we cut them in half to save for the next morning too. (The food, however, was just ok. Not bad. Just nothing special).  

We decided that Sunday would be our Gatlinburg town day. There's lots of shops, and resturants and stuff along the main Parkway that I remembered nosing around. Plus there's the aquairum, mini golf, and all kinds of attractions like that. 

There's also two "parks" that you can visit that both sit on top of the mountains. You take a lift up, and then there are shops, and trails and bridges and such. We looked into both of them, and decided on Anakeesta. We parked the car, and walked all the way down, just to discover that the transformer had blown, and there was no electricity to Anakeesta. 

That left us with one other option: Skylift Park. So, we walked down that way and took the lift to the top. 

Skylift park has the Skybridge: a suspension bridge sitting between two mountains that you can cross while taking in the views. 

The suspension bridge does move a bit (it is a suspension bridge, after all)- but nothing too crazy, and the view from it is pretty impressive. 

There's also a section with a glass floor, so you can look straight down and see just how high up you actualy are. 

The pictures don't really do it justice. But, that kind of goes for all my pictures of the Smokies. 

Once you cross the bridge, there is another overlook. 

And then there's a few more treetop trails you can take. You can also visit the Tulip Tower. 

It's basically like a cool treehouse. Youu can feel it sawy in the wind, which is a little weird. I didn't love the feeling, but the views are nice, the arcitecture of it is cool, and there's some interesting info on all three levels. 

Back around to the main plaza there's a gift shop, a little food kiosk, plenty of rocking chairs and some binoculars. 

ANd when you decide you're all done, you take the lift back down to the bottom of the mountain. I am glad we did it, it was a cool experience, but it is a little pricey. I'm not sure it's a must-do if you go there a lot, but it's certainly doing once (I say, because we only had to buy two tickets- if that were five tickets, I doubt we would have done it). 

Back down in town, we nosed around the shops a bit. Asa found a cool mug that he liked, and some shark jerky. 

Meanwhile, I found some yummy donuts and a fudge shop where I picked up a slice. I will say though, the town was a little different than I remembered. I could have done without all the "maga" stuff. The weirdest was a shirt in a store called "God's World" that said all kinds of mean stuff and then in big lettering "You are not special". Like, isn't everyone being special supposed to be God's thing? Anyway, lots of stuff like this, and everyone smoking like everywhere made me think maybe we should move on from the town and go back to nature! 

So off to the National Park we went. We visited the Visitors Center on the Gatlinburg side, which also had a small museum, a gift shop, and rangers happy to help plan your day. 

Near the bathrooms, you'll find a paved walkway to lead you down a couple of trails. 

We set off for Cataract Falls. This trail is pretty short. But, it has everything! Cool walkways, bridges, fallen down trees, and even a creek to play around in. 

And then finally, some falls! 

On the way back, I convinced Asa to climb around in the river with me! 

All in all, I enjoyed our trip back to the park much more than our time in town. But, we were hungry and ready for dinner, so we headed to the market to pick up some stuff for dinner. We ended up with streak two nights in a row! If you know me, you know I was pleased with that! 

After dinner, I was a bit tired. But, I still really had hoped to see some bears. We toyed with the idea of driving up to Cade's Cove, which is where you can often find them. But, from our cabin it was about an hour and 15 minute drive up to the cove. And two and half more hours minimum back in the car did not sound appealing to me. But, there was another option: the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. This is a trail that you drive. It's a one way loop, and doing the whole loop around from our cabin, back to our cabin would clock in at an hour, without stops of course. I was debating if I wanted to do it. It was listed as the second most likely spot to see bears, after Cades Cove, and it was evening time- so that's a prime bear spotting time. As I was googling and debating, someone had posted bear pictures in their review like an hour before hand, so I decided to give it a try. There's very few stop offs on the Roaring Fork Trail compared to Newfound Gap Road, but there are still some. The first one you come across is the Noah "Bud" Ogle homestead. This one is creepy. Asa and I were the only car parked there, and the only ones in sight and he said he's seen way too many scary movies that start with people nosing around places like that. 

After sufficently freaking ourselves out, we got back in the car and headed onward. The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail itself is only like 7 miles long. But, you will be hard pressed to go over 15 miles per hour. It's a one way, winding road up and down mountains, sometimes with some pretty steep drop offs. 

I was happy to let Asa drive it. 

We stopped at the first overlook we came to, and it had quite the view.

 There was another couple there too, so we took turns taking each others pictures. 

We kept on driving, Asa paying close attention to the road, me paying close attention for bears. 

And then we came upon a traffic jam. A wildlife traffic jam, because that's the only kind you find in the mountains like this. People were getting out of there cars, and pointing, so I quickly hopped out and joined the crowd. And sure enough, back in the trees there was a black bear. Now, don't get me wrong, we weren't super close to it or anything. This is zoomed in, and my black bear is more just a black blob. 

But it wasn't just one black bear! There was a cub that had scurried up the tree. And then one girl in the crowd said "did anyone see where that third one went?" And that was enough for me to say 'great, saw a bear, getting back in the car now." Still, I saw bears! Real life, wild, bears! I was/am super excited about it. 

We continued on down the motor trail after that, stopping once to play in the river. 

And by now, Asa was really embracing the National Park river climbing. 

We had moved on from him asking me what I was doing, to me telling him to be careful! 

Anyway, it was my first time on this trail (that I remember at least, it's entirely possible I came here as a kid) and I highly recommend it.Creepy old houses, rivers to play in AND Bears! What more could you ask for?

I'll tell you what! A random old gift shop that's been there for 100 years out in the middle of nowhere at the very end. 

It's all right out by the exit, you literally can't miss it. You see that road there? Thats the end of the trail. And then you'll find the gift shop and some other random buildings (and some bathrooms!). 

The gift shop is crazy too. There was just one old lady and her cat helping everyone. Asa bought a mug, and I bought a bowl there- all handmade from some people that live up in the mountains and Ely's gift shop is the only place they sell anything. 

Even if you don't buy anything, it's a cool stop. Very unique. 

After that little area, it's not long before you're back on the Parkway in Gatlinburg. Asa and I had decided that we wanted to play Hillbilly golf. I remembered this place from when I was a kid: you take a tram up the side of the mountain, and then play putt putt on your way back down. Everytime we passed it, though, it had been super crowded. But, on Sunday night there seemed to be a lull in the crowds, so we swung by. 

You pay and then wait at the bottom of the mountain for the tram. Funfact: you are on the mountain, so it's possible to run into some bears!  You will also finish your game still on the mountain (and bring the tram the rest of the way down), but your ball will not be coming with you. There's a series of tubes that bring that back to the bottom- it was fun to watch while we were waiting in line. 

And finally, when it was our turn, we boarded the tram and headed up the mountain. 

It's a fun course, but be aware, it is on the side of the mountain, and therefore has some quirks. Asa won, but I contend that's because of all the little imperfections, including in Asa's scorekeeping. 

When you're done, you've played about halfway down the mountain, so we wait for the tram to come back and pick you up. Super fun and unique experience for sure. 

Back at the cabin, we made ourselves some hot tub charcuterie and then made ourselves comfortable out there. A perfect ending, to a very fun and full day! 

Up next: Heading on to Ohio