Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:13 pm
We decided to take a quick trip to the Gatlinburg this weekend. We drove up Saturday morning and checked into the Econo Lodge on the road leading to the Roaring Fork Nature Trail. I used my bonus points to score a free room. We spent some time up on the Nature Trail Saturday. The kids went swimming (read: flailing while dad fished them out) in one of the larger creeks up there. The water was pretty cold so it wasn't long before they were shivering and ready to bounce. Later on we walked the short distance downtown to The Best Italian restaurant in Gatlinburg. This place has the best damn garlic rolls ever. I ate 6 along with a salad and a plate of filet tips, peppers, onions, with marinara and pasta. Freakin' stuffed after all of that.
The amount of a$$hattery, redneckiness, and overall dbag stuff present in downtown Gburg is overwhelming. Although, the kids were on sensory overload. They stood at Ripley's and just stared for at least 10 minutes. The large granite sphere was seriously messing with their heads. We picked up some supplies and crashed at the room.
Woke up bright and early Sunday, walked across the street to the Log Cabin Pancake House, and absolutely destroyed some blueberry pancakes with 2 sides of bacon. Next stop was Laurel Falls. Our oldest, Laurel, now believes that this is her falls and wouldn't stop talking about it. We did the 2.6 mile hike with kids on our shoulders nearly the whole time. My neck cracked about 10 times after that.
We then headed on down to Cade's Cove to eat some lunch and do the obligatory loop drive. Wildlife was almost nonexistent unless you count the rednecks riding in the back of the trucks in lawn chairs. Also saw what I believed to be a pack of Gipsies. I have never seen so much crap and people packed into an Astro van. It looked to be their permanent home for most of the year. There were a lot of park staff in the Cove. One thing they had going on was an old school blacksmith operation. Some older guy was teaching one of the park staff various techniques. The blacksmith was the real deal. His hands were mangled and missing a few fingers. I saw him burn the crap out of his thumb (ie: it was smoking) without even flinching. He later said that he couldn't feel anything anymore these days, and that he didn't even know he did it until the smell wafted up.
We then looped back around to the cut through road and took Rich Mtn road out of the park. I had never been down this one way gravel road. It was a nice drive and was completely uncrowded. Along the way I spotted a black bear nosing around in the bush. I hopped out and tried to get a few pics. He was completely oblivious to me and never would look my way. I closed to within 15' of him at one point, but he just kept the nose to the ground and meandered around. After that it was time to hit the highway and head back home. Good times.
Shy bear
Laurel Falls (a little soft, but I was handholding this...forgot the tripod)
The rugrats
Burly blacksmith
The amount of a$$hattery, redneckiness, and overall dbag stuff present in downtown Gburg is overwhelming. Although, the kids were on sensory overload. They stood at Ripley's and just stared for at least 10 minutes. The large granite sphere was seriously messing with their heads. We picked up some supplies and crashed at the room.
Woke up bright and early Sunday, walked across the street to the Log Cabin Pancake House, and absolutely destroyed some blueberry pancakes with 2 sides of bacon. Next stop was Laurel Falls. Our oldest, Laurel, now believes that this is her falls and wouldn't stop talking about it. We did the 2.6 mile hike with kids on our shoulders nearly the whole time. My neck cracked about 10 times after that.
We then headed on down to Cade's Cove to eat some lunch and do the obligatory loop drive. Wildlife was almost nonexistent unless you count the rednecks riding in the back of the trucks in lawn chairs. Also saw what I believed to be a pack of Gipsies. I have never seen so much crap and people packed into an Astro van. It looked to be their permanent home for most of the year. There were a lot of park staff in the Cove. One thing they had going on was an old school blacksmith operation. Some older guy was teaching one of the park staff various techniques. The blacksmith was the real deal. His hands were mangled and missing a few fingers. I saw him burn the crap out of his thumb (ie: it was smoking) without even flinching. He later said that he couldn't feel anything anymore these days, and that he didn't even know he did it until the smell wafted up.
We then looped back around to the cut through road and took Rich Mtn road out of the park. I had never been down this one way gravel road. It was a nice drive and was completely uncrowded. Along the way I spotted a black bear nosing around in the bush. I hopped out and tried to get a few pics. He was completely oblivious to me and never would look my way. I closed to within 15' of him at one point, but he just kept the nose to the ground and meandered around. After that it was time to hit the highway and head back home. Good times.
Shy bear
Laurel Falls (a little soft, but I was handholding this...forgot the tripod)
The rugrats
Burly blacksmith
Ive tried jingling keys, honking horns, and making the same sound I use to get my cats attention to get a deer to look at me, but it never really works. I pretty much sound like a **** head now.