gatlinburg

Thursday, May 28th: Downtown Gatlinburg & Dinner at The Old Mill Restaurant

On this day of our journey, we were still with the rest of the family. We spent the day downtown Gatlinburg. We visited the Ripley’s Aquarium and also did the lift at Ober Gatlinburg. I had been to Ripley’s. It’s an awesome aquarium and you get to go “under” the shark tank. It felt like we had a personal tour guide since my sister-in-law is studying marine biology. She told us all about the different fish and sharks. Of course, my favorite part was the penguins. There’s a newer exhibit with penguins. They’re adorable.

Another stop was The Donut Friar (located in The Village Shops). I swear this little bakery has the very best donuts in all of the Smokeys. I had a long john, in case you were wondering. We also tried lots of beef jerky and enjoyed tasting moonshine at The Ole Smokey Tennessee Moonshine.

My favorite place, though was a newer shop called Bootleggers Homemade Wine. This little shop sells wines that are extra sweet and have unique flavors. After tasting a few, we picked up a bottle of Homegrown Blackberry Wine to enjoy at our bed and breakfast. My in-laws picked up some Homegrown Strawberry Wine for a friend. Cute country t-shirts and glass mason jars are sold in the store. I really liked the packaging of the wines. The winery began with two sisters and they make all of their wines by hand. You can’t order online, you have to visit the location in the Smokeys to enjoy it.

Now, I’ve heard lots about Ober Gatlinburg but I’d never been there. It’s basically an attraction park at the top of a mountain overlooking downtown Gatlinburg. In the winter you can ski or tube up there. Along with kiddie rides, there are animals on display and restaurants. We took the ariel tram too late in the evening and didn’t spend time up there. The view was wonderful. I’ll admit, being on the tram was a little bit scary, but it was fun to walk around and look into the mountains. Per person it was $12. It takes you 2.1 miles up into the mountains and can take 120 passengers. The Aerial Tramway at Ober Gatlinburg is also one of the largest in all of America.

Last, but definitely not least, we ate at The Old Mill Restaurant for dinner. This is one of my favorite restaurants on the planet and we make a point to eat there every time we are in town. Located in Pigeon Forge, this restaurant is one of the oldest attractions in the area. The food is ah-mazing. We’re talking Southern fritters, homemade chicken and dumplings, and lots of sweet tea.

For about $20 you receive

-a cup of corn chowder

-a side salad

-corn fritters

-an entree

-mashed potatoes and green beans

-dinner rolls

-homemade dessert

I was in food heaven. The chicken and dumplings were delicious. Made just like I like them. Dustin ordered the meatloaf. It was at least a pound in weight. Massive. We all had leftovers, including desserts. It’s safe to say we slept well that night on full bellies.

Friday, May 29th: Alpine Coaster, Working from Starbucks & Headed to The Yellow House Bed and Breakfast

The next morning, we said goodbye to our family and they headed back to Ohio. I had found tickets for an alpine coaster on Groupon for $17 for two. The attraction was located at Goats on the Roof. This center had games, rides, and a gift shop…it also had live goats living on the roof. I didn’t believe it at fist, thought it was just a sales gimmick, until we saw goats walking around on the roof. Above is the picture of where the goats live. There are connecting walkways to each building and the goats can walk around up and down the buildings and hide in the little barns. For a dollar you could buy food and use a mechanism to feed them on the roof. This was hilarious as the goats would anticipate the food and crane their necks to eat it. But, we weren’t there to feed the goats. We were there to ride the alpine coaster.

An alpine coaster is basically a small roller coaster, only you have a hand held break which helps you slow down. The little cart is attached to a track and once you go up the mountain, you are let go and roll around circles and hills until you slow to a stop at the bottom. Dustin and I thought this would be easy peasy. Not scary at all. We love roller coasters and have been to Cedar Points lots of times. Well, it wasn’t a walk in the park. As soon as we began gaining speed I was hollering and Dustin was pulling the break. Even though you were wearing seat belts, it felt like you could fly off the side of the mountain. It was really fun and the dips caught your stomach. Well worth the $17. I’d do it again!

Unfortunately, it was time to work. We both had stuff to get done. After finding a Starbucks, we ordered drinks and hunkered down. It would be a few hours before we could leave and drive to our first bed and breakfast.

Once we finished up, we looked up the directions to Waynesville. The drive was about an hour and a half. We passed some fun places, including the home of Bush’s Baked Beans.

Next up, the best bed and breakfast we’ve ever visited. The Yellow House!

Love & Laughter,

Tiffany

A few months ago Dustin and I were both feeling jittery and wanted to travel. Unfortunately our car wasn’t really reliable and Dustin couldn’t take any time off work. As I sat at my desk looking longingly at Groupon Getaways, I realized we would have to wait quite awhile until we could go on a trip just the two of us. Then, both sets of parents offered us opportunities we couldn’t decline!

First, my mum and stepdad were headed to Myrtle Beach at the beginning of May. They invited us to come with them. Since our car couldn’t make the trip (probably)** we rode with them and spent five nights right on the beach. It was relaxing, even though we both worked during the trip.

That’s the beauty of working from home…you can work from anywhere!

We ate a lot of delicious food and I’m pretty sure I inhaled 30+ hushpuppies all by myself. I hadn’t launched the blog yet and wasn’t taking a lot of photos BUT I’m thinking I might go back and write about a few of the places we got to visit.

Right before the trip to Myrtle Beach, Dustin’s parents invited us to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with them. I adore the mountains and have grown up going to North Carolina multiple times a year to visit family.

They hadn’t ever been there (gasp!)

Without hesitation we told them we would love to go. Later, my dad hopped on board and we all planned three nights in the mountains together. Now, I love spending time with family. BUT Dustin and I also wanted to take advantage of already being down South. I worked extra hard and saved enough money for us to stay at bed and breakfasts three extra nights to extend our vacation. Again, we had to work the whole time, but it was worth every second to be able to get away from home.

**Right before the trip I was out with some girlfriends. My mum dropped me off at Starbucks after we’d been carpooling. I put my keys in the ignition and the car wouldn’t go. After reaching out for help and trying to jump the car, we had to leave it there. Our car, which Dustin has had since he was in high school, had officially died. It was stressful because we were leaving for Tennessee within a few days and didn’t have a working car. We had also already paid for the bed and breakfasts ahead of time. After a lot of prayer and decisions we ended up purchasing a brand new car. This was a crazy situation for us. We’ve never thought we’d purchase a new car. So, I plan on writing about the situation later. The point is, we in fact, had a vehicle for our trip. This made it extremely more enjoyable and a special time.

Here’s an overview of our entire trip. In the next few posts I’ll be elaborating on each leg of our road trip down South!

Monday, May 25th:

We left in the morning and drove to Knoxville, Tennessee. While on the way, we stopped at Cumberland Falls. The falls is located in Kentucky and is known around the world for it’s moonbow, a rainbow which can be seem under a full moon.

Tuesday, May 26th:

We drove into the Smokey Mountains. Visited the Welcome Center, hiked to Laurel Falls, and checked out Cherokee, North Carolina. This was also our first night at our cabin. The cabin was massive. It had a game room with a pool table and arcade, four rooms, six bathrooms, four decks, a theatre room, and a hot tub. I’ll be writing more about it in an individual post.

Wednesday, May 27th:

Dustin got poison ivy. We ended up at Urgent Care. No matter, we still went to the Dixie Stampede in the evening.

For a more detailed story of Monday-Wednesday, click here!

Thursday, May 28th:

This was a busy day. We visited the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Aquarium, walked downtown Gatlinburg, rode the Ober Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway, and ate at The Old Mill.

The post, The Old Mill Restaurant, an Aerial Tramway, Ripley’s Aquarium & Goats on a Roof will fill you in on all the details.

Friday, May 29th:

After saying farewell to the family, we rode an alpine roller coaster (crazy) and worked for the afternoon at Starbucks.

We drove about an hour and a half to Waynesville, North Carolina. Here we checked into our room at The Yellow House Bed and Breakfast.

This stay deserves its on individual post and more pictures! (Click here for the post: Two Nights at The Yellow House On Plott Creek) The home was so beautiful and the grounds were kept pristine. I found this deal on Groupon.

Saturday, May 30th:

We woke up and found a fun coffee shop to work at in Asheville, North Carolina. After working we headed over to The Biltmore, the largest privately owned home in the United States. It took us the entire day to explore the home and grounds. It was one of the coolest things I’ve done. See: Acting Like Millionaires & Exploring The Biltmore in Asheville

Sunday, May 31st:

After enjoying another delicious breakfast at The Yellow House, we left and headed back to Pigeon Forge. We purchased tickets for a ~~terrifying~~ bi-plane ride. We rode with a pilot that had explored the world. In the short amount of time we talked with him, we learned he had lived on a boat, owned a post card store, lived currently in Key West, and that he had restored this vintage plane himself!

Don’t let this smiling picture fool you…I was kinda about to pee my dress.

Riding on the bi-plane was amazing. Hold tight for more pictures and a more detailed account of the ride!

Later in the evening we headed to another bed and breakfast. Unfortunately this one wasn’t really that great. For many reasons, which I’ll hit on later, it was kinda a bummer.

BUT, there were puppies there! Here’s a picture!

Monday, June 1st:

We ended up stopping to work at another coffee shop on our way back, we also decided to stay another night in a hotel to break up the driving and swim in the pool.

So, there’s the overview. Keep tuned into Poeticlaughter for more pictures and details of the journey. Have you been to Gatlinburg? What’s you’re go-to thing to do there?

Also, since we were driving a lot, we ate a lot of road trip snacks. I munched on goldfish, luna protein bars (cookie dough), and bananas. What are you’re go-to snacks for on the road?