A Delightful Weekend in The Smokies

 

In September, we headed to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for fall break. This was our first time heading to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, so of course we were all so excited. This was a new place, a new route, and a new experience. 

Of course, we had to stop at Buc-ee's in Adairsville, GA, on the way.  

We set out early on Friday morning and arrived at our hotel, Wilderness at the Smokies's River Lodge Suites, in Sevierville, a little after noon. We immediately checked into our lovely rustic suite, which had bunk beds for the girls (which they loved) and a balcony. We didn't have an itinerary for Day 1, so we headed to Gatlinburg to see what the mountains and the town had to offer. We could have stayed at Wilderness at the Smokies and still had plenty to do without ever leaving Sevierville, but we wanted the whole experience. Wilderness at the Smokies is a resort hotel with an outdoor and indoor waterpark (much like Greatwolf Lodge). Since we went in the fall, the outdoor waterparks were closed, including Soaky Mountain Waterpark, which is within walking distance of the hotel, and for which Wilderness Resort offers discounted passes.  

Anyway, after we got situated in our room, we headed out towards Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg is about a 30-minute drive from Sevierville, with Pigeon Forge smack in the middle of these two mountain towns. Because of the proximity of one town to the next, we soon discovered that we would not short of things to do, places to explore, and places to eat. 

Fall anywhere is beautiful (and my favorite season), but fall in The Great Smoky Mountains was a different kind of vibe. This is Ellie posing in front of the hotel. We had just checked in and were heading into town. 

Our first stop on the way to Gatlinburg was the Gatlingburg Scenic Overlook. From here, we could see mountains for miles and the town of Gatlingburg in the distance below. This stop fueled our excitement to see what the rest of the journey had to offer.  

We arrived in Gatlingburg a little after 4 pm and immediately began touring the walkable downtown area. It was not crowded at all. Downtown Gatlingburg is a bustling tourist town tucked not too far from the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It boasts shops, attractions, restaurants, and hotels. We briefly toured The Village, an European-style area clustered with shops and eateries. Before we headed back to Sevierville, we found a pizza place close to The Village.   

On Day 2, Saturday, we headed downstairs to The Deli for coffee and donuts, which we brought back to the room so we could eat breakfast on the balcony of our room. Seeing our girls' delight in these little moments brought me so much joy. After breakfast, we changed into our swimwear and made our way down to the indoor waterpark, Wild Waterdome, where we splashed to our hearts' content.

She was done after 30 minutes of splashing. Lol!

For lunch later that day, we found a barbeque place in Sevierville called Buddy's Bar-B-Q, where we stopped to eat. The food was delicious and the service outstanding. 

There were lots of giggles and all-around great fun on this trip. The girls still call it one of their "best vacations ever!"

Our trip to Anakeesta was the highlight of our time spent in The Smokies. Anakeesta is a mountaintop theme park with whimsical gardens, mountain coasters, treetop skywalks, and breathtaking mountain views. To get to the top, we rode the chondola chairlift. It was our first chairlift experience and though scary, it was also exhilaring. 

From the moment our feet touched the ground at the top, the sights took our breaths away. We set off exploring right away. 

I'm so glad our first visit here was in the fall, because it made the experience all the more enchanting. While the trees had not yet began to change colors, there were enough fall decorations to fill the mountaintop with vibrant shades of orange, red, yellow, and green.

I will always treasure this picture because of the story behind it. If you're a wife and mom, you know that we're usually the ones doing the picture-taking, and many times, if we don't ask, we get left out of pictures because men don't seem wired to want to capture the moments. So, as usual, I has asked my husband and the girls to stand on the bridge so I could get a picture of them. A random woman walking by with her own family interupted me with the following: "Mama, join your family, I'll take the piture." And then she whispered, "you don't want to get home only to realize you're not in any of these pictures." Those words were spoken like a woman who knew what she was talking about. We chuckled, I handed her my phone and jumped into the picture. She took it, handed me back my phone, winked, and then she was gone. It's not the most perfect picture, but it means a lot to me because another mom saw me and understood.

The views were simply berathtaking. 

We ended Day 2 by heading over to The Island in Pigeon Forge. From the moment we found the parking lot, it was nothing but fun. We boarded the free shuttle from the parking lot to The Island in Pigeon Forge where we were greeted by a musical fountain and 23-acres of fun. I'll let the pictures below tell their own stories. 

On Day 3, it was finally time to check out of our room and head back home to Georgia. But before we did that, we had one last place to visit.  

I spotted The Track on one of our drives from Pigeon Forge to Seviervillle and put it on our to-do list. So, on our final day in The Smokies, after checking out of the hotel and saying good bye to Wilderness at the Smokies, we headed straight to The Track for some final fun before heading home. 

Ellie rode go-carts at the Kids section of The Track.

Then she and her sister rode the swings...

Rode planes ...

And rode the train...

Then we headed over to the adult section where we all got in on the fun, starting with the water boats...

And ended with adult go-carts. 

All in all, our weekend in The Great Smoky Mountains was definitely one for the memory books and we are looking forward to the day when we can go back and do some more exploring and to see places we did not get to visit this time around, like the Skybridge and Ober Mountain. Have you been to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and/or Sevierville? What was your experience like? What were your favorite places? Share in the comments below, and thank you for stopping by.