Ok. We went to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge this weekend. If I had to describe the experience in just one word, that word would be "expensive." If I was allowed 2 words, the 2nd would be "fun." In that order though! We went through Great Smoky National Park first, saw the pioneer settlement, Cade's Cove, hiked to Laurel Falls, and saw some great mountain scenery and animals, including deer, groundhogs, squirrels, snakes, ducks, and geese. No bears though...which is, of course, what we were looking for. Then, we entered Gatlinburg. I wasn't completely sure what to expect, but in the middle of nowhere, we found a huge touristy town filled with shops and themed restaurants. It reminded me of a beach town like Myrtle Beach, SC. Here's the thing though, Myrtle Beach is a beach...there's an ocean! So, I get why there's a ton of stuff to do there. In the middle of the mountains, I was initially a bit confused. Pigeon Forge was much the same, especially on "The Island," an area filled again with shops, themed restaurants, and family fun activities. (If you go to the island, do the Mirror Maze, hilarity will ensue!) Country music legends like Dolly Parton must have a lot of pull with tourism because they've succeeded in this kind of town twice, here and Branson. Who knows how they pull if off, but it works. Where normally the day would've been done with hiking and scenic mountain drives, we were able to shop countless souvenir shops, eat at places like Mellow Mushroom, Dick's Last Resort, or Margaritaville, and do exciting things like take a ski lift to the top of the mountain. We chose Dick's Last Resort for lunch because we hoped they'd make fun of our 5 year old twins. They took it easy on them, which had my son, Luke, asking, "why didn't they give us any more teases?" But it was still fun, and the "teases" were kept family friendly. In Pigeon Forge, we hit Dollywood which had plenty of great rides that the 5 year olds could ride on. There's only a few they were too short for, but luckily there were some big rides they were tall enough for that made up for it, like the Firechaser Express! And, each night, we hit a dinner theater. In our case, we saw the Hatfields and McCoys Dinner Theater and Dolly's Dixie Stampede. Both were family friendly and great entertainment. (But, again, the word of the day was "expensive.")
