Smoky Mountain Vacation - August 2021
- Kristy Bettinger
- Jan 21, 2022
- 26 min read
Updated: Jan 22, 2022
It is now July 31 and we are all ready for 7 nights in the Smoky Mountains at our Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort!! Our home away from home ❤️⛰
7 nights away.. 2 adults.. 3 kids.. a stroller.. travel crib.. 4 suitcases.. shower bag.. snack bag.. shoe tote.. toy bag.. diaper bag.. The Burb is LOADED.. and we are going to shove groceries in from Food City in Gatlinburg before we check in 😅! We got plenty room in the back seat with the kids 🤣🤷🏼♀️ Thankfully there is a washer and dryer in our cabin.. all these clothes, but we will need a midweek wash of swimwear, undies, socks... no way I’m leaving those bagged up dirty for the entire week 🤢!!
SATURDAY
Saturday morning 7am.. I wanted to leave at 6.. but hey an hour later.. at least we are
on the road!! Luke is estactic there’s no racing, but disappointed it’s a gas fire place in our cabin...Well we can’t have it all but we do try! anyway it is going to be in the 80s and 90s,, no indoor fires for me! So much fun to be had this week!
The kids were pretty awesome for the ride knowing Tennessee is the destination! We drove all the way to the pinnacle shopping center in Bristol, TN before stopping!! 🤩 By that point it was me.. I NEED food, coffee… to move I dunno but out of the vehicle!! This is one of my favorite places to stop on our way. Click to check out the Pinnacle
We had an awesome lunch at Chicken Salad Chick … Chicken salad is one of my favs! and then we were off to Starbucks for a coffee to finish the ride! As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs; when I’m on vaca I prefer to try different local coffee shops but today Starbucks is easiest so we can get back on the road!
We decided to take I40 over to 321 through Cosby into Gatlinburg when going into our resort to avoid driving through Sevierville and Pigeon Forge. It also takes us right by Food City to get our groceries!
The kids went crazy in Food City as usual.. not only wanting all the junk/cookies but picking on each other being loud..🤪 I can’t even think what we actually need! 30 mins later we are done.. we got what we got at this point! Food City is only a few miles and we have the marketplace at the resort so I’m done! 🤷🏼♀️
😍🥰 and finally we are here!! Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort
The main entrance, Wild Bear Falls Indoor Water Park, the Marketplace, ice cream shop with fire pits, playground beside our cabin, and check in:
We were fortunate this year to get our 1 bedroom deluxe that we own plus a lock off studio! That meant the boys got their own bedroom area, bathroom, and a kitchenette.. they thought this was awesome!! Usually they sleep on the pull out sofa.. what an upgrade! However, this building is one of the only left to update.. it is in need of updates for sure, but it is all working and clean so we don’t mind as we were given extra space! We love the beds and pillows, so comfy!
The plan is to have our floor plan buildings updated in 2022 so next time it should be nice and new! If you click on Westgate Smoky Mountain above you can check out the design of their update rooms!
Our 1 bedroom deluxe:
Extra space for the boys:
We all help out getting the Burb unloaded so we can get to our resort indoor waterpark! We‘ve been in the vehicle long enough so staying at the resort tonight is our plan! Click on Wild Bear Falls below for more about the waterpark!
We get a couple hours of swimming in before the water park closes for the night! We had planned on ordering Pizza from Roaring Fork in the waterpark for dinner.. we missed the last call for order time 😒
Our last stay here we could order pizza until 10 or 11pm and they’d bring it to your room.. they’ve changed the room service menu .. ahhh why.. why ..would you take pizza off that menu?? As an owner that’s a complaint of ours.. an awesome pizza after an evening of swimming has to be what everyone wants!?
Ssoooo looks like I’m throwing on a hat and let’s go find some good food! I really didn’t plan on going back out tonight.. BUT I‘m starving and nothing sounded great from the room service menu.
We google searched for a local restaurant to find a place quick.. and we found:
Great reviews and there’s live music playing! Sounds like a good and fun dinner! Wow! It was amazing! Even the boys ate their food so that is impressive! I had to try the popular maple bourbon chicken 😍 and the boys had their pizza that was also amazing! I might of had a slice of it after my meal ..
We are all stuffed, but on the way out there’s a showcase of cheesecakes 🤤 Cheesecake to go please! Take that with us for later!! This will be on our list to return for sure!!
We’ve had quite a day.. Back to the room to rest up for tomorrow!
SUNDAY
Good morning!! Sun is shining bright looking like a beautiful day in the Smoky’s! The boys didn’t want to get out of their comfy bed.. until we said..“we have time to swim before heading out for our afternoon fun!“
A quick breakfast.. cereal and yogurt for these kiddos, and off to Wild Bear Falls!
The boys are enjoying the lazy river the most this trip.. a few laps around then Hayden will be off to the slides..then to the pool.. maybe the hot tub.. back to the lazy river and repeat. Luke spent most of his time on the Wild Bear falls playground. I don’t have many swimming pics this trip as I’m enjoying my time in the water too.. as I’m chasing Lynlee and she’s on GOOOO mode!
Lynlee loves the “watty” … she’s up the steps, down the slide, right back up and ready to go again!
David and I love this waterpark.. small enough we can relax in chairs or the lazy river while easily able to see Luke and Hayden! And big enough to have slides for Hayden that needs the thrill, and a play area for Luke and Lynlee. There’s also lifeguards around that enforce the no running!! 👏🏻
It’s now 2:30pm and Lynlee needs a nap! I head back to the cabin so she can get a nap in and I can shower to get ready for our evening out.
We used our Westgate owner rewards to purchase tickets for the Lumberjack show, Nascar Speed Park, Ride tickets to Anakeesta, and a $50 voucher for the Southern Comfort Restaurant at our resort! Very helpful on the budget this week! However, we just got a letter that the rewards are changing at the end of the year 😔 We aren’t sure yet how it all will work, but sounds like we will be losing the $$ we get back from grocery shopping with our Westgate Credit 😒.
The boys all head back an hour or so later to get ready, and we are off to Pigeon Forge to watch the Lumberjack Show! We have reservations for the 5:00pm show. Luke can’t wait! We’ve seen it before when it was a dinner show at an indoor location… Luke was too young to remember. LUMBERJACK FEUD SHOW & ADVENTURE PARK
Who is going to win it.. The Dawson’s or the McGraws!?
We are the McGraws!! 💪🏼
And… the McGraws take the win!!
That was a fun talented show to watch! The boys wanted to try out the adventure park too, but we didn’t have 2 hours to do it today.. maybe later in the week. It looks like a lot of fun for kids and adults!
We are all ready for dinner .. have quite the appetite tonight so we are going to try out Harpoon Harry’s Crab House.. of coarse there’s an hour wait.. anymore it seems under 2 hours you better take it!
The Little Pigeon River runs in front of Harpoon Harry’s.. so during our wait Hayden wanted to check out the river.…
I’m just hoping he doesn’t end up soaking wet… likely to happen for Hayden.. maybe on purpose or maybe an accident .. you’ll never know! and No he wouldn’t care if he was soaking wet for dinner.
Yay! Our table is ready… oh, we are right inside the door in a corner.. all these window seats and we don’t get one 😔.. we can wait another hour if we’d like a window seat.. no thanks, we are now starving! The place is really awesome inside.. it’s ok.. our kids are loud anyway maybe it’s best we are in the corner! 😂🤷🏼♀️
Our food was good.. however, we were disappointed in the amount we got for the $$.. usually you get too much food and take some home!? We ate our food and the kids left overs 🤷🏼♀️😂 maybe we were extra hungry?!
We’ve been going at it all day, and tomorrow we are planning Dollywood Theme Park! I’d like the kids to get plenty rest tonight! Goodnight 💤
MONDAY
IT IS FINALLY DOLLYWOOD DAY! The day all of us have been waiting for!! We’ve been to Disney, Bush Gardens, and I dunno how many other amusement parks BUT Dollywood is our #1 and Dollywood Splash County is our #1 waterpark! Yes, we will hit Splash Country this week too!
I’m not making breakfast today! We want to get into the park as early as possible with full bellies! haha.. who am I fooling, no matter what any of these kids eat..soon as they see the first dip & dots stand they’ll be starving! They’ll say they’ve had nothing to eat all day..and there I am wasting my time trying to list the 10 things they have already ate .. and it’s only 11:00am! Anyway…
How about a breakfast at Brick & Spoon.. this is a new place for us to try.. David looks at the menu… what am I supposed to order!? 😂🤣 oh, it’s not that different come on! of coarse he went with the usual ham & cheese omelet..
I didn’t get the usual omelet… Breakfast Tacos 😋… yum!!
I would go back again for sure!!
We are off to Patriot Park to get on the Pigeon Forge Trolly for Dollywood. We don’t park at Dollywood if we don’t have to when we have a stroller.. we did that once and waited well over an hour, I think it was close to 2 for the Dollywood trolly to get us to our vehicle..there’s a separate stroller line and it moves SLOW! (at least that was our experience, it may not always be this way) So to save a little money on parking, wait time, and we like the Old Mill area we just park at Patriot Park. We’ve never waited more than 20-30 mins to take the Pigeon Forge Trolly to and from Patriot Park.
HOLD on for the first ride of the day! 🚃 wooden seats and spandex shorts I might be on another ride across the Trolly 😳
First, we are off to the carnival area for Lynlee’s first ride! I’m asking the boys to ride with her in case she decides to pull one of her dare devil stunts and stand up.. I’m sure she will because she has NO fear!
See that face!? Yea, you don’t know what she’s thinking!! Surprise, she loves the rides and doesn’t try to stand!.. we let her ride a few then off to the bigger rides.. the boys are kinda bored… their faces say it all..
BUT look at that sweet ornery girl having a blast! … ok ok they spot the bumper cars!!
Now there‘s their kind of excitement!
It is hard when it comes to rides and our kids being 4-5 years apart.. none are at the same stage.. Luke is almost to the 48” mark so he can hit the big coasters with brother! Hayden has rode all the coasters except the Wild Eagle in previous visits…this year he is 54”so we know he’s in the clear to ride!! yay! The Wild Eagle is my favorite coasters because it’s so smooth.. I get to ride it with Hayden first today! David rode his first 48” coaster with him so I was quick to claim this ride!
OH NO! The Eagle isn’t running 🥺 we’ve been waiting for months knowing he could ride it! I’m sure it’ll be running soon…keeping positive thoughts!
We started on around to the coasters… over to Wildgrove.. we haven’t been here since this new section opened! It’s such a neat little fairytale like area for the kids! And the new coaster Dragonflier is a fun one.. faster than I expected it to be! Luke couldn't stop talking about it! Now he's really mad he's still to short for other coasters!
We spent the afternoon trying to split up to get both boys on rides. The lines were really long compared to what we are used to… all of the lines are 60-90 mins! Some even longer! Some rides aren't running due to staffing issues, which is making lines that are open longer as well. I guess we’ve just been fortunate in the past to pick days that were 10-20 minute waits at the most! One of the workers overheard us talking and filled us in that the park was nearly empty yesterday! oh thank you because we totally could of came yesterday, but thought it was best to avoid weekend Days… everyone else must of had the same idea!? 😒
We are off to Dare Devil Falls before dinner! I get the wet rides with the boys.. David doesn’t like to get wet unless he’s at the waterpark 😜.. letting out his secrets!
…. Hey.. did you read the sign!? What sign!? There isn’t a sign?? … get down before you get kicked out of the park 😒 that doesn’t mean this wall that’s the name of the big drop mom… no son that’s do not climb any walls! SMH!
A few other rides and fun around the park:
Luke was finally tall enough to ride the Fire Chaser!! He picked dad to ride with him for the first time… it was at least an hour wait so we didn’t get to ride 2 times.. they do the parent swap here if ya’ll wait in line, but we wanted Lynlee to enjoy the day day to! I took her to the little fire station playground while the boys rode the coaster.
I think even better than the coaster was the wood wall art! We know Luke loves wood, fires, and all that! This was amazing to him that wood was used to make a picture. The time/thought put into design and atmosphere of Dollywood is why we love it so much!
We took a break around 5:00pm to eat dinner at the Front Porch Cafe in the park. I love that they have gluten free buns.. I’m always ordering burgers without a bun… so today I get the whole thing!😋
We have ate at Aunt Granny’s restaurant in the past.. it was really good, but so much food! I can’t go flipping around on rides after all that! I’ll save that for a winterfest visit; when your walking around gazing at the millions of lights! 😍🥰
The Eagle is up and running!!! The line is 90 minutes but we are going for it! David is taking Luke and Lynlee to ride the carousel, get the famous cinnamon bread from Grist Mill, and whatever else they decide to do!
An hour and 15 minutes later we are ON THE WILD EAGLE!! I don’t have any pictures here because sometimes it’s the memory that’s best and not whipping out my camera every minute.. besides can’t really do that on a coaster.. and they were rushing people on and off as fast as possible!
Luke and Lynlee's carousel ride.. and they pigged out on the cinnamon bread.. they left us a piece if you call it that lol!
It’s 9:30pm and we are all exhausted; ready to head out! So ready for our comfy beds tonight! We’ve put miles on our feet in this heat today! Back to the Trolley Stop at the front gate, short ride to Patriot parking, and a few miles back to the resort.. Goodnight 💤
TUESDAY
GOOD MORNING!! It's another hot sunny day!! Mom had plans on relaxing pool side and not leaving the resort today.. however, I am out numbered by 3 boys! David counts as a boy today.. as he wants to go just as bad as Hayden and Luke! At least they let me chill at the cabin for breakfast.
11:00AM we are off to the NASCAR Speedpark for a few hours of go-kart riding! WOW look at the lines! We've drove by here several times and been here before..NEVER seen it SOO BUSY!! We already purchased our tickets from our Westgate ticket office..the boys are here to stay.. ME and Lynlee, we didn't buy tickets.. looks like it's MOM time! ...
I hung out for a few to see Luke take off on his first go-kart ride (driving himself) .. then Lynlee and I took off in a hurry! It's like 90 degrees, sun shining, and 60 minute lines.. No Thank you today.. I just did this yesterday!
BYE BOYS WE ARE OUT!! Have fun!
I took a drive down Wears Valley.. I love shopping at the little local shops! I stopped by a few log furniture stores to browse around..I have Lynlee in the stroller and the stores are not stroller friendly.. we can't get around, and there are no carts to push her in.. so we are off to find something else to do.
I found a 9.99 T-shirt cabin to get myself a baseball T.. when it's $9.99 I shop for myself occasionally!
Then I pulled into Grandmother's Kitchen to get Lynlee and I a little lunch.. I've wanted to stop here on a few visits, but we've always been passing through quickly. Darn! It's closed today! That's ok I saws a cute little cabin bakery a little ways back.. We'll go check it out!
Since I didn't get the boys any shirts I decided to bring them back mini cupcakes and brownie bites. Well... the cupcakes made it back BUT those brownie bites were so good.. I might of ate all of them! Hey it’s not very often that I get out in a place I love by myself.. Lynlee is just along for the ride she don’t mind! .. yet!
The boys still want to spend a little more time at the speedpark.. No biggie,, I'm going to take a drive out Walden's Creek.. I always see tons a vehicles turning here let's see why!? There is a few stores on a plaza.. a gas station? Nothing real impressive.. keep driving... OH the drive is what I am loving! In a valley between mountains with views everywhere. There are tons of rental cabins/homes.. very nice subdivisions of cabins... I'm just driving along thinking I'm probably driving parallel to the main drag..eventually I'll turn right and be back out on the main drag?..
OH NO I'M OFF GRID...MAP IS BLANK... NO ROADS ... tried to put in Nascar Speedpark to see how close I was.. NO SERVICE.. whooops well I guess I have to turn around and drive back until I get service!! It doesn't really bother me.. if I had a paper road map or the boys wouldn't be waiting on me.. I would love to keep driving and just see where I end up!
Ok well I haven't had service for miles I guess..you don't even notice when your cruising through the mountains! well it's prob only 7-8 miles but like 20 minutes on these roads. So I am almost back to Wears Valley I might as well just go back out and go the way I know!
The boys are ready to go once I get back.. they got to ride most of the tracks even with the long waits.
The Five Oaks Farm House is across the street and our friends/family that tried it have given it great reviews! Let's go try it! There's a nasty storm warning out for the area so we might as well go eat dinner.
It's a good thing we came inside!! It's pouring the rain! Umm.. the umbrella is in the vehicle.. that's not surprising! We enjoyed our dinner, and then hung out on their front porch in rocking chairs another 30 minutes afterwards. It was raining way too hard to go get the vehicle.. well we could of BUT definitely would of been drenched! It finally slowed down and is clearing off for a little bit!
Our best friends parents arrived at a campground in Pigeon Forge today with their camper to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary! We decided they would need a little something for their trip. We stopped by the Coffee Armory in the Mountain Mile shopping area to grab them a bag of Black Riffle coffee. 😋We stopped by to drop it off and visit for a few. Heidi and the boys are coming down later in the week! YaY!
Well it has turned into quite a busy day that was supposed to be a SLOW day after Dollywood day! It's only 8pm but I vote we go back to the resort to swim! and chill for the evening.. as we are pulling into the resort there is another storm coming in… lightening! Looks like we are in for the night! GOODNIGHT! 💤
WEDNESDAY
GOOD Morning!! It is still raining off and on but it is supposed to clear up soon! We are heading out early to spend the day in Gatlinburg! My vote today was to get Crockett's Breakfast Camp before getting into any activities. I would say this is rated my #1 breakfast restaurant out of all the places we have traveled. I've always been a breakfast cooked in a cast iron skilled kinda person! Actually I cook most things in a cast iron skillet.
David drops the kids and I off right in front of Crockett's since it is raining, and we know there is always about an hour wait here. Totally worth the wait everytime! He had plenty time to go park and make his way back. Our wait ended up only 30 mins today! Awesome!
Food was delicious as always … and Luke was loving the fire burning… Lukes fav pancake and scrambled eggs!
We are walking from the far end of Gatlinburg up to the Anakeesta Chondalas. It is cold today with the rain.. we didn’t have sweat shirts with us so we went shopping for warmer clothes before taking off.. this took prob an hour and we had only found one for Lynlee and David.. it was starting to warm up so we decided to just go with it!
We make it to the Anakeesta Chondalas and of coarse it is super busy too.. everything is super busy this week!
David is taking the Ridge Rambler up the road so we can get the stroller to the top. Lynlee is in the baby wrap carrier riding the lift with the boys and I. SHE LOVED it at Snowshoe earlier this summer so I wasn’t worried!
Here we go! Wow this ride is going to be a lengthy one..😬 the ride keeps stopping for the enclosed Chondalas to unload/load! From the ground I didn’t realize how high you were! LYNLEE hates stopping!! She is getting so wrestless.. trying to squeeze her arms up out of the carrier… that was a terrible ride !!!! Never was I soo glad to be at the top!! ., if I remember right it was like 20 mins .. at least 15!
Ok so honestly … I wasn’t impressed with the amount it cost just to get everyone up to Anakeesta.. so we hadn’t done it in prior trips… I AM SO GLAD WE FINALLY decided to try it! This place is so beautiful!!! The design is just amazing for adults and kids! And the views❤️ I could sit in a rocking chair all day long!
When you exit the lift to Anakeesta there is a walkway with unique shops and a few restaurants to enjoy.. you just can’t take enough pictures to truly see it! It’s a must see!
then we started along the path towards the top..and the kids found all the unique super cool play areas!
The kids loved the Treetop Skywalk!
The Skywalk, Treehouse Village, Treeventure challenge coarse, and Bearventure Challenge coarse is included in the general admission cost that you pay to get to Anakeesta! I didn’t realize that at first so that a plus on the price!!
The Treehouse Village
David, Lynlee, and I sat on swings with an awesome view while the boys ran around the Treeventure Challenge Coarse!
The Treeventure coarse:
Sorry.. not the best pics to show how neat this play area really is but I was busy chilling in the swing at his point! The sun came out a little and now it's super humid and hot!
And then there’s the Vista Garden that is so beautiful to stroll through! Amazing landscaping ..
As you stroll down the walkways of the gardens the bearventure challenge coarse runs along some of it… so neat!
At the end of the gardens there’s another patio sitting area with a refreshments area.. and the Anavista Observation tower!
Views from the tower 🥰
And this girl was fearless…loving the glass flooring and wanted to stick her legs through the rails 😱
and then we started back down the walkways to find the best photo place yet..
yea.. that’s the best we got! 🤷🏼♀️
and the boys found Willow!!
There is a zip line, rail runner, and a few other activities for an additional $$. David and Hayden really wanted to try the rail runner but the line was crazy long for it.. we checked multiple times.. they decided to go ahead and wait .. the line didn’t seem to move..so they gave up!
We were going to have dinner up here as well.. but after reviewing the menus it was the same types of food we had been eating all week… we decided to head back to downtown for dinner… This time Lynlee and I are taking the stroller back down on the ridge rambler and the boys are riding the lift back down… see ya at the bottom!!
We all agreed we wanted the Smoky Mountain Brewery Pizza! YUM!! Another one of our favorites..great food..live music! we prefer the Gatlinburg location… its just not the same at the Pigeon Forge Locations.
Another amazing pizza from the Brewery!
The boys always want to check out the candy stores while in Gatlinburg … we ventured back to the the Ol’Smoky Candy Kitchen .. a favorite for Chocolates.. or Hayden's peanut butter fudge 😋 I was wanting Chocolate Covered strawberries.. so another quick stop at the Chocolate Monkey.. Lynlee giel is all about the monkeys!
That’s a wrap for another day of walking… walking… and more walking! We head back to our resort for a little pool time! And then off to bed to get rest before another adventurous day in the Smokys!
THURSDAY
Good MORNING!!☀️ The sun is shining bright and it’s a hot day!! No worries of being cold today! No rain in the forecast…what does that mean!?
Perfect day for Splash Country!!
We better get another filling breakfast today! We are going to try out the Black Bear Cafe that is on the way to Splash Country! It’s literately a little building right in a parking lot.. but it had good reviews, would be faster than waiting an hour, and we could sit outside ☀️
We honestly weren’t impressed… I wouldn’t say it was bad food but pricey for what you get…I prefer fluffy eggs not so much browned… the pancakes were the best thing we had! Hayden had the hot dog, he wasn't impressed .. looks like the kids are going hungry!
Anyway it’ll hold us over for now! We are off to Splash Country!!! A few miles down the road and…
We are like 2-3 miles from the park entrance.. and GPS is saying 30 minutes!! 😳😩 looking like another packed park day 😔… maybe they are all going to Dollywood & NOT Splash Country…🤔 Trying to stay positive again..
It was about 30 minutes later when we finally arrived in the parking lot ready to go!
Well… Pretty sure that everyone that was at Dollywood on Monday is at Splash Country today! Oh well we are here and we’ll make the best of it.. whining about long lines won’t make the best of our day! We’ll pick what we want to ride most and go with it!
We really are just shocked that everything is so busy! We’ve came in the first / second week of August before and it’s usually so nice!!
We started off back in the Cascades for Lynlee!
As you can see Hayden isn’t entertained… sorry but David and I were both there for you and Luke on your first Splash Country trip too! And this will only take a few minutes then we can split up and take turns on the bigger slides! More of the Cascades:
and then we were off to Bear Mountain Fire Tower :
I would say this was Luke’s favorite area! And then the water coaster!
No, they aren’t in the picture.. I totally missed it! BUT I just love the park as it kept as much natural beauty as possible; which is why the park is so relaxing.. trees…shade.. clean🥰
Have fun boys!!
The boys are off to check out more slides…. We spent some time at a few different places.. so many areas for toddlers to run and play! Then we all took a trip around the lazy river… and mom had time to catch a few slides! Tube slides that you ride on tubes are my fav now days!!!! I will ride any of them but those enclosed tube body slides get me sometimes! I think I need to ride a few more to get back into it!
Random pics from the day, not many as we were enjoying the water!
We stayed until 1/2 hour before park closing … the crowd had started to thin out some but not as much as usual! We are all ready for a nice dinner at our resort Southern Comfort restaurant tonight!
During dinner the conversation came up about staying another night.. nothing unusual for us.. we are rarely ready to go home!!
The next stop… check-in counter to see about booking Saturday night! …🤑 wow that is pricey! So we‘ll just move everything into the boys room for 1 night… it‘ll be tight all of us in a studio room but we don’t mind if we get to stay an extra night! Yay!
Our cabin is at the bottom of the mountain within walking distance to the main pool, restaurant, marketplace, waterpark, and all that we use most. Tonight we are driving to the top of the mountain to hang out by the fire pit for a few...the boys wanted to putt putt, but we didn’t make it before they closed.
Pictures here, don’t really show how Amazing the views of Gatlinburg are from the top of the resort!
The fire pit is pretty busy tonight (reason for no pictures of it). It is cool out and perfect night to sit by the fire! We hung out a few then back to the cabin to rest up for 2 more days of fun! Goodnight! 💤
FRIDAY
Friday!! We are having breakfast in the cabin… well on our deck! Breakfast at the cabin actuallly means with the living room door open to the deck out front! There’s a table and chairs on the deck.. I guess I didn’t take any pictures of it for the room photos 🤔
We packed up snacks and a cooler to go with us for lunch today! We are tired of all the busy attractions so we are headed out of town today!
My favorite a drive down Wears Valley.. over to Townsend 😍 Townsend is really the best … its truly small town mountain living that has left most of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg as it has grown so much!
First stop.. the Artisian Bean ❤️☕️!!
YUM!! The best coffee I’ve had in the Smokys! Iced White Chocolate Hazelnut latte! 🤤 Click on Artisian Bean above to check out their site! You can order if you won’t be in the mountains soon enough!
There will be a future blog with more about Townsend … we will be coming with MoJo (our camper) in 2022!! That’s all I can say for now 😁
We are off to the Tuckaleechee Caverns a few miles down the road!
We all loved the tour through the caverns! Amazing to see in person…ok wait that’s a lie… Lynlee did Not love it at all! She was ready for a nap and fighting it! A screaming 1 year old underground 😵💫 Sorry folks I hope you didn’t come for a quiet tour 😞 The first 10 mins of the tour I spent my time trying to get her to sleep in the carrier…and not slip on the steps with her fighting me going down 😳once she was asleep it was amazing! I have some photos to share but being dark and underground some of them aren’t the best quality.
This is my favorite one 😍
You are allowed to drink the spring water scooping it with your hands, and look for rocks! The boys wanted to stay and set up camp! They are envious of the boys that founded the caverns and were able to play in them.
Our family picture is in the big room..amazing to see! The size of a football stadium! We look scary with our white eyeballs.. I couldn’t get the photo app to fix them 😂
After the tour there is a neat souvenir store to check out… and Hayden’s favorite dessert … a fudge shop 😋 We picked out a few different kinds for our afternoon ride.
After the caverns we kept driving on down 321 over through Walland into Maryville. I wanted to drive around to check out other towns around the mountains hoping to find some stops along the way.. pull overs by a river, creek, mountain overlooks.. maybe a park to visit.
We searched a city park in Maryville, that didn’t turn out so well 😳.. ok we’ll just take 411 back towards Sevierville.. there’s a French Broad River park!
It is a nice drive but not really in the mountains anymore and the plan was to stay in the mountains or at least have views 🤦🏼♀️ Mom might of messed that one up. The boys are over my idea of a drive so we just keep driving to get back to the busy attractions they all want. No quiet mountain time this trip it’s all action! However, I should of planned that better! A drive to Cherokee, NC would of been a much better idea! Next time!!
Next stop.. Rocky Top Mountain Coaster! Get the action in for the day.. We have not rode this one yet.. it is a neat coaster, a little different than others we’ve done with more lifts and it felt longer!
The boys loved it and got their thrill in for the day .. they each got to go twice so that David and I could switch out.
I dunno but I think it’s time to get a good meal! I’ve had snacks and fudge for lunch.. not real filling!
JT Hannah’s Kitchen it is! We have not ate here before..always thought it looked like a neat place to try. There isn’t much parking.. don’t drive around to the back 😳 most of the rundown motels have been cleaned up but that one is scary! We parked at the candy shop beside the restaurant!
A really good meal! One of the better ones we had this week! If your like me… check out the menu before going! There was so much to pick from I had a hard time deciding what to try! 😋
The boys are wanting to swim at the infinity pool on top of the mountain at our resort… we head back and ready to chill for the evening! It is Friday night so I’m sure the pools will be busy! We drive up the mountain to the pool…there’s a nice pavilion with a bar and seating beside the pool!🍹David and I think we are going to have a drink poolside..
It is busy and kids are running, jumping, sliding where it says no sliding, parents don’t care!? Its no fun swimming here… Let’s try the Valley Pool it just reopened…drive back down the mountain and back into the valley…
Well we didn’t really like it either..wasn‘t busy but we just like the main pool… back out of the valley.. park at our cabin and walk to the main pool 🤦🏼♀️😂.. ok boys we can stay at the pool to swim now!
2 hours of swimming and it’s time to shower and get ready for bed! We have 1 more day to go! 💤
SATURDAY Ahh! A little bit of a rainy morning..and a chance of showers/storms throughout the day. First this morning is breakfast on the deck before we have to check out of our 1 bedroom deluxe. Then I finished packing up and moving to the studip room for the remainder of our stay.
What should we get into today... Hayden has been asking all week to go to a trampoline park. We have avoided that because we are here to enjoy the outdoors! The rain this morning has made us think it might be an option today.. His best friend Logan is in town asking if he can go to a trampoline park as well. Ok the boys win! That is not a surprise..We will meet up at the Sevier Air Trampoline Park!
We pre-purchasesd tickets for 12pm-1pm online before we left our resort to make sure there was space available without a wait.
We all had a laugh as Luke jumped into the foam pit the first time holding his nose.. that missed the video 😂
There is a nice waiting area for the parents upstairs where you can see most of the park.
That was a fun visit with friends! The rain has cleared off for now. We head back over to the Mountain Mile for coffee at the coffee armory and an afternoon snack! We’ve avoided the island all week due to the parking lot being pretty full!! I’d rather try something new.. You have nice Mountain View’s from shops!
Cinnaholic is looking pretty yum for our afternoon snack!
They were amazing! But made me feel 🥴.. so much sweetness and of coarse it’s not GF.. I eat dessert but not like 3 desserts in 1 sitting! lol.. oh well it’s the last day of vacation!
The kids had fun checking out the toy store and candy store.. they picked the candy store over cinnaholic... I was ok with that really!
They played outside a few then we were ready to head back to our resort. It‘s looking like rain coming in for the afternoon. That’s ok.. we’ll spend the evening at the indoor waterpark and get pizza for dinner at the Roaring Fork. 😋 The have a GF pizza that is one of my favorites!
We get back to the cabin, get our swim clothes on and ready to go! It’s 3:30 in the afternoon as we are walking down the sidewalk to the waterpark.. there’s a roar of thunder 😩 the waterpark and pools have to close for 30 minutes!
No storming.. it’s just sprinkling. 23 minutes go by.. they announce another roar of thunder.. 30 more minutes. We are hanging out in the entrance area of the waterpark.
We decided to go ahead and order our pizza and sides from the Roaring Fork.. we can go upstairs to the seating area that overlooks the waterpark to eat while we are waiting.
To sum up we ended up waiting 2 hours to swim! 5:30pm-7:00pm or maybe it was 7:30pm I’m not positive, we swam and relaxed poolside in the log loungers. Lynlee is still loving this slide...
Once the waterpark closed we took off to the main pool to finish off the evening!
We’ve had a long week here in the mountains, but it sure went quick! We still aren’t really ready to go home tomorrow but it has to end sometime! Goodnight 💤
Sunday
Sunday morning its time to head home! 10:00am we are on our way home.. the kids are tired and geared up with pillows and blankets for the ride home!
On the road again… Thanks for reading! Stay tuned as we will be off to Mohican Adventures with MoJo in 11 days!
Thanks for Reading!!
Disclaimer: My full throttle blogs are for entertainment purposes only. These are my families stories to share for fun, and our opinions only. I am not giving professional advise or recommendations. Thank you for reading!
Comments