One of the perks of being a teacher in my district is a full week of fall break in October. The second week in October is usually when we have fall break. Living in Tennessee you never know what kind of weather you will get in October. We have had an unusually hot fall!!!
Now that my kids are older, (high school and college) my husband and I get to do a little traveling alone. It is amazing!!! We only had a few days, but that was plenty. We headed out for Gatlinburg early on a Tuesday morning (Another perk of fall break is being able to travel during the week and not on the weekend). We stopped in one of my favorites in Nashville, Lovelesss Cafe. We walked in and got seated immediately (score!), there is usually a pretty long wait.
After a wonderful breakfast we were East bound and down! After about an hour of breath taking views of the Smokies, we rolled into Gatlinburg around 2:00pm. Our first stop was to see if our hotel room might by chance be ready — yes!! it was! We dropped our keys off with the valet ($12 a day- definitely worth it), and headed to check-in. The staff at the check-in counter went above and beyond to welcome us. After getting our room key we walked around the lobby— AMAZING – this is probably the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in. Margaritaville did not disappoint!
After checking in and leaving our bags we headed for the strip. Downtown Gatlinburg is so festive and beautiful in the fall. However, we were about a week too early to see Mother Nature’s foliage show. The leaves were just starting to turn, but not quite to the stunning fall colors just yet.
Our first stop was to Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine, and we bellied up to the bar. Ok, actually it wasn’t a traditional bar, it was only a tasting. After you go through the legalities (showing your ID), your bartender gives you a run down of what you will be tasting. We were lucky enough to have Clabo do our tasting, he was full of himself. The tastings are about the equivalent of 3 shots (does not sound like a lot— trust me it is!), you can choose to not try one if it doesn’t sound good. After our tasting we strolled down the strip a bit longer, our last stop was to buy tickets for the Anakeesta. Kudos to the people at Anakeesta, because it was fairly late in the afternoon(after 5), we were informed our wristband would be good for the ENTIRE following day!! yay! The Anakeesta has only been open about a year, we were puzzled as to what the name meant. FYI after looking it up, it is a Cherokee Indian word that refers to high ground. When you get to the top via lift chair, it is breath taking. (we saw a black bear walking under us on the way up) There is a trail with pictures of the fire in 2016, a bar, a mountain coaster, a fire pit, a walking/swinging bridge, and stunning views. We stopped at the bar for a quick drink and watched the sunset. Perfect end to a perfect day.
Day 2 started with breakfast at Pancake Pantry. We got there just in time, by the time we left the line was long. We got in the car and headed to Cade’s Cove, definitely a must see. It was only a short drive from downtown Gatlinburg, again Mother Nature showing out. It is not a short trip, roughly 1 to 2 hours. It is not a long drive there are just a lot of cars going slow. We made a quick detour to take a short hike to see Laurel Falls. The trail to the top is about 1.5 miles up, but definitely worth it.
After the hike we were tired and hungry, so we headed back to the strip looking for food. We asked a local for a recommendation for dinner, we were glad we did. We ate at a small hidden gem called New Orleans Sandwich Company— delicious. I had my first shrimp po boy (not sure why I have never tried one), it was SSSOOOO good. We also had the gumbo, it was amazing.
Have you been to Gatlinburg? What are your favorites?
Gatlinburg Getaway One of the perks of being a teacher in my district is a full week of fall break in October.