pigeonforge – Postcards From TLC

June 16, 2017

Fun Things to Do While Visiting the Great Smoky Mountains

While visiting the Great Smoky Mountains in May, we found a lot of really fun things to do. While most of our activities were centered in Pigeon Forge, TN because that’s where we stayed, there are other surrounding areas that demand visits as well. Here’s a quick list of some highlights:

Harpoon Harry’s Crab House–a seafood restaurant that also serves sushi and has some incredible woodworking in their dining rooms

Boot Factory Outlet has every boot you can imagine and if you buy one pair, you get 2 pair free

Margaritaville Island–see previous TLC Postcards post for details about Margaritaville Island <——by clicking here

The Margaritaville Island Chill Bar next to the rooftop pool of the hotel

The Great Smoky Mountain Wheel

Paula Deen’s Family Restaurant

Hatfield’s and McCoy’s Dinner Feud–hilarious dinner theater show

Eat at one of the many pancake houses, Reagan’s, Smoky Mountain, Frizzled Chicken

Hike the trails and see nature, wildlife, and waterfalls

Check out the fishing or kayaking in the mountains

Eat crab legs and other seafood, at Captain Jim’s Seafood Buffet

Check out Clingman’s Dome

Sample some moonshine at Ole Smoky Moonshine

Eat at Dick’s Last Resort (or just order a beer which comes as a 40oz in it’s own bucket)

Visit Dolly Parton’s hometown of Sevierville, TN

There’s tons of things to do in this area! This list will just occupy you for about 4 days, or you can do a little homework and find many other activities to make your own list. We plan to go back again someday to experience some more fun. Happy travels to the Smoky Mountains!

May 30, 2017

Smoky Mountain Pancaking

I don’t know what it is about the towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN, but they sure love their pancakes. While visiting there over the weekend, I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of pancake restaurants in the very short distance of the 5 miles of of the Parkway strip.

For instance, Pigeon Forge, whose population is 5,800, came in with at least 15 different pancake houses. And that’s a loose estimate–I’m pretty sure I didn’t count them all and I didn’t count places like Shoney’s or Cracker Barrel as pancake houses. There were restaurants with quirky names like the Frizzled Chicken and Reagan’s Broken Egg Pancake House and some whose names got straight to the point such as: Log Cabin Pancake House, River Road Pancake House, Parkway Pancake House.

We stopped in one morning at Reagan’s House of Pancakes. We scientifically decided on this place because it was the third pancake house on our right, while travelling south down the Pigeon Forge Parkway. We were trying to beat the crowds out to Clingman’s Dome so we were there by 7:30 and in a hurry for breakfast. Luckily, Reagan’s (which was voted Best Pancake House 3 years in a row) hadn’t yet hit their breakfast rush and had a buffet complete with pancakes and French toast. Now, I’m more of a bacon and eggs kind of girl, but I decided that “when in Rome” I had to eat the pancakes. I did not regret this decision as the pancakes were excellent and the French toast was even better.

The next morning we started out a little later because we were only hiking one trail–only half the day. We stopped at the Smoky Mountain Pancake House, and just beat the droves of incoming “pancakers” by minutes. Luckily, we got in just in time to get a wonderfully prompt and excellent breakfast. I had the French toast–still close to pancakes…

After finishing hiking the Grotto Falls trail, we cruised around Gatlinburg (which is only 7 miles south of Pigeon Forge and has 4,180 people) and noticed they had almost as many pancake houses as Pigeon Forge. We counted 8 on their 1 mile long strip with some names we’d already seen in PF and some new names such as The River Road Pancake House and Atrium Pancakes. If you’re averaging pancake houses per mile, Gatlinburg is the winner here.

The next morning we were slated to check out the Frizzled Chicken, just because the name is so fun to say. Unfortunately, we were too frizzled ourselves to make it before the “pancakers” and we had a fabulous breakfast, skipping pancakes and French toast altogether, for a family style breakfast at Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen. Watch for more about the complimentary biscuits we had there.

May 19, 2017

Smoky Mountain Getaway

Smoky Mountains I love holiday weekends! But I dread staying home for them. I see a holiday weekend as an opportunity for a mini vacay. You see, the drawback to staying home for a holiday weekend is that maybe the friends are available to socialize, or maybe they’ve made plans to be out of town. It seems a number of our friends are of the spontaneous variety and can’t make a plan until the last minute. It’s a crapshoot trying to figure out who will really be around for an impromptu BBQ or a trip to the local winery and who won’t. I once bought 10 lbs of burgers to grill only to have 3 friends show up. That’s a lot of leftovers.

With Memorial weekend coming up, on a whim, we’ve decided to head to the Smoky Mountains! I know, I know, I’m usually more of a warm weather, beach kind of girl. My husband? He’s an expert of all-inclusive resort swim-up bars. So why the Smoky Mountains? I saw some pictures of waterfalls and thought they looked inviting. I priced out the trip, and felt it was of good value. My husband? Well, I had to promise we would stay at a place called Margaritaville Island Hotel (think Jimmy Buffett and frozen concoctions) and he was sold on the idea. There will actually be a Frozen Concoction Maker in our room!

Since the holiday is right around the corner, I’m currently in planning mode. I have my file of a map of the area marked and highlighted with everything I’d like to explore. We will fly in to Knoxville, TN, and drive down to Pigeon Forge. Beyond that, I’m overwhelmed with the variety of options. I know we won’t be able to check out everything in the 3 days that we’ll be there, so I have to narrow down the list in order to maximize our time there.

Just in “The Island” complex where our hotel is located, I’ve developed a list of where we want to be sure to eat/drink/shop. First, we are on the schedule for a couple’s massage upon arrival (another promise to hubby who has become quite fond of massages). No better way to unwind from the flight there, right? From there, I plan to indulge at Paula Deen’s Kitchen. I’ve seen what she can whip up on TV and I intend to try it and I know I’ll like it. Also on the list for eats is a place called Dick’s Last Resort–it sounds like a funny place where the wait staff “inflict humor upon their guests”. Shopping will include in no certain order, the Beef Jerky Outlet (they say they have kangaroo jerky), Ole Smoky Moonshine, The Pepper Palace, and The Village Idiot. Changes in Latitude Bar sounds like a good place to cool off and imbibe.

Beyond the confines of our resort complex, I’ve drummed up lots of activities which will include hiking, which is NOT my husband’s favorite activity. Some places we are planning to check out are Cade’s Cove–which can be a scenic drive or hike, Clingman’s Dome–the second highest point in the Smoky Mountains which I’ve been dying to see since I saw a post about it on FaceBook, and Grotto Falls–this is the waterfall who’s pictures spurred this trip in the first place. You can actually walk behind the waterfall. Also, a must-see will be Laurel Falls–the laurels should be in full bloom in May–and Indian Creek Falls.

Between the Smoky’s and our resort in Pigeon Forge, there’s Gatlinburg. Seems we may need to stop through on our way home each evening and catch a dinner show such as The Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show or check out the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum. I don’t know why that place has caught my attention, but sounds like a must-see to me.

After all this hiking, we may need to just head back to Margaritaville Island for another massage and Changes In Latitude.