FALL ROAD TRIP: Gatlinburg, TN etc.

Took a road trip to Gatlinburg, TN to see my niece Kimberly and her boyfriend Duane. They live in a chalet right in the Smokey Mountains and work in Gatlinburg. She is an artist and has an art store there and he runs a small restaurant in the same area.

The ride there was long (9hrs.) but pretty nice with the Fall colors at their peak in the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee.

We rented a chalet in the mountains and I do mean IN THE MOUNTAINS. I will admit that driving my Ford Expedition on those mountain roads gave me some pause. The driveways to the chalets were so steep that I feared flipping over…but I guess I was just not used to it.

We drove through PIGEON FORGE, TN which is a huge tourist trap, to DOLLYWOOD which is a huge attraction owned by Dolly Parton and mostly dedicated to her life with many music venues all singing and playing her stuff. There are rides for the kids and country restaurants and more shops selling tourist crap. It was a great Fall day and the place was well decorated for the Fall.

GATLINBURG, TN is a smaller tourist trap town but they did have ski lifts that could take you high up to see the Fall colors in the Smoky Mountains which is something to behold. We were here many years ago when our kids were small and we had a pretty good time then.

My niece Kimberly is an accomplished artist and creates paintings and jewelry she fashions from some process in glass; we bought a bunch of stuff including a large painting that my wife really fell for.

We also ate at the CABIN CAFÉ which is run by Kim’s boyfriend Duane which is a cozy, cute place to stop and eat while making your way through the miles and miles of arts and crafts stores; I usually sat on a chair while they shopped.

All in all a pretty good adventure especially when you consider that my brother-in-law and his wife have not been out of Michigan in many years and he has never seen where his daughter lives and works.