Our Smoky Mountains Vacation: Day 3



The usual Fruit Plate


Wednesday morning we woke up with the plan to have breakfast, hit a trail, then head over to Gatlinburg for the day.  This morning we had our usual fruit plate, corn bread with veggies, sweet potato slices/chips or something, some kind of pastry with cream cheese and sausage (the bread part of this was made from our leftover dough from the Apple Pies, smart!), and orange juice.  Oh, and of course, every morning we had tea and coffee available, and we ate on the back porch.

After breakfast, I just wasn't feeling very good, but we went ahead and grabbed our sack lunch of Turkey sandwiches, doritos, cheetos, and cookies, and headed for the mountains.  We pulled into the parking lot, and I really wasn't feeling very good.  (Turns out this was the beginning of me being sick for the next 10 days or so.  It was just cold symptoms, but I think that with pregnancy really wiped me out).  We decided against starting a long hike, and instead drove to Gatlinburg.

The Doctors

The Doctors warned us that Gatlinburg is the "Myrtle Beach of the Smokies."  Eek!  I've had enough of Myrtle Beach, thanks. I had been to Gatlinburg in the past as a child, and I remember the fudge and taffy, and I had been craving that since we started planning this vacation.  Kyle had never been, so we decided to try it out anyway.

Kyle showed up with the desire to just see and explore Gatlinburg.  I showed up with the mission to buy a piece of fudge and a box of good ol' Smoky Mountain Taffy!  It turns our we greatly enjoyed our whole day in Gatlinburg!  It is touristy, but it's a different kind of touristy and still not as much as the Myrtle Beach Strip, and it also has cool little "villages" that escape the strip.

The Moonshine Tour

We spent some time looking at the history of and how Moonshine used to be made!  There was a little tour where we watched it being made (and smelled of strong yeast, yuck) and then a store where you could taste and buy moonshine or souvenirs.  Little baby Addison loved the samples!  She was kickin' for the rest of the day!  I'm only kidding, Kyle and I didn't try any.

I loved this area of Gatlinburg!

One of my favorite areas was "The Village."  It was a small area that took you away from the streets, and you felt like you were in an actual small town or...village.  I loved it!  This is where we found the Tervis Tumbler store.  We had no idea they have their own stores now!



With slightly discounted prices






Fall Decorations in The Village





Kyle trying the Apple Butter



My favorite store had to be "All Sauced Up."  I wanted to buy everything in there!  You could sample anything and everything, and all of it was delicious.  There were sauces, butters, creams, dips, cheeses, and the list could go on and on.  Some of my favorites were the Apple Butter and Peppermint Whipped Cream dip.



Cirque de Chine Acrobats



At the end of the strip was the Aquarium, which cost a fortune to get in (so we didn't go), but we did get a little taste of what we would be seeing two nights later.  Some of the acrobats were out in front advertising for their show, Cirque de Chine.



Where we got our Rocky Road Fudge

Well, we had seen the whole strip, been in every candy store, and tasted an abundance of fudge, so it was time to make our pick of where we would buy.  We got our Rocky Road 1/2 pound of fudge from this little stand, where a girl from Macedonia was working.  She was on some kind of program, and as we asked more about it the more we found out she was pretty disappointed she got assigned to work in Gatlinburg, TN while others are on the beach or big cities... darn...

The Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen

And we got our taffy from the place where we got to see taffy being made, "The Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen." 

Well, we had seen all of Gatlinburg, time to find something else to do.  We were about to head back to the Cabin or to Pigeon Forge when Kyle asked, "Where is that slide you were telling me about?"  The Alpine Slide!  I almost forgot!  It's at Ober Gatlinburg (That's not a typo, it is actually "Ober").



A view of the slides from the lift

We headed to Ober Gatlinburg and after much debate of what we would purchase, we decided to just purchase the tickets for the Alpine Slide for now.  This would take us up a Sky Lift, where we would get off, grab a cart and slide down the mountain on a half-pipe type thing. 

On the lift

I was really impressed with the treatment I got for being pregnant!  They stopped the entire lift for me to get on and off.  Otherwise I'd be jumping off and trying to dodge the next seat as I raced to the other side.  They also waited for me to get all the way down the mountain and off the slide before they'd send the next person.  I was very thankful and impressed!  Oh, and they carried my heavy cart, so nice :)

 There are two slides side-by-side, so Kyle and I got to ride down next to each other.  We were cracking up the whole time.  It's just a unique experience.  On the way down, I decided to take the risk and get a couple pictures of Kyle on the slide beside me.  I'm so glad I did because these are two of my favorite pictures of the vacation. 

I was still feeling sick and full from breakfast, lunch, samples, fudge and taffy.  Kyle felt the same, so we skipped dinner and went back to the cabin. 

The Germans

We met up with the German couple out on the back porch, talked, I knit, Kyle read, and we all had some heated up apple pie, which was actually better today than yesterday!  It didn't heat up all the way through, so the inside was still a little, well, frozen.  Janice so kindly and genuinely told Kyle that it was like a delicious Apple Pie Popsickle!  haha, thanks :) 

Night on the back porch










Once again, stuffed, ready for bed, hoping but not hopeful to feeling hungry once again before a massive breakfast in the morning.  Would I ever be hungry again...???