Spring break. To many, this week long “holiday” invokes the image of barely dressed college students slinking around the beach either imbibing themselves with alcohol, only to seek to expunge the excess back into the world once it had done its damage. But at a point in many peoples lives, often upon beginning a family and having children it becomes a gap that recharges us to help refocus on getting through the end of another school year, and one step closer to summer. There are a lot of places that fall into the category for these spring getaways that families across the US flock to. For those just happy to escape the cold of winter, the beaches of Florida, California or the Carolinas are the go to. Some adventurous souls seek a quiet refuge in the outdoors among Americas great parks like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and a personal favorite destination of mine, Yosemite. And still others opt for more crowds than most prefer and hit up amusement parks, tourist traps, and areas begging the visitors to part with some bread, like Las Vegas. This year, we ended up in the Las Vegas of the Smokies, Gatlinburg, Tennessee. .
And while we sometimes indulge in the trappings of commercialized tourism (See Dollywood below), even in a place so seemingly overrun with visitors we seek out to find something interesting out of the way and off the beaten path form the rest.
We were so fortunate that we had friends that had a time share just outside of Gatlinburg, in Sevierville. On our way to check in for our week long stay, in a suite that I dare say was certainly comfortable enough to live in for a significant amount of time even for a family of four, we had to first stop at perhaps the greatest knife store in the world, The Smoky Mountain Knife Works. This 3 story shop is chock full of ever conceivable style of knife. If you’re looking for a knife for camping, hunting or work, they have you covered. Want to whittle or carve wood? No problem. See yourself as a knife connoisseur? Plenty of options. Maybe you just need a new set of kitchen knives, kitchenware or to have something sharpened. That is their bag baby. On top of all this, they have an amazing selection of antiques from the World Wars, American Revolution and Civil War, to prehistoric items like fossils, and the largest collection of rocks, stones, minerals and gems, I have ever witnessed. This is place that is worth stopping, even if you don’t think it will be “your thing”.
Our first day we hit up Douglas Lake for a beautiful, refreshing and completely tourist free day of Kayaking. The prices for all four was perfectly acceptable, and it was a great experience to cross to the other side of the lake, stopping at small lake islands on the way and exploring some shoreline. We made sure to hit up the pizza and ice cream spot in the parking lot run by the same company as the Douglas Lake Marina. Perfect way to end an easy first day.
Over the course of the next several days we wandered around town looking at shops, driving into Gatlinburg (truly over run by tourists such as ourselves). So packed that we just drove on through. And just keot on going. We drove up into the Smoky Mountains ever higher, coming to view upon view that would suck the breath away from even the most travelled nomads. We ended up in a small town, on an Indian Reservation called Cherokee North Carolina. It was only about an hour outside of Gatlinburg. It was unassuming. I would love to tell you to stop at Pauls Family Restaurant for their buffalo burger, or Indian fry-bread. I really would. Maybe once the effects of the pandemic are gone the wait times and food quality will be better. Maybe.
We cruised the same road back that brought us out, the 441. We were fortunate enough to decide to stop (the sheer number of elk we saw grazing on the highway necessitated it) at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. We looked around the free museum and toured the grounds which showed old buildings, and a home from a bygone era. Stories of the mountain people in the area were thrilling, and my boys even go to listen to very old recordings of some of those people recounting harrowing stories of their lives in these mountains.
Pulling out and stopping only to photograph some wild turkeys and a waterfall or two, we ended back up on the ridge passing us between North Carolina and Tennessee to the are we had wanted to hike earlier that day. The sad fact was that Clingman’s Dome was closed that day and we did not get to put our boots to the ground. We were treated almost the entire way back though, with some of the most stunning sunsets we have seen (and we have seen quite a number of them.
Another excursion that we were very excited about was our white water rafting trip. though it was raining, our outfitters, Family Adventures Rafting in the Smokies, had wetsuits (pre-wettened unfortunately) that once on helped us to stay warm, which was fortunate as it rained for a good portion of the time we were on the river. An exciting trip a few miles down river, bouncing through rapids in the class 3 and 4 range kept our hearts beating and our eyes on the river. The thrill was real. We all got a good dose of soaked, and the rush was enjoyed by us all. Just the first of many white water trips for us to be sure!
We spent good time at the pool relaxing each and every day, and come that Thursday spent time at the creative park of one of our most beloved singers, Dolly Parton. Thats right, we most certainly were ready for some excitement. And we got it. After the first ride nearly scared my youngest son to death by surprise (his and ours as well) we split for a while so the two thrill seekers could embark on gut wrenching side splitting rides, at a pace that was quite fantastic considering it was spring break, while the other two took in some of the less stomach turning rides. I would most certainly say that Wild Eagle, Mystery Mine and Tennessee Tornado are coasters you don’t want to miss, unless you do.
On the last couple of days we visited MagiQuest, an indoor enchanted medieval sort of attraction where knighted children could use their wands (a basic one provided with admission, but a premium wand could be purchased as an upgrade for those “true” wizards) to unlock the secrets and find the clues in the mystical realm. A great way to encourage children and adults alike to explore and seek out adventure. They also had a very cool indoor glow-in-the-dark pirate themed mini golf course, that again, surprisingly, was not busy at all.
Our final excursion took us to Wonderworks, and upside down building on the strip in Pigeon Forge. The ropes course was an excellent test of bravery and courage that all but our youngest were able to brave for more than a few minutes. After climbing to the fourth level and getting through most obstacles, we retreated back to the ground level, where fascinating science experiments and oddities astounded and entranced us. A bed of nails you could lay on, a peddle powered loop-de-loop machine, and dozens of other exciting exhibits kept us busy for hours, before we headed out to grab dinner. We had the pleasure of stumbling upon the best restaurant we found this entire trip, Fort Worth Texas Kitchen just before heading back to pack our bags for the drive home in the morning.
Their take on Tex-Mex was unique and the Nachos, with home made tortilla chips made visibly right at the front of the restaurant were amazing, yet it was for me the Texas Twinkies (bacon wrapped stuffed Jalapeños and authentic pozole were the real stars.
Our Trip to the Gatlinburg area was many things rolled into one. It was educational, thrilling, delicious, relaxing and beautiful. There was adventure to be had, without succumbing to the need to spend to enjoy ourselves. We made memories that will for sure live on in our minds. The trip was a great introduction to the area, and all that it has to offer. We were fortunate that besides the Gatlinburg area, for a spring break, it was not too overly crowded. This could be attributed to the fact that we visited towards the end of the main body of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-2022 . It is one for the books, and one that again in the future will be booked. We look forward to our return to Gatlinburg.
