We arrived a little after 9pm on Friday night and after dropping our bags off we headed out to visit a new place (new to us), called The Island in Pigeon Forge. We got ice cream and walked around a few shops before it started to rain. After the rain set in we decided to call it a night and headed back to our hotel.
Saturday morning we got an early start to beat the wait at Paula Deen's restaurant. It was, hands down, the best meal of our trip. The food is served family style and it's bottomless. Needless to say we skipped lunch because we were so full the rest of the day.
The dining area is upstairs in the restaurant with a gift shop on the first floor. The views were great from our table!
The gift shop was adorable too.
After our huge breakfast we drove up to Gatlinburg and went to the aquarium. It was a lot smaller than we remember, but it was still a fun experience. It's a great place for kids!
After the aquarium we walked the strip and went into a few different shops. It started to rain again, so we headed back to Pigeon Forge.
TIP:
If you are going to Gatlinburg and wanting to find a place to park to walk/eat/shop the strip, park at the aquarium, it $6 (less if under a certain amount of time) for the whole day and it's a covered garage.
We decided to go through the new Alcatraz East Crime Museum and it was really interesting! I would not recommend taking children there as it's a lot of walking around and reading different facts.
After the crime museum we ate at Timberwood Grill for an early dinner, since we skipped lunch. I got a burger topped with macaroni and cheese and bacon (calories don't count on vacation!) and it was delicious. After dinner we went back to the hotel to change and rest before going back out that night. We were exhausted from all the walking, ha!
Saturday night we went back to The Island and walked around, we also decided to have a late, second dinner (second dinner is totally acceptable on vacation) at Mellow Mushroom. We sat on their patio for a couple of hours, chatting and people watching. The weather was incredible and it was so nice to just hangout!
We had planned on riding the huge ferrris wheel, but it started to rain, so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. We watched a movie and then went to bed pretty late.
Sunday morning we slept in a bit and then headed to Applewood Farmhouse for brunch! While we waited for our table, I browsed their Christmas shop- so many cute things! Our meal was incredible, just as I remember from when I was younger and went their with my family. The apple fritters were the perfect starter to our meal!
We went to Tanger Outlets and then to The Christmas Place (can you really visit Gatlinburg and NOT go to Tanger Outlets and The Christmas Place??) before heading to to go-kart track. Matthew and Ethan's one request was go-karts at some point during the weekend, so go-karts it was! We spent a couple of hours riding on different tracks. It was fun and the guys were l-o-v-i-n-g it.
It was a great trip and we are excited to plan future couples trips with our best friends!!
What a fun trip!! Looks like they've really updated Pigeon Forge - so many fun activities and fun places to eat!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Gatlinburg in years! This looks like a great trip! I had no idea Paula Dean had a restaurant there! Thanks for the post! :)
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Pigeon Forge BUT it looks like an amazing trip. Did you guys choose a certain hotel due to location are there plenty of hotels in the area to select from? Did you guys share a hotel room to save on hotel costs ... I know I want to plan some trips coming up BUT hotel costs ALWAYS make me stray away. Also ... which restaurant was the best of the weekend?!?!
ReplyDeleteHow fun!! All the food you had sounds amazing. I can only imagine how cool Paula Deen's restaurant was!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fun trip! We've been to Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah, and it is amazing.
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