Five historic restaurants located outside of the Smokies When visitors come to the Smokies, they are beset by merchants, restauranteurs and more. And all are selling a particular brand of nostalgia. Authentic mountain goods, authentic mountain recipes. Some of it real. However, some of it is catering to specific expectations. But the taste of East Tennessee – even the mountains
Planning to spend the holidays in the Smokies? These are the best places that will be open on Thanksgiving and Christmas Fall is in the air in the Smokies, and you know what that means… that’s right! Time to start planning how to spend your holiday vacation in the mountains. Maybe you’ve got a hotel for Thanksgiving in order to
What restaurants offer wild meats in the Smokies? I remember the first time I ever had wild game meat as a kid. Importantly, I didn’t come from a hunting family. But I’m sure we had cousins out in the wilds of Indiana hunting rabbits and squirrel and other such critters, varmints and such. The details are somewhat fuzzy, but the
The best places to get a taste of fall in the mountains of East Tennessee Autumn is approaching full swing in the Smokies. That means warm days and crisp nights. It means the advancing of a rustic colors down from the high mountains all the way to the valley. The very air feels and – when you’re in the mountains
Finding excellent Bavarian dining in Western North Carolina I was surprised, while doing a little bit of research for this article, to find Germans were the second largest European group to settle in the Smoky mountains behind the Scot-Irish. I spent a portion of my youth living in Northern Indiana, where German culture and Germanic people were common. But, having
Here are some of the best places to celebrate your birthday in the Smoky Mountains What percentage of your birthday celebrations do you actually remember? I consider myself to have a pretty good grasp on key memories, but I’d never really given birthday reflection much of a thought. There was the fifth – that was a big one – celebrated
Where can you go in the Smokies for a family meal without being exposed to alcohol consumption? There have been a lot of changes over the course of my decades in the Smoky Mountains, probably the biggest change has been the availability of alcohol. We are talking by either the drink or the bottle in distilleries and package stores around
These are the restaurants we wish would come to the Smokies On one hand you could make the argument the Smokies have quite enough places to eat thank you very much. And we get that. What does a drowning man need with a cup of water after all? But, in the mountains, there’s a lot of similarities. A lot of
Ranking the regional “chain” restaurants in the Smokies For years, I didn’t realize that lightning bugs were a regional thing. We grew up chasing them, catching them, keeping them in jars and releasing them at the end of the evening. I thought it was a fairly universal experience. I mean, I didn’t expect Alaskans got a lot of lightning bugs
Sevier County finds itself on the front line of the battle between two growing gas station chains Buc-ee’s arrived in Sevier County, at I-40’s Exit 407, one of the busiest in the country, with trumpets blazing, massive fanfare and a welcoming fit for king. Casey’s arrived in a different fashion. The Iowa based chain bought 38 Pilot stores in East