Gatlinburg’s main street is a world class tourist destination; here are some things to avoid on your visit For decades, I have been running up and down the strip in Gatlinburg – the stretch of Highway 441 that runs from Ole Red all the way up to Ski Mountain Road. I’ve had some of the best days – and evenings
A local shares his biggest missteps in hope you can learn from his mistakes One of the benefits of being a local to the mountains is it gives you a certain freedom to make a mistake. When I’m vacationing someplace like the beach or Disney, mistakes get magnified because my days are limited. If you get a week a year
A local breaks down the times to avoid when booking your Smoky Mountain vacation While I generally hold with the belief there are no bad times to visit the Smokies – with the exception of during natural disasters and the like – I will admit there are times that a Smoky Mountain vacation is less optimal than others. When are
A Local Offers Tips on What Not To Do at Gatlinburg’s Most Frequented Steakhouse The dining options in Gatlinburg are vast and varied. You can choose an elevated experience at a place like The Greenbrier, The Peddler or Chesapeake’s. You can eat some of the best (literally) BBQ in the country served on checkered plastic tablecloths while seated at mismatched
A local offers tips on what not to do at Gatlinburg’s popular pancake spot The Pancake Pantry is an iconic Gatlinburg institution. It was born in 1960 when a pair of Hoosiers decided to move to the mountains and open the first pancake palace in East Tennessee. They were quickly able to acquire the building and the land and then
A local offers advice on mistakes to avoid to make the most out of your next trip to Ober Gatlinburg I had given up on Ober Gatlinburg in the autumn a couple of years ago. In the days after Halloween, the park hadn’t transitioned from fall to winter. It was understaffed and underfunded. Then Joe Baker and his partners stepped
Don’t do these 7 things when renting a cabin in the Smokies There are a lot of factors you want to consider when you book a cabin in the Smoky Mountains. For example, you’ll want to book at a good price, get a good view and find a convenient location. But have you ever considered what NOT to do when
A local offers advice on mistakes to avoid to make the most of your next trip to Anakeesta It arrived one day without much fanfare, just seemingly appearing on top of the mountain. Self-billed as Gatlinburg’s “theme park”, there wasn’t a lot to do at Anakeesta that first season. However, a program of steady improvements has seen expansion nearly every
A local offers advice on mistakes to avoid to make the most of your next trip to the SkyBridge With Anakeesta drawing traffic across the valley and Ober Mountain under new ownership, the competition for your “SkyDollars” has never been higher. But the eldest of the major mountaintop attractions isn’t ready to wave a white flag of surrender. The park’s
An insider’s guide on what not to do when visiting Gatlinburg, the surrounding area As someone who lives near the Smokies and frequents the main strip every chance I get, I can tell you from first-hand experience that there are several ways to approach a visit to Gatlinburg. Or really any vacation for that matter. But no matter how you