Gatlinburg Again

After our time in Arkansas and a drive through Tennessee, we ended up back in Sevierville (southeast of Knoxville) although at a different park than we'd visited in May.  While the first park was okay, this park was much better and the back section where we stayed was pretty empty.

It rained nearly the entire time we were there but we found a dry(ish) day and decided to take a drive to Gatlinburg so we could see how the town was decorated.  Remember, we'd been here for Cinco de Mayo.  You can read about it HERE.

The city wasn't too decked out but there were a lot of 'friends' around town that made me smile.

Cookie, anyone?

Mom getting a break.

Twins!

As we walked around I noticed lots of other friends - some were decorated for Christmas.

I have no idea what this guy was doing in a restaurant.

Some of the shops were interesting.  Too bad this sign had the name of the top garage spelled incorrectly.

These could be special ordered so if we had a garage, we could have had one made

Somehow I think with this game, we know who did it every single time.

This is probably a popular attraction in the summer.  But NO WAY would I go up there!

They claim this provides the best views in Gatlinburg

When you get to the top, you can walk across the SkyBridge, the longest cable bridge in North America.  See the people up there?

NO THANK YOU!

It turned out there were more Christmas decorations than we'd seen when we first got there.

Since we never made it back to the Moonshine store the last time we were there, we made a point of stopping there on the way back.  Not just Moonshine but Vodka!

Dale Jr. and Amy Earnhardt

We loved listening to the music even though we didn't hear any Christmas music.

And there it was - the Moonshine Cherries!

Yes, we bought a jar this time

By now it was starting to rain so we decided to hit the road and get back to our trailer.  Santa wished us a Merry Christmas on the way out of town.

Tennessee - Gatlinburg

We decided to venture out for Cinco de Mayo to Gatlinburg which was about 45 minutes from where we were staying.  It was a nice drive and the weather was great.

We walked around the town and came across this.

You can't see it well but that little speck above the barrel in the back is a person performing and people sitting in chairs listening.

This was an interesting sign - I didn't notice until just now that it was the first legal distillery and established in 2010?  Is that right?

A quick look at their website gave this description:

Founded in 2010, Ole Smoky became Tennessee’s First Legal Moonshine Distillery after the state legalized the production, distillation, and sale of the region’s infamous and illicit alcohol. The company traces its roots to the Smoky Mountains’ earliest settlers - families who produced moonshine with enduring pride and Appalachian spirit. The century-old recipe is still used today in Ole Smoky’s award-winning products.

So I guess the key word is legal because, obviously, Moonshine has been produced for many, many years.

We walked in and saw every type of moonshine imaginable.

Ron loves cherries so he was enamored with this display.

Moonshine pickles?

We intended to come back so we didn't have to carry things around town - maybe it's best that we never made it.

Interesting to note the name Smoky - I'm sure my siblings remember my favorite pastime as a kid.

Debi and Smoky Joe

Oops, I got sidetracked for a minute.  Back to Gatlinburg.

There were plenty of places to get some lunch but since it was Cinco de Mayo, we figured we had to have Mexican food.

The table above on the right was "our" table.  And again, since it was Cinco de Mayo.....

Yummmmm!

We had a great view of the town.

Yes, my friends, there is a Space Needle in Gatlinburg.  Thank goodness it was closed for annual maintenance (I'm really not fond of heights).

It was a fun day and we were happy to finally experience a place we'd heard about for many years.