I always thought I was a beach girl. That's what I knew because my parents are definitely beach people. Turns out I’m a “I’ll take a cabin in the mountains with a hot tub because I don’t like cold” kind of girl. I just need some tall trees and a view and maybe a little two bedroom A frame, but I’m not picky. I’ll take a stream or something too though because I’m still drawn to the water no matter where I go.

Nashville

Okay so Nashville isn’t exactly the obvious choice to fly into when you’re making a trip to Gatlinburg, but we’re kind of die hard Southwest Airlines people and they don’t do Knoxville. The moment they do though, we’re in trouble. I will give them all of my money to keep taking me back to the mountains.

Nashville is a good 4 hour drive and one time change away from Gatlinburg, but I loved the drive. We were only in Nashville for one night before making the drive east.

Where we stayed

We stayed at the Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown. The location was super convenient to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which was on my list, the pedestrian bridge, and Broadway. I’m finally finishing this post two years after visiting so I can only speak to the hotel during October 2020. It was perfect for our needs. Continental breakfast is always a win with kids and it was clean. I would consider staying here again on my next trip, if I was in the market for an affordable stay in downtown Nashville.

What we did

We weren’t in Nashville for long and the kids were tired after getting up early. We started with just finding out hotel, taking a minute to pull ourselves back together, and then heading out for lunch. We found a little pizza joint next to our hotel with the coolest vibe and outdoor eating area that was perfect for lunch. Unfortunately it has since closed, but it made for my favorite Nashville photo. I kinda hope this ordering window still exists. It’s at 311 3rd Avenue, if you want to see for yourself. It’s basically at the bottom of the Hyatt Place.

Country Music Hall of Fame

After lunch we walked to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I wore the wrong shoes and the kids were just at the right age and tiredness for not appreciating the walk one bit. It’s really not far. It was cool. I think this kids would appreciate it more now than they did then, but they were honestly just tired and not into it. It finally won Saida over at the end when she found the Kasey Musgraves exhibit. She couldn’t get enough of the dresses even though she had no clue who Kasey Musgraves was. We spent the 4 hour drive to Gatlinburg (and back) getting a little Kasey Musgraves education via Amazon music and we’re still fans (even if the latest album isn’t really our jam). I have no pictures from the museum and I regret it.

Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge

The pedestrian bridge takes you from downtown over the Cumberland River to Nissan Stadium (where the Titans play). I find pedestrian bridges to be cool so I knew I wanted the kids to be able to run around here and just be kids. They were still all sorts of moody though so it didn’t last long. It’s a great photo op though if you want the city in behind you. This was our pre dinner adventure and they did warm up to it eventually, but as per usual Corbin was hungry and ready to eat. Shocking, I know.

Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant

We ate dinner at yet another restaurant that no longer exists. It’s too bad because I think we all enjoyed it and it was actually my second time there. Tyler and I stopped in for a beer on a previous trip. It was on Broadway across from Hard Rock Cafe. Saida loved it because she could watch all the girls in fancy outfits walking down Broadway. I googled it and apparently it had been there for 25 years before shutting down. RIP Rock Bottom Brewery. There’s an obvious joke here, but it sucks when people go out of business so I’ll leave it alone.

This concluded the Nashville portion of our trip. Off to Gatlinburg.

Gatlinburg

I love Gatlinburg. We’re going back one day and hopefully more than once. I’ll also do Asheville or something, but that part of the country is where it’s at for me.

Getting there

Getting to Gatlinburg from Nashville takes about 4 hours via car. It wasn’t ideal and the weather was iffy some of the way, but my kids are pretty decent at 4 hour drives so it wasn’t too bad. It was Texas/OU weekend so I pretty much just watched the game on my phone the whole way and enjoyed the scenery. You’re basically just on I-40 the majority of the way until you’re to a new time zone, through Knoxville, and then you head south through Sevierville and on to Gatlinburg either through Pigeon Forge or you can go a little further and come around Gatlinburg on the other side and miss the Pigeon Forge traffic. We came in the opposite side from Pigeon Forge because that’s where we were staying. Unfortunately (or fortunately) our room wasn’t ready so we had to find something to do for a little bit before we could check in.

Where we stayed

We stayed at Bent Creek Golf Village in Pittman Center (birthplace of the one and only Dolly Parton). It was part of a timeshare thing where we were supposed to sit through a timeshare presentation while we were there, but they decided they weren’t getting our business pretty quick (I brought my kids with me and set a timer for the amount of time we promised) and decided to let us just get on with vacation. We were back in our room 30 minutes from the time we left it, attended the presentation, and then walked back to our room. We had a one bedroom condo basically with a full kitchen and a balcony overlooking the golf course. It was perfect for our needs and it took about 20 minutes to get to downtown Gatlinburg. Unfortunately the traffic in town was awful so I’d recommend staying in town, if you don’t want to deal with the driving. I don’t have a picture to share, but it totally looks like the pictures on the web link.

What we did

Roaring Fork Motor Trail

I’m going to start with the first thing we did and my absolute favorite part of the trip. Roaring Fork Motor Trail! This is a one way motor trail through a portion of the National Park. There are places to pull over along the way so you can get out and explore or even go on a legit hike. We explored several stops along the way and it was my heaven. I think everything I ever though I wanted changed along that trail. I wanted to be in those tall trees with those streams and all the moss and ferns. The kids loved it too. No crazy hikes, just quick in and outs of the car with fun things to explore along the way.

The urge to go back there is strong. I think the only thing keeping me from moving is there’s no H-E-B (iykyk) and/or decent Tex-Mex.

Clingman’s Dome

Don’t be like us and go when it’s cloudy. That’s hard though because they’re called the Smoky Mountains for a reason, am I right? They say you can see for 100 miles on a clear day at the top of Clingman’s Dome. We saw this far…

I don’t regret the trip up there because the drive was intriguing in such crazy fog. Photographing things in fog was totally on my bucket list and this next picture is one that just blows my mind every time I see it again. We’ll just have to try again one day. I’ve got lots of excuses to go back. Plus we added another state to the list because Clingmans’s Dome is actually in North Carolina.

Newfound Gap

We stopped at Newfound Gap on the way back down from Clingman’s Dome. The view is everything you think of when you think of the Smoky Mountains. We walked the Appalachian trail for a little bit and then headed back to the car.

Downtown Gatlinburg & Nantahala outdoor center

I mean you gotta do it right? My honest opinion is that most of the shops in Downtown Gatlinburg aren’t worth your effort. We found an old school candy store on the main drag though which was how we bribed the children to not whine though that fiasco. The place we found and fell in love with was Nantahala Outdoor Center. That’s where you go for actual nice souvenirs, t-shirts, and outdoor gear. I’d love to go in that place again someday. I inadvertently ended up throwing away a vinyl sticker that I bought there and I’d like to get another one and also sign up for white water rafting.

Anakeesta

We were tired the day we did Anakeesta. It was our last day before driving back to Nashville to catch a plane home. I’d never been on a lift before so the trip up the mountain to the park was exciting for me. It’s kind of the part I was looking most forward to and the suspension bridges through the trees.

We paid extra for the kids to do panning for gems and arrowheads and they thought that was pretty cool. They also would have spent most of their time on the playground because it’s awesome.

We were confused about the Rail Runner coaster and so we didn’t get signed up in enough time to actually do it. If that’s something want to do while you’re there, I suggest checking into that first. We were just so tired and ready to move on.

We did eat lunch at Anakeesta (burgers) and my honest opinion is that it was just okay. Definitely not worth a trip to the top for the food, but it’s good if you’re already up there and need a meal. Now the view can’t be beat.

No way jose’s Mexican cantina

This restaurant is right in the heart of downtown Gatlinburg right near the aquarium. We weren’t super impressed with any meal we ate in Gatlinburg, but it was good. I’d probably eat there again.

Three Jimmy’s Good Time Eatery

This place was supposed to be where all the locals eat. It had wonderful reviews and I was pretty excited about going there. It really just wasn’t good. We had a hard time saying one good thing about the food. We just weren’t impressed at all. I wish I had positive recommendations for anyone going to Gatlinburg, but unfortunately I have to say don’t waste your time here.

I guess some places just aren’t known for their food. There are entire vacations you could plan around good food. East Tennessee is just not one of those places.

takeaways from this trip

I am now a mountain girl. Please take me back.
Kasey Musgraves is cool
Don’t expect amazing food in East Tennessee
Do the good eating in Nashville
Sign up early for the Rail Runner thing at Anakeesta
Roaring Fork Motor Trail is my happy place
Bring your kids and set a timer at Timeshare presentations (trust me on this)