This year we ended up being able to book Pigeon Forge during leaf season. I enjoy traveling during the fall so we can see the leaves change. We live in Florida and the leaves do not change here. It was so beautiful and I feel a pull to the mountains every time we travel up there.
Day 1 - Traveling up to Tennessee you could start to see the leaves change as we got towards the middle of Georgia. It was a full day of traveling. We stopped and stayed the night at my sister’s house.
Day 2 - We hung out with my sister most of the day and met my Niece and her family for lunch. After lunch we packed up and headed towards Pigeon Forge. I wanted to be sure to make it up there before dark because I wanted to see the mountainous terrain. As we were driving through a little town there was a drive up A&W Restaurant. I had never been to one of these old fashion drive ups. We each got a root beer float in a nice collectable mug. We made it up to the resort and checked in. After checking in we always go to the grocery store to get breakfast food and some snacks.
Day 3 - This was mostly a shopping day. We hit up the outlets. Then we had lunch at The Apple Farmhouse Grill and checked out The Apple Barn. This area was really neat to check out and walk through the little shop. We then went down to The Island of Pigeon Forge, which was a little shopping area with a few rides. This was Halloween night and they had a bunch of kids dressed up trick or treating at all the shops. It was so great seeing all the kids dressed up.
Day 4 - We drove down to Gatlinburg. This is a strip of a ton of shops and eateries. We walked around and checked everything out. We stopped and got donuts from the Donut Friar. Then for lunch we found this cute little Celtic Pub. The guys running the place were so great. We got a spice bag which had fries, fried chicken pieces, and peppers & onions. It was served with this beer cheese that was just amazing. By far the best meal we had the whole time we were there.
Day 5 - The fiancé wanted to get up early and drive the Cades Cove Loop in hopes to see a bear. We saw lots of deer and beautiful scenery. There were a couple of old churches and buildings through out the loop. They also had little pull offs so you could get out and take pictures. The halfway point has restrooms and a little souvenir shop. The fiancé was a little disappointed we didn’t see a bear up to this point. Well after we got back on the loop and down just a bit there was a huge black bear right off the road. They had park rangers there to make sure nobody got to close to the bear. It was really cool to see a wild bear that close up, we were probably about 30 ft from the bear. We headed back on the loop and ended up seeing a couple more smaller bears off in a bit of a distance. One was just chilling on its back.
On the way back to Pigeon Forge we stopped at this little river stream. It was so pretty!
We also stopped off at Goats on the Roof and fed some goats. We didn’t ride the mountain coaster because at this point we were pretty hungry.
We ended up going to the old 50’s style diner. The food was pretty good here and the setup was really cool. I wanted to do the Gem Mining so we went and did one bucket. I got the treasure hunter bucket, which had some fossils and sharks teeth, along with the gemstones. This was such a long day, we went back to the room and relaxed pretty early.
Day 6 - We took our time getting up and getting ready. Anytime there is any museum that has to do with crime or police, the fiancé wants to check it out. There was a museum called Alcatraz East. It had a lot of exhibits on different crimes throughout history, a whole area about forensics, and a few cars that were involved in crimes. This museum was very informational. After the museum we headed to Downtown Flavortown which is Guy Fieri’s restaurant. The food was really good and the restaurant was huge with an arcade and bowling alley. I took a picture of this little robot that helps with bussing the tables. The fiancé wanted to go back to one of the shops that was near the Gem Mining, so I went and mined another bucket and got so many neat gems. We called it a bit of an early night so we could go back and start packing and getting things together for the ride home the next day.
Day 7 - We drove through the mountains heading home and I got some really pretty shots.
We had such a wonderful time and loved the area!
I would love it if you had a chance to check out my little Etsy Shop. To keep up with new updates and upcoming sales join my Newsletter Here.
Thank you so much for taking a look and if you would like to see my work in progress pictures or just some creative randomness you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.