Going to Gatlinburg in early June isn't the brightest idea. It's hot. It's humid. It's crowded. But that's when our Middle States journey had us in the area, so there we were! I'd never been to Gatlinburg before, and I knew it was going to be hot, humid, and crowded, so at least we weren't surprised by it.
We trekked down the mountain from our beautiful condo on Ski View Drive to catch the Gatlinburg Trolley at the Gatlinburg Welcome Center on the north side of town. We had read that this was a great way to not have to navigate parking in downtown, and it was free. Since we were staying just a few miles away, we thought it would be a great way to alleviate the "where do we park" dilemma.
What we didn't realize was that the trolley only comes about once every 30-40 minutes and on busy days you might have to wait for the next one. We arrived at the Welcome Center just as a trolley was finishing loading - and leaving behind at least a half-a-trolley-load of people to wait for the next one. Thankfully there was a sheltered place to sit, and the folks waiting were really nice and helpful with sharing tips and information for first-timers like myself. It reminded me of waiting for the buses at Walt Disney World, only there the buses come every 15 minutes or so.
The trolley finally came and we were thankfully able to get a seat so we didn't have to stand for the 15 minute ride to the Ripley's Aquarium which serves as a hub for the trolley routes. However, it was so crowded that we weren't able to really see much of Gatlinburg on the way into downtown - I had hoped we might be able to use that part of the trip to do some "sight-seeing" on the way in.
Once we got off the trolley, we did the one thing I hate to do on vacation - stand around without a plan! We didn't have anything specific in mind to do - I mostly just wanted to walk around and see what was there - but I wasn't sure which way made the most sense to walk -- south? north? cross the street and go east? So we opted to look for a restroom at the Mountain Mall on the corner and cool off from the heat! And search for gluten-free restaurant options for lunch.
We decided to head south along the main road and just poke around in any shops that caught our attention. There were a few we went in and found a place to buy a few postcards and souvenirs. Here are some random pictures of things on the Parkway.
Several of the shopping areas were set back off the street, so it was deceptive about what there was to see. We only wandered back into a couple of places, but I could see how you could spend a lot of time shopping in Gatlinburg.
We had to waddle back up the street toward the trolley stop because our bellies were so full after lunch! I had wanted to try the Crazy Mason Milkshake place, but it didn't open until 2 PM and I honestly didn't think I could eat again until the next day! We did, however, stop at Mrs. Byrd,s Cookies to pick up some gluten-free key lime cookies. I get these when visiting my parents in the Savannah area, so I was happy to see they had a shop in Gatlinburg, too. In fact, there were several stores in Gatlinburg that they have in the Savannah area.
I found a mailbox on the street to drop off the last of the postcards I intended to mail from the trip. I missed the day's pick-up time, so I hoped they would actually get picked up at some point. (They did - only it took them two weeks to go from the time I dropped them in the mailbox until they arrived at their destinations.)
We had to wait about 20 minutes for the trolley to take us back to the Welcome Center to where we had parked the car. Thankfully the trolley wasn't too full, so we were able to enjoy the ride back. While on the way, the family behind us was talking about Pokemon Go, so I pulled mine up on the phone and asked if they wanted to be friends. So I got three new friends for Pokemon Go while in Gatlinburg!
On another day, we went into Gatlinburg to celebrate DH's sister and brother-in-law's anniversary at the Alamo Steakhouse. It's a place they like to go on the East Parkway, so the six of us went for a nice meal there.
We had tickets for the Sky Lift for Thursday but ended up not using them because I was the only one who wanted to do it but didn't want to ask the rest of our group to wait for me after our lunch.
Someone asked me after we got back if I'd go again. I would - but not in June! Or any other super-busy time. I'd like to go and stay in the flatlanders' section and be able to walk around town without having to figure out parking, etc. There looked like a lot of neat shops and restaurants that I'd like to explore, but when it isn't quite so busy, or hot, or humid.
Of course there's so much more than just the town of Gatlinburg in the area, so stay tuned for a few more blog posts about our adventures in the area.
~ Cindy D.
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