Smoky Mountain Brewery, Gatlinburg, TN

Anita and I pulled into Gatlinburg, TN, after about a 7 hour drive from Indianapolis. I'm a big fan of having a little liquid refreshment to shake off the road, if you know what I mean.

So, we left our hotel and walked into town and into the Smoky Mountain Brewery, just off Parkway, the main drive through Gatlinburg. The place was crowded since it was a Sunday afternoon during football season. There were TVs everywhere. Oh, and the pizza. You could smell the pizza and it smelled so good!

We didn't eat at the Smoky Mountain Brewery, though I have to say all the food looked and smelled terrific. Next time we're in Gatlinburg we'll go there for a bite to eat! Instead we headed upstairs to the bar for a few drinks. Since the place is a brewery, I ordered a large Mountain Light beer. Oh, let me tell you, what a welcomed beer it was! It was very, very good. Good enough to have more than one (and I did!).

Bar service was friendly and fairly prompt considering how busy the place was. If you're in Gatlinburg, swing on by for a few drinks!

Bubba Gump

When we went to Gatlinburg, TN, back in September we ate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Factory. I had the New Orleans shrimp and Anita had Mama Blue's Southern Charmed Fried Shrimp. The food and service were excellent. While we waited for the food and had a few adult beverages, the waitress tested us with trivia from the movie. We got most of the questions correct.

Anita got a free 'glass' with her dinner. It was plastic. With lights in the base. It wasn't that exciting. But we still have it, so it wasn't that bad.

A few weeks ago, when we were at the Exit 76 Antique Mall, I ran across the official Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Cookbook! $3! You can't beat that with a stick! I am definitely going to be making recipes from it soon!

After dinner we went across the street to the arcade, where Anita promptly spanked me bad in several games of NASCAR racing. I am not happy about that. We will return soon so I can attempt my revenge.

Carr's Cottages, Gatlinburg TN

When we were in Gatlinburg last weekend we stayed at Carr's Cottages, just up the hill out of town. We really enjoyed our stay there.

We rented a one bedroom cottage (with kitchenette) along the river.


Although were weren't but 50 feet from the highway we couldn't hear the traffic (except when really loud Harley's went by) because of the sound of the waterfall. I spent many an hour sitting out on the porch with a cold beverage listening to Twit podcasts.

If you go, I'd recommend getting a room or cottage along the river. It's really quite nice. And you can't beat their prices.

There are places you can sit and have fires, or read, or whatever.

Carr's has a nice playground area and pool.

All the folks at Carr's were pleasant and helpful. No wonder they came so highly recommended. The only thing I might complain about is that they don't have Wi-Fi.

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies

While we were in Gatlinburg we just had to swing by the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies for a few hours. Our favorite aquarium up until this trip (and it might still be a tie) was the Newport Aquarium in Newport, KY. Some day we'll go to some of the larger aquariums, like Baltimore or Atlanta.

There were all sorts of cool fish, like this piranha.


And this grouper (I think), who didn't look so happy to see us.


There were some awesome jellyfish.

These fish reminded us of the bar/restaurant we stopped in on our way to Gatlinburg. It is called the Islamorada Fish Company and it's in Sevierville, TN. They had a way cool big fish tank behind the bar. We could've sat there for hours on end just watching the fish (and enjoying some adult beverages).


The shark tank is really big at the aquarium. The underwater tube is about 340 feet long. We had to go through it twice it was so much fun!

The saw-toothed sharks were awesome. They just sat on top of the clear tube, right above where we were walking! You'd almost think you were looking at a person.

The aquarium is well worth the price of admission (I think it was about $20 for me to get in. Anita got in free because a friend at work had given her a coupon. Lucky her!).

Cades Cove Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We just got back today from a long weekend trip to Gatlinburg. Neither of us had ever been there before and we had a great time. We went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and took the Cades Cove tour which is an 11 mile self-guided drive. We drove into the park and followed a winding river for several miles before we got to Cades Cove. We pulled over several times to enjoy the river view.

The first sign of wildlife we saw was this little deer beside the road.

We first stopped at the John & Lucretia Oliver place, the first Euro-American settlers in Cades Cove arriving in 1818.

There were several other buildings along the way including churches, barns and log homes. Our next stop was at the grist mill which is still in use today grinding corn. It was reminiscent of the Metamora grist mill.

When we got to the old smokehouse, there was a sign that warned you that there were snakes in the area and I spotted these guys.

We saw a bunch of cars stopped in front of us and everyone was going into the woods. We got out and followed the herd. There was a momma bear and two little bears, but we could not get a good picture because she was hiding behind a log with her cubs. Later on our journey, we saw this little guy. He was pretty close to the car, but these are the best shots I could come up with as I was excited to see a bear in the wild and couldn't get the camera on.

We will definitely go back. We'll post more from our trip soon.