Gatlinburg - Yr 1, Day 302

Pigeon Forge, TN

I didn't realize it was quite a few days since I've written.  I guess it's because, until today, nothing eventful has happened.  There are no shuls around (closest is 35 miles away in Knoxville) so we spent a quiet Shabbat on the deck overlooking the creek.

Today I decided to play hookey and took the day off to have a little fun.  Below is a photo story of how we spent the day:

We started the day by letting Mitch enjoy a new type of roller coaster (no, I'm still not ready to brave it).  It's called the Alpine Coaster and is more like a toboggan than a standard coaster.

Afterwards, we drove to the beautiful Gatlinburg Welcome Center in the heart of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  We parked there and took the trolley ($2.00 for an all day pass, which stops at a lot of places along the way).

Here's how we spent our time in Gatlinburg.  First stop:

Yep, we're spending the day getting free samples of hooch!

 

Not sure what these guys are supposed to represent.

 Before going inside, there was a great bluegrass concert.  I took a video but it's too large to post here and it will take some time before I get around to editing it down and I didn't want to hold up this blog post, so here is a picture of the band.  You'll have to trust me that they were really good.  Mitch almost bought their CD.

My favorite at this place was the moonshine soaked marachino cherries and the punch

The next stop:

And then the next.  Davy Crockett's sells whisky, not moonshine.  We bought a bottle of Cookies & Cream whiskey (similar to Bailey's Irish Creme)

 

By now, I'm feeling....

Time to head back to the transit center and get the trolley back. It was about a mile walk but I felt no pain.  This is a view of the downtown area.  Really lovely view, if you don't mind the commercialism of the stores.  I should stop to mention that while we were waiting the 25 minutes for the trolley, I got a phone call from a potential new client who wanted to interview me  (no warning or appointment)!!!  I think I passed although there was so much noise in the background.  The interview lasted more than that so I had to continue the conversation while I was boarding the bus and while I was seated, with honking horns and a baby crying in the background.  I did explain my lifestyle and assured him this was one of the very few days I took off and that my schedule (travel and otherwise) is always based around my clients' needs.  I guess time will tell whether he bought that or not, since he did seem very impressed by my skills and experience.

Here are some photos of the central transit hub:

Mitch (who wasn't tasting as much) drove back to Pigeon Forge.  We stopped at another touristy area, called The Old Mill.  This was the first place we visited:

We bought chocolate moonshine.  Yum!

Scenes from The Old Mill:

By the time we left here, it was about 6:00.  We had hoped to go to The Island where there is yet another distillery and winery as well as a ferris wheel that rivals the one in Myrtle Beach.  But we were exhausted and decided to call it a day, after eating at Mellow Mushroom (a great pizza chain).  Maybe another day....