A new week and a new post all about my year of travel. A few weeks ago I wrote about how I made it a goal of mine to travel once a month, to a new place, or experience something new each month of 2018. For February Shaine and I rented a cottage in Sevierville, which is right outside of Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg Tennesse with four of our best friends!
This trip had been in the talks for years, and I mean years before we finally decided to set a date and make it happen. It was a lot harder to plan than most of my other trips just because we needed to coordinate the schedule of three different families. Shaine and I were luckily the easiest schedules to work around only because he is no longer in the military unlike Justin and Will. Justin and his wife Diana (one of my BFFs) live near St Louis, MO. Justin is still in the Army and Diana works in HR. If managing their hectic work lives wasn’t enough they are also now expecting their first baby! Will and Jen have to juggle Will’s busy military training schedule, Jen’s work life, and their three kids. However, thankfully the stars aligned and we were able to make it work.
Me being the planner in me took it upon myself to find the perfect cabin for all of us; Link to our Airbnb. As most of you know, one of my favorite things to do when I travel is to check out local AirBnB’s in the area. I for one find it way cheaper than most hotel rooms, but it also gives me the opportunity to check out the different style of homes and lifestyles in the local area I am visiting. This AirBnB in Tennessee was much different than my most recent rental which was in a high rise apartment in Dallas, Texas. — This particular rental in Sevierville was perfect for us because it had three separate bedrooms, a game room, plus an additional living room. One thing I do wish we would have known was the fact that both of the only bathrooms in the home connected to the bedrooms, with no other access. Thankfully, we all are so close it wasn’t too much of an issue, but if you were there with other friends, it might have been different. — Which brings me to my point; Using websites like Airbnb, VRBO can be such a great thing but make sure to do enough research on the layout, size, etc., before booking.
However, this did not stop us from having a great time.
Shaine and I headed down late Friday night from Michigan. It took us a little over nine hours and was beautiful. Anytime we take long road trips like this we like to do them at night-time, so we miss traffic in the big cities. Which now that I work nights it makes it so much easier. I can help with much more of the driving. — Pro-tip for any of my non-road trip friends out there. Listen to PODCASTS, books on tape, anything other than the radio when you are tired. It has saved me on so many of our road trips. Something is soothing about music that makes me tired whereas a podcast since people are talking at me helps me stay focused on not sleeping. — We arrived in Pigeon Forge a little after four am. Since we were so early in the morning/late in the night, we decided to test out Ally-the-Atlas’s sleeping space. — Yes, my car has a name. — And let me tell you, she passes the test with flying colors. I folded all the back seats down, rolled out a sleeping bag and BAM, Harley, and I were out. There was plenty of room for Shaine, but the Army Veteran in him wanted to stay in the front seat “in-case shit happened.”
We all woke up about five hours later, still in the same Walmart parking lot we parked in the night before, but with a lot more cars and a lot more light. I rolled out of the car looking the definition of a hot-mess and walked into Walmart ready to pee. Yes, this was the one time in my life I could have been famous. Famous for looking like shit and being featured on www.peopleofwalmart.com but famous none the less. After a quick five minutes, I came out looking like a whole new person. Teeth brushed, hair combed, clothes changed and ready to start the day. I HIGHLY recommend trying it out, if you need a quick and free place to crash for a few hours, Walmart is where it’s at.
Harley standing her ground and protecting our “home away from home.”
Just a man and his dog.
As the day went on Shaine, Harley and I started exploring Gatlinburg Tennesse while we waited for Jen, Will, Justin and Diana to arrive. Once we were all together, we headed up the mountain to check into our rental. While it was okay that we had to wait, AirBnB’s work similar to hotels where you can not check in until around three or four in the afternoon. Making Saturday a long day of driving around trying to figure out what the hell we could do with cars full of kids and dogs. Looking back we all said we wished we would have rented it on Friday night as well, just for the fact that we could then check in early on Saturday and not waste a whole day.
Once we got all checked in and unpacked, we broke out the cards, opened the hot-tub and cheers to the first beers we were having all together for the first time in eight years. Let me tell you; there was nothing like it. We all sat down as we did eight years ago as if nothing had changed. That night we just hung around, drank a little, laughed a lot and went to bed early. The next morning we woke up, cooked family breakfast and headed out to see the city of Gatlinburg.
Below I have listed some of my favorite things to do when in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area:
- Anakeesta — This was one of our favorite things we did the entire time. Anakeestra is a skylift that takes you to the top of Anakeesta mountain where you are greeted with zip-lining, ropes course, shopping, restaurants and a beautiful scenic look-out. We spent a total of two hours up on the mountain but could have spent way more time if we had extra time. * Discount for members of the military!
- Hillbilly Golf — This is something we, unfortunately, did not get to do, but something we saw and would love to do next time on our visit. And it is ranked on one of the top things to do in the city.
- The Village Shops of Gatlinburg — Anytime I travel I love to look at all the little shops. Not because I necessarily need to buy something (even though I usually always do) but I love to find small places like this to check out. We especially love this one because it reminded all of us of Germany, which is of course where we met. <3
- Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster — This we saw as we were driving back out our AirBnB, and since it was getting dark we did not have enough time, but it seriously looked like the most fun ever! So much laughter coming from the ride.
- Amazing Gatlinburg Race — Words can not express how sad I am that I JUST FOUND THIS. This race would have been totally up my alley. I love to Geocache when I go to new cities but to have a city with an actual race built in is just perfect for me.
- Since Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge butt right up to each other make sure you are checking out all the nature trails and beautiful scenery that is free for you to see.
- If you are in need of a great website to use when planning your next trip, make sure you check out https://www.gatlinburg.com. It is a great starting place to use as a reference to then connect you with other websites.
After we spent the day exploring we decided to head over to Dick’s Last Resort for dinner. I have always wanted to go to Dick’s, but it was a place that I could never get Shaine to agree too. But thanks to a little peer-pressure from Jen and Diana, all the boys finally agreed. While Dick’s may not be the best dining experience I have ever had, I am happy to say I did get to experience the true douchebaggery that takes place there.
After a long day of being out and about we all headed back to the cabin to relax and enjoy our one last night together. We talked about life, changes and the future. We swore to make this (maybe not Tennesse) but a get-together an annual thing. Jen’s kids are getting bigger, Diana is about to have a baby, and hopefully, soon I will be pregnant with our first. We want to stay involved in each other’s lives, and while we may live in entirely different states, we have a bond that can not be broken. Tennessee was such a fantastic first “family trip.” Central located, outdoorsy for the boys, lively for the girls, and CHEAP.
If you are looking for a fun family-friendly location to visit I highly suggest the Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg Tennesee area. Comment below if you have any other questions I can help answer for you before you take off on your trip to Tennessee.