I Don't Know What to Say...

We've seen some things on this trip, including a 15-foot tall Jesus in lights and a crocheted Obama portrait, but nothing really prepared us for the..._________ (I don't know what to say) of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We arrived in Gatlinburg last night. It was dark, but the town was alive with families walking around, and we could tell there was a lot going on. In the daylight, there was even more!

This morning we bounded out of bed, and headed to town. Okay, we didn't really bound. Our bed (actually it was more the pillows) left something to be desired, so we more like fell and slithered out of bed. No matter, we had our sights set on the Sky Lift. It's a chairlift in Gatlinburg that takes you up so you have a view of Gatlinburg and one side of the Smoky Mountains. "Catfish" helped us off the chair (I'm not making that up), and we had a look around before enjoying the trip down.




Then we headed to the car in search of, you guessed it, coffee. That took us to Pig-ee-on (that's for you, Dad, via Manual) Forge. And if Gatlinburg was busy, Pigeon Forge was....awesome. Mom was driving, and I kept reading billboards and signs, and mini golfs (or is it golves when there is more than 12?). The catch phrase that was born was, "I don't know what to say....". We had coffee at Starbucks where I could hear Christmas carols, and could gaze upon the Titanic, an upside down house, Michael Jackson and assorted sea creatures. Mom had 2 coffees. :)

From there we drove around to the small town of Townsend to an alternate entrance to the park, and spent the day enjoying the Great Smoky Mountains. One of the things we learned today, is that the area is an internationally recognized biosphere. I won't bore you with the details, but it was pretty interesting! We drove up to the top, Newfound Gap, to catch the view, and also spent some time playing around the Little River.





We are beat, and in Knoxville (with a good bed!).