My wife & I will be staying in Gatlinburg and will be visiting Pigeon Forge & Knoxville from Feb. 8-10th and were wondering what sites we should be sure to see. Any car stuff going on? Good restaurants? Places to stay away from? We both love what we've seen of Tennessee, so far and want to check out this area, too. We're looking for a place to move to in retirement. Thanks, -Bob
Be careful. My wife & I visited Tennessee last year while we were living in NH and now we have bought a home in North East TN and are living here. Looking forward to Spring when the car scene starts back up again. From what I hear there is stuff going on all the time. As far as what might be going on in Feb I haven't got a clue but I'm sure the info is out there. Floyd Garretts car museum in Pigeon Forge was pretty cool when we were there last year. The Titanic museum was impressive as well. If you're looking to retire here I think it's a great choice. Not unbearably hot in the SUmmer and not unbearably cold in the Winter. Low cost of living, very low property taxes, etc. Just as an example our place in NH has a yearly property tax of around 5k. Our property tax here is $365 a year. We are in an unincorporated town so we only pay county tax. PM me if you want more info.
Haven't been there, but it looks cool. Cooters Place 542 Parkway Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 430-9909 Mon- Sat: 9 AM- 9PM, or later Sun: 9AM- 7PM Free Admission! http://www.cootersplace.com/ Some other sites, listed on his site, for the Gatlinburg area. http://www.gatlinburg.com/default.asp http://www.gatlinburg-attractions.com/ http://www.dollywood.com/
Cades Cove. Plan on spending the better part of a day there. Best of all it's FREE. Beautifull valley, lots of wildlife, 10 miles or so of one way road with lots of stopping places for pictures. The drive to get there is pretty nice too. Floyd Garretts museum is cool. Aquarium in Gatlinburg. Lots of shopping in Gatlinburg. Ober Gatlinburg on top of the mountain for ice skating or the Alpine Slide. Dollywood Thousands of other things to do there.
The motor loop, Roaring Fork Nature Trail, in Gatlinburg, look for the sign in the middle of town and it will take you into the woods for a trip in time. One way and beautiful. The trip south out of Gatlinburg to Cherokee is the actual Smokey Mountain National Park. Don't miss that.
Garrett's Muscle Car Museum in Sevierville, Tn just west of Pigeon Forge is well worth the visit. About 100 cars and reasonably priced when we were there three years ago.
We retired and moved to the small town of Rogersville, about 70 miles from G'burg. We love the whole area! Property is less away from G'burg/PF, and so is the traffic. But to answer your question, eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co in G'burg. Definitely take the Roaring Fork Nature Trail and go to Cade's Cove. If you want to take a day trip, go to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC (90 mi) So many things to see, WITHOUT getting caught up in all the tackiness of PF. Going to be very hard to get more than a glimpse of anything; but you'll come back. Before retiring here, I came every year for my entire life!
You can get hooked. I moved from RI over 5 years ago and love it. Not much car stuff going on at that time but many don't want to miss things to do and see. PM me for more.
We live mid-state but have gone to Gatlinburg 2-3 times a year forever. Most of what everyone has said is good advice, Garret's is mostly Muscle cars but very interesting. Traffic can be terrible but you're going off-season so you should be OK. My 2 cents, plan on spending the bulk of your time in Gatlinburg. Pigeon Forge is kinda on the cheezy side and pretty spread out - In Gatlinburg you can walk to all the shops, etc. If you're wife's a shopper (who's isn't) there are several outlet malls, etc in Pigeon Forge. They also have trolleys that make stops at all th interest spots in both towns. Our FAVORITE place to eat is "No way Jose's" Mexican Cantina in Gatlinburg. PM me if you want, be happy to give you whatever info I can.
If you like old gas pump and sign ,and old store stuff and some parts check out the site where they have the southern gas and oil swap meet during the shades of the past show east out of Sevierville.The farm where the swap is held the guy has all kinds of stuff and there is a really good mom and pop barbeque place right before you get to the farm,live music on fri-and sat nite
You might try visitor bureaus for Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Sevierville, Tn. on the internet. Might be of some help.
I've been down there many times and feel the same way, if I didn't have young grandkids I'd be there already.
way OT, but there's a Chinese acrobats show in an theater across the street from Wal Mart, down the road from the TGI Fridays (giving some landmarks here). Went with the kids a couple of years back when we were in town for NATS South. Was a great show and well worth the money. Black bear Jamboree--not so much--think chucky cheeze meets hee-haw.
all the above,but if your able to do a little walking check out klingmans dome. pretty coo...er cold. google it . no bears this time of year but cades cove is pretty,esp if it snows.
Pigeon Forge has a place called Huck finns its a real good place to eat and another is The Old Mill on the river two of the best places to eat. just my .02
Klingmans Dome is at the top of the mountain going down to Cherokee and it is a very stressful climb, as you have to walk to the top. You need to be in good shape and even then it is a difficult climb. That said it is a fantastic view from all directions.
The Ripleys Believe it or not Aquarium is really cool, big shark tank that you walk through a tunnel underneath it. There are also a lot of "As seen on TV" stores, some really neat stuff to look at, not a lot worth buying, but there are some good items too.
ill second cades cove but all of the soo called museums there are over priced and unfullfilling $20-$25.00 for at most a 15min walk through id heard all kinds of hype over floyd garrets place ....yawn and im INTO musclecars to me the whole areas gatlinburg/pigeonforge is like driving through a carnival mid-way not what i was expecting at all allthough i am planing on going back for shades of the past or one of the other rod runs they have
Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. We'll only be there for three days, so we may have to figure on taking another trip there this summer.
If you're into bikes at all the Wheels through Time museum in Maggie Vally is well worth the trip.Smoky Mtn brewery if you like beer.
Yeah what he said...like BIKE roads?? HWY 129S from Maryville, Tn. into N.C. also known as THE DRAGON.
If I remember right, I think Roaring Fork is closed this time of year (being winter and all, LOL). I'm born and bred, raised here in the "D" (Detroit). However, I did have a chance at a dream gig down there (in Maryville, just outside the park) and would have been a lifer down there if we could have gotten out of an upside down mortgage. As it was, I lived down there for four or five months, and would do it again in a heartbeat. Cades Cove is THE attraction there. Hands down, there is no place I would rather be. I'd often slip away on weekends and spend the day down there, just sitting and marvelling at God's beauty. I don't think there is a place on Earth I'd rather be than East Tennessee. JK
Lots of neet stuff at Cooters. Worth a look. Also a 'Barris' museum right up the street. full of movie/t.v. cars....
I find this thread very interesting. I've lived in east TN my whole life, I've visited all over. I often wondered what people thought of this area. As far as places to eat, the ones mentioned are all good. I like the local favorites like Clint's BBQ on 411, it's a small place good food, real reasonable. I highly reccomend Wheels though time, if you like bikes at all or even if you don't I think you'll enjoy it. I've been several times, I restored a '57 Sportster years ago and it was there last I heard. The first time I went Dale Walksler the guy that runs the place took us thru. I was looking at a early 20's Harley and I asked him if it ran he said well let's see. He climbed on it and cranked it up. That was awesome, when we went upstairs they had an Evil Kenivel Jump bike. My son was standing beside it at a respectable distance. Dale walked over and said "get over here next to it, it wont bite". To the guy that lives in Rogersville, ever eat at Amis Mill? Good food, like the back porch view.
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