August Amari: Gatlinburg

Weekend trip to Gatlinburg TN. It was about a 5 hour drive to Gatlinburg. We got a really good deal (timeshare tour stipulation) at a cabin/resort called Westgate. This was our first time really driving through the Smoky Mountains and it was our first time seeing Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Who would have known that such magic, freak shows, and tourist attractions existed in Gatlinburg TN? We felt like we were driving through a mini Vegas. Our trip extended through New Years Eve so it was packed with tourists. The weather was quite chilly the first few days, and cloudy, rainy and overcast, but cleared the last day we were there—the surroundings were breathtaking. We were also fortunate to stay in an upgraded cabin because our room had been taken. We stayed in one of the newest cabins and had the best view there was to offer; also included was fire place, balcony, and the biggest perk was the gigantic jacuzzi tub.

Activities included playing at the arcade, going to toddler activities they offered at the resort, playing at the water park (Wild Bear Water Park) at the resort (the water was a lot chillier than we expected so we mainly stayed in the hot tub but the kids did enjoy playing on the slides and on the "playground" at the park), eating out, seeing the sites of Gatlinburg—we visited Ripley's Believe it or Not, which the kids found quite scary but Mike and I thought it was cool and intriguing. We ate the best NY style pizza at a pizzeria called Best Italian Cafe. We were going to go ice skating, tubing, and ride the sky tram, but the information they had on their website was misleading and it ended up being really pricey and the tubing was sold out :(. We went to the Star Car Museum—the coolest thing we did. It was so awesome to see the original cars from some of the most famous movie and TV series like Batman, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Dukes of Hazard, Flinstones, James Bond, Michael Jackson, Transformers (Bumblebee); Becks and Amari were in HEAVEN! They LOVED it!

We celebrated New Years Eve by roasting marshmallows (Amari got sick our last day there so he fell asleep early, poor kiddo) and making smokes.

It was a fun little family vacation. The kids loved playing in the Jacuzzi tub every night, Beck's loved the crafts at the activity center, they loved playing in the hot tub, and of course they loved being able to watch shows the whole drive there and back. I am grateful we have the opportunity to go on family excursions like this; they make for the best memories.

Amari loves hot dogs

Pigeon Forge

This museum was completely upside down