We were on vacation at Gatlinburg, TN all last week. We spent two days shopping and sightseeing in Gatlinburg. We saw Ripley’s museum, Ripley’s Aquarium, Guinness World Records Museum. The Aquarium was better than I expected, but the other attractions we visited were pretty bad. I think the kids enjoyed them, but I thought the other attractions were only slightly above the quality freak show attraction at a state fair. I would only recommend the Aquarium.
We spent a day at Cherokee NC. The main reason I wanted to go to Cherokee was that my parents took my sister and I there on a family vacation almost 40 years ago. We got to Cherokee fairly late in the day and spent most of our time looking at the shops. Unfortunately we did not get to the museum before it closed.
We also spent a day riding zip lines in Pigeon Forge, TN. I had a nice talk with the owner after we finished. He only recently started the business and seems to be doing well. It was raining that day, but I had brought rain jackets, so we were able to keep mostly dry.
We spent the last day hiking. We hiked the chimney tops trail. It’s a 2-mile trail (one way) that climbs 1400 ft. We took a very leisurely pace up and down the mountain. Kyle and I climbed to the very top, which is not for the timid. It’s quiet difficult (for a 44 year old man in slightly better than average condition).