Just returned yesterday from a beautiful trip to Wyndham Smoky Mountain Resort. The resort is absolutely beautiful, the room was perfect for 4 of us, the 2 bedrooms and 2 baths worked out perfect for 4 women getting ready to go anywhere. Both bathrooms had 2 sinks and a shower in each with a corner spa tub in the master bath. The kitchen/dining and living area were very large with plenty of seating for eating, drinking, watching TV or just reading and relaxing. The pool area was wonderful. We did have a couple days of overcast and rainy, cool weather, but by the end of the week it was sunny and 85, so we had 2 full days of just lounging by the pool and reading. The grounds are beautifully maintained. I do walk each morning and this place gives you quite the walk with all the ups and downs.
I want to thank everyone for all the suggestions on where to eat, shop and sight see. We went to Gatlinburg when the Arts and Crafts Fair was going on at the Convention Center...what a great deal. We had driven through the arts and crafts distrist on Glades Rd one evening, but too late to stop at any of the shops, so going to the Fair eliminated the stopping, parking, baling out of the car a million times, and the Fair was great. So many talented people showing their creativity....several Christmas gifts were purchased. The Old Mill area in Pigeon Forge was awesome as was the Apple Barn. We visited 3 wineries, all were very good and fun. The Tanger Outlet Mall was to die for..that's all I can say about that. We went to The Black Bear Jamboree, well worth it and the dinner was very good too. We drove to Cades Cove the back way, on 321 through Wears Valley and Townsend, that saved a lot of time. Cades Cove was a beautiful drive although there was a mishap on the way in. Some horse people had unloaded their own horses to ride a trail, apparently one of the horses got hit by a car, threw the rider off who hit the stone wall. Was airlifted out to a hospital, they had to shoot the horse, which was blocking the road, so....we waited at a stop for about an hour, but finally got to go on. We didn't do any trails or hiking or caves while there....4 women between 55 and 65, yikes, they would have had to airlift us out.....but the drive was pretty and we saw lots of deer, but no bears.
We ate at Friday's (couldn't get the Colts game in the room, had to go somewhere to watch it), The Old Mill, The Apple Barn, Alamo Steakhouse...all were very good and a must do. We also ate at Lineberger's in downtown Gatlinburg, would not recommend it. Our waitress did not want to be there, the meal was not that good plus, when she finally came with our bills and we laid out our debit cards to pay...she informed us they were only taking cash that day. Wonder why she didn't tell us that BEFORE we ate??
The only things we didn't get done because we ran out of time, was to visit The Biltmore and get massages. Oh well, maybe next time.
