Gatlinburg is about a 10 hour drive from home so we got 4 hours of it out of the way on a Saturday afternoon, spent the night, then completed the journey on Sunday.  Most of the trip was down I81 through Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia into Tennessee.  We went through Pigeon Forge which was a mistake.  The preferred route is to jump onto I40 then take Rt. 321 into Gatlinburg.

The town of Gatlinburg was totally unexpected to us.  We expected a historically restored mountain town and instead found a number of tourist traps.  Amusements, t-shirt shops, etc.  We did, however, enjoy walking around a couple "malls" done up in an alpine village motif.

While in town we ventured to the top of the mountain on the aerial tramway.  The view from the upper aerial tramway terminal wasn't particularly great but we were surprised at the indoor ice skating rink and other amusements.  We could have taken, at extra cost, a chair lift to a higher elevation but Kathy wasn't up for it.  We were amazed at how they can pack 75+ people onto one car.  The trip was worthwhile.

One good thing about all of the amusements in downtown Gatlinburg were the night photography opportunities.  We spent a couple hours one evening just taking pictures.  For the technically inclined, white balance is tricky.

One very unique stop in our travels was the worlds only Salt & Pepper Shaker Museum.  We're talking about 20,000+ salt and pepper shakers in every imaginable form.  How about faucets, feet, and cufflinks to name a few.  This was a truly unique thing to see and well worth the stop.

Of course no trip to the area would be complete without stopping at Mel's Diner which is in Pigeon Forge.

We were told about and eventually found the Arts & Crafts Community.  Shops were in clusters along a road through the countryside.

A highlight and not to be missed is the Tennessee Museum of Aviation.  Don't miss this if you have any interest in the subject.  This is an impeccably maintained display of memorabilia and aircraft.  This wasn't all aircraft.  Pieces like Amelia Earhart's custom built car were on display.

And of course we couldn't pass by the flowers that were in bloom everywhere....