Anniversary Weekend in the Smoky Mountains

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Hi friends! Today I'm sharing a recap of Kenny's and my recent trip that we took to the Smoky Mountains to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary and Kenny's 30th birthday! Kenny and I love Tennessee - our very first trip that we went on together was to Pigeon Forge back in 2015, and we got engaged in Nashville in 2018!

We got into Sevierville LATE - we hadn't left town until 6:00pm and hit some bad traffic on the way. Even though it was late, we had to stop at Bucee's - I had never been! It was POPPIN in there - there was a car convention in town (the worst kind - those super loud souped up little ones) and they were taking up most of the parking lot! They continued to hog the roads all weekend long, but there wasn't much we could do to avoid them. 😂

Once we got into Pigeon Forge we checked into a hotel for the night - we had a cabin booked for the rest of our stay but knew we'd be getting in late so we didn't want to deal with check in late in case we had any issues. I won't name the hotel we stayed in because it was a random pick and I don't necessarily recommend it. 😂 

We woke up on our anniversary, and what would be one of the longest days ever - I felt like I lived 5 lives this day! We got breakfast at... drumroll please... Wood Grill Buffet. 😂 It's not somewhere we'd ever pick but it was owned by the same people as our hotel so we got to go for free and Kenny was into it so we figured why not!

After breakfast we were headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for some hiking, but first we had to goof around in the gift shop. 

The National Park doesn't charge admission, but it's $5 for a daily parking pass (or you can buy a $15 pass that lasts a week). There's a visitor's center at the Gatlinburg entrance to the park where you can stop for a parking pass, but it was OBSCENELY crowded when we got there (around 11:00am) so I would recommend just entering the park and purchasing a parking pass elsewhere if you can - there are little machines at most of the parking areas where you can buy one. 

Our first stop of the day was at Kuwohi (recently renamed from "Clingman's Dome") which is the highest point in the Smoky Mountains at 6,643 feet. It's a short (but fully uphill!) trail that's fully paved and accessible, and has has a cool observation tower that was built in 1959. The Smoky Mountains get their name from the notorious mist that envelops them, but this day was clear - we overheard someone saying it was the most clear day that they'd seen from the observation tower, which made us feel lucky! My favorite part about being up there was that it smelled like a Christmas candle - the pine trees smell so fresh, I've never experienced that in Virginia! 

One thing to note about visiting Kuwohi is that while there is a lot of parking, it fills up quickly and you may have to park further down the mountain and walk up. The entire time we were there, there was a line of traffic waiting to park - we were lucky and snagged a spot along the road about a quarter mile from the designated parking area. 

After we got down from the observation tower, we visited the store near the parking area and talked to one of the employees there to decide where we wanted to go next. There is an overlook hike called Andrew's Bald that leaves from the same point as the Kuwohi trail that we considered doing, but Kenny wanted to hike to a waterfall, so we landed on Grotto Falls which was about a 40 minute drive from where we were. 

On the way to the falls, we stopped at the Rockerfeller Monument which was dedicated to the Rockefellers in 1940 as thanks for donating $5 million toward the purchase of the land that makes up the National Park in memory of Laura Spelman Rockefeller. 

The monument is right by the TN/NC state line!

The Grotto Falls Hike via the Trillium Gap Trail is off of the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, which is a one-way scenic loop that's popular to drive through. Parking for the hike is very limited, we ended up having to find a spot along the road - it was in a no-parking zone but a bunch of other people were parked there so we risked it and we were fine. 

I spotted this TINY salamander on a log and he seriously made my day! I mean, have you ever seen anything smaller?? I tried to identify it and I think it's the Cumberland Dusky Salamander! 

On the way to the falls, Kenny spotted a nice swimming hole and decided to get in. He is crazy, we did not have swimsuits - you would never catch me in there. 😂 It was also super cold! 

Grotto Falls is unique because you can walk behind it! It was quite the photo op - we exchanged photos with a sweet couple and I love this shot they got of us! 

We saw this big spider on the way back down - I thought these "eyes" on the bottom were cool! We also saw lots of touch-me-nots, which is my favorite wildflower because the seed pods explode when you touch them and it's so much fun. 😂

After our hike, we changed clothes and headed to downtown Gatlinburg to visit the Gatlinburg SkyPark - a mountaintop attraction that you ride a ski lift up to get to! There is a similar attraction downtown called Anakeesta which is similar but seems to have a little bit more to do, but Kenny and I were only interested in walking around and enjoying the views, so we opted for the SkyPark! It was fairly expensive for what it was, tickets were $40 per person, but it was worth it for us because it's such a unique experience! 

This definitely isn't something you should do if you're super afraid of heights! I'm a little scared of heights, but I can talk myself out of it to enjoy things like this. Kenny was a bit nervous on the ski lift - I would have been too if I weren't used to them from my skiing days! 

The piece de resistance of the SkyPark is this massive pedestrian bridge that provides amazing views of the mountains and downtown Gatlinburg. The bridge does sway a little, but the freakiest part is there's a transparent section in the middle that lets you see the trees beneath you! Again, definitely not a place to visit if you're averse to heights. 😂

Outside of the bridge, they have tons of seating to take in the views and watch the sunset (some around fire pits!), corn hole, a gift shop with a lot of food options, a bar, and plenty of space to walk around. They're currently undergoing an expansion so I look forward to visiting again sometime to to check out the changes. 

Recognize this outfit from my packing post? Everything is linked here! 

The sun set, I snapped this picture of the crescent moon cradled in the crook of the mountain - it was so pretty in person!

This was the view on the way down on the ski lift - it was almost even prettier after dark! 

For our anniversary dinner, we walked through downtown to Chesapeake's! We loved the vibe in there and our server was amazing. We got a grilled shrimp appetizer, then I got the mahi served over ravioli, and Kenny got the crab-stuffed flounder with lobster, both of which were specials.

After dinner we had to check into our cabin - no, we still hadn't been to the cabin all day. Like I said, I lived 5 lives this day! 😂 Traffic was OBSCENE getting out of Gatlinburg because of the car convention, it took us almost an hour to get to our cabin when it should've taken less than half that long. I'm not gonna sugar coat it, traffic was ROUGH the entire weekend, at times it didn't seem worth it but in hindsight it was a blip and didn't really affect our trip even though it sucked at the time (but that's coming from the passenger princess who didn't REALLY have to deal with it). 

We arrived to our cabin despite the Pigeon Forge gridlock, and after traversing some scary steep mountain roads in the dark, check-in was a breeze! We needed to get to bed but had to have a quick hot tub session first. It felt so good after a long day of walking! 

The next morning, this is the view we awoke to. 😍 I chose this specific cabin primarily for the view - it's aptly named "Peak A View" and it was perfect in every way, I would definitely stay there again! We stayed in the loft bedroom which has a full bathroom and a pool table, and there is a second bedroom and full bath downstairs. We booked through Cabins For You and I highly recommend them - I had some issues with our booking based on an error I had made. and their customer service is extremely prompt, helpful, and friendly. 

Coffee with this view is the only thing in the world I could ever want. 😍 Except for maybe wine with this view again at sunset...

We had a slow morning at the cabin, and then headed to hike Spruce Flats Falls via Buckeye Trial. This hike is one I didn't really see recommended when researching hikes, but it's a really great one, especially because the area it's in is much less crowded than the hikes we had done the previous day. The trail is a little rough with roots, uneven ground, and rocks, but doesn't involve any scrambling or anything like that. 

The falls is gorgeous, and once again Kenny got in the water (once again, I did not). 😂 

When we were hiking down, we ended up encountering a few black bears! I use the word "encountering" loosely - the bears could not have cared less about us, which was fine by me! I got a video but no photos, so you'll just have to trust me. There are lots of black bears in the Smokies and they're accustomed to seeing humans, so they rarely pose a threat as long as you ignore them. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to scare one off, just make a lot of noise and distance yourself. 

After the hike, we drove around Cade's Cove, which is another scenic loop akin to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. They have a visitor's center which we stopped at for drinks. They offer camping supplies there too, and they have a lunch counter that serves hot food. 

Now that's what I'm talking about. 😎 

We headed home to get ready for dinner, but I had to have a glass of bubbly in the hot tub before we headed back out! 

Living our friggin dream!

One more time for the view from the cabin. 😍 I really wish we could've stayed a couple more days so I could've had more of this! 

We decided to go to dinner at Local Goat in Pigeon Forge - I heard good things about it, and Pigeon Forge was only a 15-20 minute drive from our cabin. 

The restaurant was popping when we got there and there was about a 45 minute wait - while we were waiting for dinner we stopped by the Hollywood Wax Museum so Kenny could get a picture of this creepy Hollywood Mount Rushmore. 😂 It is HUGE, I wonder who designed it! The novelty architecture in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg is truly impressive. We also spotted a beautiful stray calico cat when we were parked there! We can't go anywhere without chasing down a stray cat. 

Our dinner was delicious, it was even better than the shrimp we had at Chesapeake's! We got the New Orleans style BBQ shrimp as an appetizer and it was wonderful, I could've had that for my full meal! Kenny and I got the grilled tuna and grilled salmon and split them. They both came with broccoli and caramelized onion mashed potatoes which were amazing. 

The next day we were going home, but it was Kenny's birthday so we still had plans in store. Kenny picked one last hike he wanted to do, but I could've just sat here all day and stared at the mountains. 😍

We went to breakfast at Sawyer's Farmhouse, and shopped at Three Bears General Store next door while we waited for a table. It's perfectly chintzy like you'd expect a Pigeon Forge gift shop to be. 😂

Breakfast was extremely fast and efficient - Sawyer's Farmhouse is run like a well-oiled machine and our server was fabulous! Kenny and I both got the veggie omelets served as burritos, which came with pancakes! They also have cinnamon cream and peanut butter syrups that we tried and they were delicious. It was the perfect pre-hike fuel. 

Our plan was to hike to the Alum Cave Bluffs in the national park - there's a longer hike along that trail that leads to Mount LeConte that Kenny really wanted to do but we just didn't have enough time, so we will definitely return one day to do that one. 

A word of warning on the traffic/parking situation again - parking for this hike was a bear, the designated parking area doesn't have many spots (maybe 15) so we had to park about half a mile away in a pull-off area, and I thought we were lucky to even snag that spot. I definitely recommend coming to the park early to avoid the traffic and parking headache. 

I spotted this big four leaf clover right before the hike! I pressed it in a hike guide in Kenny's backpack, I think it would be fun to frame it once it dries out. 

It's hard to pick a favorite hike from our trip because they were all wonderful in their own ways, but this one probably takes the cake. You walk along this stream on a laurel-flanked trail for a good portion of it and the water is just beautiful, photos could never capture how clear it is! It looked so good that we ended up drinking some, and although that is not advisable, we didn't get sick. 😂

The first official attraction on the hike is this arch rock that was created by freeze and thaw cycles over many years - you hike right through it like a cave! If you're in the market for a shorter hike, this can be your destination and you can turn around from there - that'd be just under 3 miles total. 

Of course photos don't do it justice, but thig might've been my favorite view of our whole trip. 😍 This was probably about two miles into the hike shortly before we made it to the alum cave bluffs. 

We made it to the "cave," which is really more of a cliff. It's so much bigger and more vast than photos make it seem!

If you keep hiking from here for almost three miles, you will reach Mount LeConte, which features a operational lodge and some of the best views in all of the Smokies. There are several different routes, but this one is the shortest at about 11 miles, the most well-maintained, and the most popular. Kenny really wanted to do this hike but we just didn't plan well enough for it, I felt really bad! Especially since we talked to a handful of people who were on their way down from the hike and they said that they got to see llamas up there that day that had been delivering supplies - that would've been so cool! We'll be back for sure though - Kenny will not let me visit the park again without doing seeing Mount LeConte. 😂

Even though our trip was weeks before the foliage peak, we still got to see some beautiful colors! This photo was taken on October 7th. 

Back down through the rock!

We spotted this guy in the stream on our way back down - I think it's a black bellied salamander. He was much bigger than the tiny one I saw a couple days before - at least 6 inches but probably longer! 

After our hike, it was time to head home! We made a quick stop at the outlet mall and of course Bucee's. 😎 We got home LATE that night, but it was so worth it! I can't  wait to come back - hopefully at a time that there isn't a loud ass car convention in town. 😂

xoxx, Laura