Vacation in the Smokies
So for my last fall break, I ventured down to Tennessee for a vacation in the Great Smokey Mountains with some of my closest friends. We wanted to make our last fall break something special, and what better place to do so than in the mountains. We rented a cabin through Airbnb on top of a mountain in Sevierville, TN, which is about 20 minutes outside of Gatlinburg. And when I say we were on top of a mountain, we were literally on top of a mountain. We were really happy with this location because we had a great view and we were able to stay away from the tourist traffic. We spent 4 nights and 3 days here, which was just enough time for us to do some hiking and sightseeing around the local towns.
Day 1
We decided that hiking on the first day would be the best day because we were full of energy and ready to start the trip. We woke up early, packed some lunches, and headed to Clingmans Dome to start our day of hiking. Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Smokey Mountains. We drove over an hour to go the top of the mountains through some crazy winding roads. And I'm telling you, the road to get to the top was INSANE!! We were driving through fog along cliffs and making sharp turns on winding roads. So scary but so cool!
We finally made it to the parking lot and from there is was a half mile hike to the very top. This hike was pretty much straight up, which was not what were were expecting! Once we made it to the top, we were all expecting some incredible view but what did we see??? Fog. We were pretty much just staring into a cloud of white but hey, we stood at the tallest point in the smokies! We decided to hike a couple miles along the AppallachianTrail and it was a really great hike. Even though we couldn't see much, it was great to have a feeling of being in the clouds.
The first hike took up most of the day. After that, we headed down the mountain to see Laurel Falls. This was another couple mile hike and it was very scenic the whole way. There were a lot of tourists in this area but that was fine with me because the waterfall was really pretty and the hike to get there was so worth it.
Day 2
This day was dedicated to wineries! There was a super cute wine trail that one of my friends found and we decided to spend the day sampling some wine. It ended up being rainy that day so we figured it would be the perfect time to explore some different wineries.
The wine trail is called Rocky Top Wine Trail and there are 5 different wineries and 1 moonshine distillery to go to. They offer free tasting and sell wine by the glass as well. After you visit 3 you get a wine glass and after you visit all of them you get a wine bottle koozie! I thought this was a really cool way to promote the wine trail. We decided to hit 2 wineries in Sevierville and two in Pigeon Forge on the second day and hit the last winery and distillery on the third day.
My favorite wine that I tasted was from Hillside Winery, which was the first winery we went to. I really loved their Barbera wine, which was a dry red. The lady who served us was really great which was a bonus! As far as my favorite atmosphere, I really loved Sugarland Wine Cellars. We visited this winery on the third day when we headed into Gatlinburg. It had a very comforting feeling inside and they had good wine too!
Day 3
Like I mentioned earlier, we hit the last two wineries in Gatlinburg and then did some exploring in the downtown area. Honestly, Gatlinburg wasn't my favorite part of the trip. It was very touristy which I'm not really into but they did have some fun shops to go into! My friends and I walked around, got lunch, and had the full Gatlinburg experience.
I wanted to get away from the tourists for a little bit, so one of my friends and I decided to take a chairlift to the top of one of the mountains close to town. The chairlift ride is called Gatlinburg Sky Lift and it was $16 to ride on the lift. This was a little bit pricey for me but it was totally worth it! We got an incredible view once we got to the top and it was all very relaxing.
XO - Emma
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