The Mountains are Calling...

Growing up in Connecticut, I had the mountains at my fingertips to my North and the ocean at my toes to my East. Now living in Tennessee, the Mountains are hours away and the ocean doesn't show herself. A weekend away in Gatlinburg is pure bliss. We packed most of our food to cut down on food costs and because Gatlinburg doesn't offer a ton of great local restaurants. It's such a busy town and during this time of year, is crazy crammed. Being foodies, chain restaurant food is not our style. But we did spend one night out at the original Smoky Mountain Brewery trying their beers and digging into a non buffalo chicken pizza. Satisfying for sure. We took advantage of the rising sun while biking Cades Cove. Cades Cove is located south of Gatlinburg near Townsend and is a one way loop though the mountains. I would never make the loop in a car. We biked the 11 mile paved trail with some friends on a beautiful brisk morning. The sun was just coming up over the mountains. It looked like lava about to announce itself to the world. We saw very little wild life, no bears. We made our way to the Dark Island Campground swinging bridge to enjoy a picnic lunch. Upon crossing the bridge, we ran into a very sweet lady that took time to show us around and chat on her porch. So thankful for kind people in this world. We climbed a short trail down to some flat rocks calling our name to eat upon right on the Little River. Makes me wonder if I took it all for granted at one point in my life. Gatlinburg, until next time, stay beautiful.

Hippie Tip: Definitely take the Cades Cove Bike Ride. Everyday Wednesday and Saturday, it is completely closed off to cars. This is the best time to make this journey. You can rent bikes but we saw many people having trouble with the rented bikes.Read more