Hey Tennessee

I will be visiting your state at the end of May for my honeymoon. My bestfriend and his wife paid for a week's rental at a cabin resort in the Pidgeon Forge area. Aside from our honeymoon antics what are some things to do and see in that area of the state.

 It has been years since I was in the Smokies and or Gatlinburg area. I know the traffic can be expected to be bad, but what else should we be on the lookout for.

Any good restaurants to go to, that are not tourist traps. How about some good southern cooking?

 

So how about it guys what is fun to do in that area, good to eat /safe for bypassers and things to avoid???

Hi,      My family & I went a couple yrs. ago. We went to the aquarium in Pigeon Forge. It was really neat & huge. The traffic was better than the past few times we went. You can pull up a lot of things in the google search. Here is the aquarium site http://www.ripleysaquariumofthesmokies.com/   They also have a Dollywood & Dixie Stampege. http://www.dollywood.com/  And the the Dixie Stampede http://www.dixiestampede.com/pigeonforge.php   Congrats & have a great time. Ellen

Congrats on your upcoming wedding. You will love it there. I do. The aquariam in Gatlinburg is definatley worth it if you like that kind of thing. I really liked it. They also have this new thing called Wonderworks in Pigeon Forge. It is geared toward kids but adults even have fun. It takes a couple of hours to get through. But it is a huge "museum" style set-up of gadgets and items that are fun to try and figure out. Like the building itself looks like it is upside down. It is a lot of hands on stuff because you actually get to try out and "play" with everything. Very fun. Pigeon Forge has tons of outlet centers for shopping and there is a great year round Christmas Store. You should stop there and get you an ornament for your first Christmas as a married couple. They can engrave and write on the ornaments. They do have  few of the main stream resturants like TGIFridays, O'Charleys, IHOP..etc but a lot of the resturants are pancake houses and buffet style country theme resturants and most I have tried have all been fairly cheap and worth it.  You will want to walk through Gatlinburg to take in all the shopping and sites. You don't want to drive it to much because of traffic but when you get into Gatlinburg, you can park and walk it.  I think you will like it. It is very romantic and a nice getaway. Probably the biggest tourist trap is the OBER tram. It is a huge tram you get to take up on OBER mountain. But really, I don't find there is a lot up there. It is just a small mall with shops, with an ice skating rink in the middle, a ski slope for sking in the winter and an alpine slide. All of which cost quite a bit if. So, unless you want to do any of that stuff, it isn't worth the expense to take the tram up there other than the view you get while riding the tram.  Hope you have a great time on your vacation. 

I live right outside of Pigeon Forge, about 5 minutes from Dollywood.  I have lived here for 10 years and love it.  For a great romantic dinner, go to the Bear Creek Grill on Highway 321 in Gatlinburg.  It is a couple of miles out of town, but totally worth it.  The best steaks in the area, and fresh seafood flown in daily.  Best Italian in Gatlinburg is also really good, in a little shopping area right across the street from TGI Fridays.  This is not the greatest place for homecooking, even though the ads say it is.  The best home cooking is actually at Dollywood at Granny Ogle's Ham and Beans or at Miss Lillian's Chicken House, both are in the craftmans area.  There is also a hole in the wall out Newport Highway in Sevierville called Sissy's.  They have a fabulous Sunday lunch, but go early, they close at 3 pm.  Country Tonite Theater is the best show in town.  A dear friend of mine is the band director, he is looking into WLS.  He also plays the harmonica like nobody's business!  The Miracle Theater is also good.  It is a type of passion play.  Another really good theater is the Smith Brothers Theater.  By all means, go into the national park.  It is the most beautiful place in the world.  Go up to Clingmans dome or go to Cades Cove.  Be aware that traffic is bad on the weekends, but during the week, not too bad.  Go to Cades Cove at sunrise or dusk and watch the hundreds of deer and be sure to "Look Up".  Bears are often in the trees beside the road.  Hope you have a great honeymoon.  This is where we came for ours 33 years ago. Marilyn

hey thanks for the replies. Sorry it took me so long to answer back between getting sick and it being a busy OT time at work I had little time to catch up.