Smoky Mountain | Mid-Michigan Dining

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies – Gatlinburg, TN

2 10 2009

88 River Road
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
(865) 430-8808
Website

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, TN

I wasn’t going to write about any of the attractions we went to, but this was too good to not say something about.

Usually, I’m not a fan of aquariums. When I was little, I was forced to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago more times than I would have liked. In fact, one was too many. I hated it. It was so boring. So, when one of our friends recommended Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies we were skeptical but willing to give it a shot.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is just off The Parkway in Gatlinburg. It’s one of the first things you run into if you’re coming from Pigeon Forge (which is a beautiful drive, btw). In true Ripley’s fashion, the building itself is something to look at. It doesn’t have the stuffy feeling of a museum and it’s not an old building with Gothic architecture. It’s a modern design with a lot of glass.

The ticket window is actually outside before you get to the main doors. The cost for adults was $20, but like I told J, that was cheaper than the freakin ferry ride to Mackinac Island, so in the grand scheme of things, it probably wasn’t that bad. The ticket lady tried to get us to buy tickets to other Ripley attractions in town which would have saved money if we were going to more than one, but we weren’t.

After getting tickets, we headed inside where another person ripped our tickets and sent us on our way. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Aquarium, Gatlinburg, Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Smoky Mountain, Tennessee
Categories : Entertainment Venues, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Tony Gore’s Smoky Mountain BBQ & Grill – Sevierville, TN

1 10 2009

1818 Winfield Dunn Parkway
Sevierville, TN 37876
(865) 429-7771
Website
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Tony Gore's Smoky Mountain BBQ & Grill just outside of Sevierville, TN

Finally. We made it to the relaxing cabin high up on one of the Smoky mountains. We had a little trouble finding the place at first, but once we made it up, we changed into bathing suits to hit the top outside overlooking the wilderness. Great idea….until I got stung by a bee on my head. That hurt….a lot and it scared J from getting back in. I found some wasp & hornet spray, but it didn’t kill them off right away. I then dragged out a hose and tried to drown them out. No luck, so J called the leasing office and they sent someone up with more spray. He tried and thought he got rid of them, but they came back. So, we decided to go to dinner and give them time to die off.

The Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area of Tennessee is really touristy and I’m not a touristy person. I don’t like fun I guess. I’m sure we’ll hit up some of the tourist spots while we’re here, but I really like the out of the way places too.

On our way in to Sevierville, we passed a BBQ joint alongside the road. It looked like an old joint and there weren’t a lot of cars, but it was a Monday night.

We drove back down the mountain and headed back the way we came. It was a few miles and I damn near missed it because the sign was knocked down, but I caught it out of the corner of my eye. Read the rest of this entry »