I'd like to say I made the best of a pretty crappy weekend, but the truth is I pretty much made the worst of a crappy weekend and ended up in a HUGE downward spiral no matter what I tried.
I've never liked Gatlinburg. Add to that some major boyfriend drama (trauma) and you get a big, cold, wet blanket of blah with a side order of cheese. It was a stretch, but I did manage to find a few things to occupy my brain while in this Myrtle Beach-of-the-Mountains-wannabe. I took refuge in this place while a cold drizzle came down:
It's an indoor jungle-golf place with an open store front off the street. I thought, despite itself, it was kinda cool. I mean, if you like things like that. ; )
And this - I just had to take a picture because it's representative of the touristy stuff to do in Gatlinburg. Another open store front off the street thing -
It's an Earthquake Ride. Basically it's a simulator and you pay $12 to sit there to be shaken up as if you were in a real earthquake. There were numerous "rides" like this throughout the main strip. I guess if you could buy one pass to ride all of them it would be (and I use this term loosely) fun. But $12 a pop - definitely not worth it. They have all the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museums and an exact replica of the Myrtle Beach Ripley Aquarium. We've been to that one, and I for one loved it, so I didn't feel compelled to go to this one too. The other similarity to MB is all the haunted houses. Right next to our hotel was a place called "Mystery Mansion" - and we actually gave it a look-see but then decided not to partake. I liked their weather vein though:
One thing I do like to do when visiting a place is to check out the local art. Not the tourist junk made in China (although I'm not 100% innocent of buying this) I wandered into a gallery while another burst of cold rain passed. I liked the style of the photographer very much and after talking with him at some length, ended up buying a beautiful picture framed in aged "barn wood" at a reasonable price. I haven't unboxed it yet, but it will be a nice accent piece, especially for fall.
I also bought Finn some cute socks from a shop that only sells socks, and I bought a funny T-shirt for myself - a spoof of the "Life is Good" brand. It's a stick figure wielding a single paddle and says "Shit Creek Survivor". I found it to be oddly inspirational, especially given the mood I was in all weekend.
Gary and I managed to do the one thing I wanted to do while we were there. We rode the Skylift up the side of a mountain.
On the way up we saw a small deer nibbling leaves and wondered how the heck he a) got up there and b) how he was standing as sure-footed as he was on this massive incline.
At the top we asked someone to take the one picture of us that was taken all weekend. It's remarkably cute, given that we barely said a word to each other on the way up.
2 comments:
I live in Gatlinburg, and believe me it is no where as bleak as this blog message says. Sure it's touristy, but when you get between 11 and 14 million tourist per year you have to have hotels, restaurants, and attractions, or people will go elsewhere...not everyone goes into the Great Smokys National Park while they're here. Yes...too many T-shirt shops and old-time photo shops and Lord know we would like to see a lot of those be replaced by unique and interesting shops, but if they have the money to pay the rent, so be it. But there are good restaurants, fine accommodations, and if you want to spend the time, there is some outstanding shopping, especially out in the Arts and Crafts Community. My suggestion is to write or call ahead, get the tourism books and brochures and PLAN your trip. This is another Classic case of a WHINY, spoiled American.
@ Dr. Ric: I am not "another WHINY spoiled American" - in fact I've made my living in the Hospitality industry for the past 20 years. You may note from the post that I was in G'burg for a cheerleading convention and NOT to be a tourist. I had some time to kill and contributed to the local arts community by purchasing an original piece directly from the artist, and bought several souvenirs from local shop keepers. I have travelled extensively in the US and abroad and ALWAYS contribute to the local economy wherever I travel, no matter what. In this particular case I was having a HORRIBLE time with my boyfriend and his daughter, and it so happened that we were in G'burg. Trust me, had we been anywhere else, the mood would likely have been the same. Gatlinburg is fine for families, and for people who love the mountains. Jeez! PS - It's not necessary to be such an asshole.
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