Photograph courtesy Natural Retreats
Four friends, a full tank of gas, and a plan: That’s how a summer weekend began for a carload of Memphians heading east in August for a ladies-only trek to the Smoky Mountains, where we’d mix a little bit of relaxation with a lot of excitement. From a hot tub to a roller coaster, from underground exploration to a thrill-ride 500 feet above the trees, this action-packed journey was one for the books.
After a six-and-a-half-hour scenic drive and a shift in elevation, we settled into a three-story luxurious log cabin at the tip of Brother’s Cove in Sevierville, Tennessee. With floor-to-ceiling windows, three balconies, two spa-tubs, a game room with shuffleboard and foosball, and a hot tub overlooking the mountains, the amenities in The Lost Texan (our cabin) were plentiful. The quiet Natural Retreats community offered ample space between neighboring vacationers, and a communal pool was the perfect relief from the summer heat. If we could have stayed put all weekend, we would have; but alas, adventure awaited.
Underground and on the Town
Photograph courtesy The Old Mill
The Mill at Old Mill Restaurant
After a long, hard night of hot-tubbing under the stars, we started Saturday’s journey by fueling up on comfort food at The Old Mill Restaurant, 10 miles away in Pigeon Forge. Known for its Southern-style meat-and-two offerings, house-made biscuits, and fluffy, sweet corn fritters, the two-story eatery was abuzz with hungry patrons who’d made a day trip to The Old Mill Square. “A working tribute to the Smokies’ pioneer days,” the Square features a general store, a candy kitchen, and several small retail shops.
The Square’s centerpiece, a 200-year-old water-powered gristmill, is still used to stone-grind grains for many of The Old Mill Restaurant’s recipes, as well as for the making of moonshine, rum, and other spirits crafted at Old Forge Distillery next door. No time for moonshine just yet though, as we’d set our sights on a subterranean excursion half an hour away: Forbidden Caverns.
The hour-long tour through Forbidden Caverns led us 250 feet underground, offering an up-close look at crystal-clear streams and space-like rock formations, including, according to our sweet-as-pie tour guide, Melinda, the largest wall of rare cave onyx or dripstones known to exist. A cool 58 degrees inside year-round, the cave requires minimal physical effort to maneuver, so the trek was an easy one, with tour-goers of all ages eager to see cave critters and learn about the history of this dark, deep hole in the ground.
Long ago, it was a winter shelter for Eastern Woodlands Indians, who found a constant source of fresh water in the cave’s underground river and used the supply of flint and chert to craft tools and weapons. From the early 1920s until 1943, moonshiners moved in, also finding value in the cave’s fresh water flow — believed to come from a lake beneath English Mountain — for the making of moonshine and whiskey. And of course, the isolated location was ideal for the “underground” nature of the business.
A trip through the caverns does require a good pair of shoes, as water dripping from stalactites forms puddles in places and creates a slip-and-slide effect on rock ramps (thankfully, there are handrails). But don’t worry about “cave kisses” — Melinda says if a drop of water falls on you, it’s good luck.
Good luck aplenty, we decided it was moonshine time, so we headed back to Pigeon Forge and, with our sights on the Ferris wheel in the distance, made our way to The Island.
A City in Itself
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photographs courtesy Natural Retreats
The Lost Texan
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The Lost Texan
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The Lost Texan
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The Lost Texan
One could spend an entire day(or longer; there’s a Margaritaville hotel on site) at The Island, an entertainment complex with more than 35 retail and specialty shops, rides, restaurants, an arcade, and the moonshine we’d be waiting for. First things first: a tasting at Ole Smoky, a distillery with an on-site still, one of three locations of the Gatlinburg-based producer.
With thimble-sized sample cups, we tried 10 types of alcoholic treats, including old-fashioned white lightnin’, hunch punch and apple pie-flavored moonshines, a decadent coffee liqueur, and a kick-of-spice mango habanero whiskey. Ole Smoky’s shelves were chock-full, with 40 varieties of moonshine and whiskey available, most of which are made and jarred right there.
After wetting our whistles, we made a quick detour a few doors down to Dick’s Last Resort — a notoriously raunchy restaurant and bar with an intentionally obnoxious staff — to get a real-deal drink of moonshine by way of a full-size Hillbilly Shootout. The concoction consists of Ole Smoky White Lightnin’, Southern Comfort, melon liqueur, and a splash of pineapple juice, delivered with a straw and a tall paper-bag hat, scrawled with a cheeky insult, for the drinker to wear while imbibing.
A step outside the front doors of Dick’s, we came face-to-face with the Great Smoky Mountain Wheel, a 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel, which, with its multicolored flashing lights, had been our original draw to The Island. From inside the all-glass gondolas, passengers can soak in a spectacular view of the mountainous skyline. The four of us fit comfortably in the eight-passenger vessel, and the built-in air conditioning made for a nice, cool ride.
Outside The Island’s shops, dozens of folks lounged in adirondack chairs around the dancing fountain, which as the sun began to set, provided a colorful light show. Others gathered around Old Smoky’s outdoor stage to enjoy live music. Since we’d been on the go all day, we retreated to The Lost Texan to grill out on the deck — and, of course, enjoy the hot tub — against the silhouette of the mountainside and the cicadas’ serenade.
Photograph courtesy The Island
The Island, featuring the 200-foot Great Smoky Mountain Wheel
Out on a Limb (and under the Sea)
I’ve never been that much of a thrill-seeker, and one such item wasn’t on our original Sunday agenda. Nevertheless, two of the four of us a bundle of nerves, we set out for Legacy Mountain Ziplines in Sevierville. Upon arrival, we saw that our zip group of about a dozen included a few youngsters. If they could do it, so could we.
The guides secured us into our gear and piled us into a van for a bumpy ride up a mountain. After a brief instructional presentation and one short “test line,” we set out on our two-and-a-half-hour adventure, which included a bit of scenic hiking between ziplines. The Legacy Mountain course takes riders through seven lines, with the highest at 500 feet above treetops and the longest at half a mile. We’d later learn that some consider this course a bit more advanced than other local options, since adult zippers must manually hand-brake (by gripping the cable with a leather-gloved hand) to slow themselves down from upwards of 50 miles per hour when coming in for a landing. This proved tricky, as did steering, which required skillful maneuvering of a metal clasp to keep from spinning around like a top.
After mastering the moves, the spectacular bird’s-eye views of the Smokies and Mount LeConte, the third highest peak in the national park, made this an outstanding ride. Our guide, Randy, was quick to calm the nerves and even rode the first big line tandem with one friend who (briefly) demanded to turn back when her fear of heights kicked in full-force. Once we expertly landed the last line, we were ready to do it all over again, though that would have to wait until our next trip.
With adrenaline pumping, we left the ziplines and headed to Gatlinburg for a tour of Ripley’s Aquarium. Named Best U.S. Aquarium (2017) by USA Today, Ripley’s is home to 10,000 sea creatures, representing more than 350 species. Meandering through Shark Lagoon, a U-shaped glass tunnel walkway with sharks as long as 13 feet swimming overhead, transports you into the ocean for an arm’s-reach view.
photograph Courtesy Ripley’s Aquarium
Standouts here also included the mesmerizing sea nettle, leafy sea dragons, the Coral Reef exhibit, and Stingray Bay. The aquarium also offers additional options for extra fees, including a glass-bottom boat ride, a Penguin Encounter (you can pet a penguin!), and Splash with the Stingrays, where you can swim with stingrays in Touch-a-Ray Bay.
After an hour or so with the fishes, we’d worked up an appetite, so we took a walk through the tourist-filled streets of Gatlinburg, past several shops, old-time photo booths, and other attractions, to Smoky Mountain Brewery.
photograph courtesy legacy Mountain Ziplines
Legacy Mountain Ziplines
Brews, Food, and Boos
With four Tennessee locations — the first in Gatlinburg opened in 1996 — Smoky Mountain Brewery is the oldest craft brewery in East Tennessee. The microbrewery makes its beer in small batches on site, with its signature mainstays and a rotating menu of seasonal offerings. I opted for the Black Bear Ale, a rich and malty English-style brown ale that paired perfectly with the Brewery Ale Steak.
Marinated in garlic, mustard, and their Cherokee Red Ale, an Irish-style ale with a hint of sweetness, the sirloin was cooked to perfection. Alongside creamy mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli swimming in house-made beer cheese, this was a plate of food worth coming back to. The energetic atmosphere, with live acoustic music and attentive service, was a bonus.
Full bellies and the adrenaline from Legacy Mountain long gone, we ducked into Ripley’s Haunted Adventure on the way back to the car for one final thrill before night’s end. Here, an elevator takes scare-seekers up to a 10,000-square-foot “haunted” mansion. Time inside is spent feeling your way through pitch-darkness, with random loud sounds coming from who knows where adding to the adventurer’s jumpiness. Well-timed animatronics, live actors, and elaborate horror-themed rooms lend to the terror. The last leg of the haunt sent us through a hallway with rubber walls that caved in on our sides as we fumbled for the exit.
Photo by Shara Clark
A Fond Farewell
As luck would have it, the solar eclipse fell on our last day in the Smokies, where, the internet previously informed me, coverage would be 99.9 percent. With our bags all packed ready to bid farewell to our lovely weekend home, we stood outside, eyes to the sky, surrounded by majestic mountain beauty and a canopy of trees that proved the perfect projector for crescent shadows.
As twilight fell on afternoon, the cabin’s street lights flickered on, and crickets chirped a nighttime tune. We four watched, quietly, and when we could no longer see the sun through the eclipse glasses, it was time. For two glorious minutes, we gazed, with naked eyes, as the sun’s rays beamed from behind the moon, creating the not-often-seen Bailey’s beads, also called the “diamond ring.” There was a surreality in those still moments, a connectedness with mankind and nature. And as the moon moved past, nearby birds sang a morning song, stirred, as we were.
Not much could top that experience, (and I do suggest you all seek out the path of totality for the 2024 eclipse), and as our Smoky Mountain adventure came to a close, we had but one last stop to make before hitting the road back to Memphis.
We’d passed by the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster, the second longest mountain roller coaster in North America, several times throughout the weekend. At night, it’s lit with more than 300,000 colored lights, but during the day, from our solo-rider cars, we could take in the views — towering, slender trees at each side with branches reaching high over the course — as we crept slowly up, up, up before plummeting down from a height of nearly 4,000 feet.
Through the high-speed descent’s sharp curves and stomach-tingling ups and downs, I laughed and nearly cried, thinking for sure the car would leave the tracks. Fortunately, it’s built to prevent that, and I lived to tell the tale.
As first-timers vacationing in the Smoky Mountains, our crew barely scratched the surface of what the area has to offer. Between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (and less than a 20-minute drive separating them), days can be fast-paced and packed with action in the cities’ centers or slow and serene in a cabin in the country. Whichever you choose, you’ll find it here. Who knows? You might also find, as we did, the courage to try something new, or memories to cherish for years to come.
