Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg: A Family Weekend in the Smokies

Thursday: Arriving at the cabin

We left around 5 p.m. Thursday and drove into the Smokies for a long weekend. Our VRBO rental, Always Home Cabin, sat in a beautiful wooded location, but the property itself needed more care. The hot tub did not work properly, cleanliness was an issue, and the condition of the cabin took some shine off the setting. It was usable for the weekend, but not somewhere we would choose again.

Firehouse Subs handled dinner. I ordered a New York Steamer, while my wife chose an Italian sub. We spent the rest of the evening playing darts, having a couple of beers, and settling into vacation mode.

Friday morning: Old Mill Square and local spirits

We went to Denny's around 8:30 the next morning. The restaurant was quiet, but service was surprisingly slow and the food was only average.

From there, we explored the Old Mill area and visited Old Forge Distillery. Arriving early worked in our favor: it was quiet, and we could move through the cream-based and traditional spirit samples without feeling crowded.

Junction 35 came next. I browsed the Nike clearance outlet and found several tempting pairs of shoes, although none came home with me. The kid had room to run around on the artificial-grass area, where chess, cornhole, and other games gave us a break from shopping. We also sampled Junction 35's moonshines, which remained among our favorites in the area even though the selection felt limited.

Friday afternoon: Kings Family Distillery and golf

Before golf, we stopped at Kings Family Distillery. Its reputation and prices were both higher than many nearby tasting rooms, but the toasted rye whiskey stood out. At about $90 a bottle, it was memorable without becoming an automatic purchase.

My brother-in-law and I then played Gatlinburg Golf Course. The mountain setting made it a good centerpiece for the afternoon and separated the day from becoming one tasting room after another.

We picked up pizza from Papa Leone's afterward. We had enjoyed it on earlier visits, but this order seemed a little off compared with what we remembered. Back at the cabin, we slowed down for the night.

Saturday: Walking downtown Gatlinburg

Saturday was our Gatlinburg day. Parking cost $20, which felt steep, but it had been years since I had spent real time walking the downtown Parkway and I was ready to see what had changed.

We visited several distilleries, cider shops, and wine stops along the way. Sugarlands was the stop I most wanted to make because it has fewer locations than some of the other brands, and the samples lived up to the anticipation.

I carried the kid through much of downtown. It made the day more tiring, but also kept the crowded walk moving. The combination of tasting rooms, shops, and people-watching brought back some of the Gatlinburg atmosphere I remembered.

Lunch, arcade games, and Junction 35

Lunch was at Chicken Guy, where the entrées were solid and the long list of dipping sauces made the meal more interesting. The restaurant was busy, so it was difficult to slow down and enjoy everything. A nearby arcade offered three dollars in free play, which gave the kid another quick activity before we continued.

We returned to Junction 35 for dinner. The wait was long, but the food justified it. While we waited, I visited The Spice & Tea Exchange and ordered Mystic Dragon, a fragrant green tea that became one of the small surprises of the trip.

Sunday: A simple trip home

On Sunday, we stopped at Ross and picked up Starbucks for breakfast before beginning the drive home. It was an uncomplicated ending after two full days of shopping, tastings, golf, food, and walking.