G and I spent our honeymoon in the beautiful State of Tennessee. Leaving early Monday morning (June 18, 2018), we drove the twelve hours South to a quaint cabin high in the Smoky Mountains overlooking Gatlinburg. We took advantage of the fresh air and active town for four days before moving onto Music City — Nashville. During our vacation we ate some amazing food, saw even-more-amazing sights, and spent countless hours reveling that the wedding was over and we were finally husband and wife.
We absolutely loved our entire trip, and will cherish the memories for the rest of our lives. The following is a little glimpse into our vacation as well as recommendations for anyone traveling to this area of the United States.
Gatlinburg, TN
Accommodations: Stay in a mountain cabin.
I will not directly say which cabin we stayed in — because we’re going to keep this precious gem a secret so it isn’t packed with reservations when we want to return. Yep. Selfish reason. :) However, I will say we chose a cabin that was about a mile and a half of winding roads up in the mountains overlooking the town of Gatlinburg. Our “driveway” way a single parking space on such a steep incline that I worried even the emergency brake wouldn’t prevent my car from rolling to its doom.
The cabin was bear-themed, and was an open concept with cozy kitchen, sitting area, corner heart-shaped Jacuzzi and king-sized bed. The bed faced large windows and a back door which let out onto a deck. The deck was built on stilts and the tree tops were cut back to allow a view of the Smokies. A hot tub and diner table rested on the deck, and may have been our favorite spot the entire trip. Every evening ended with a glass of wine while relaxing in the hot tub, and each morning began with breakfast and coffee at the table looking out into God’s beautiful nature.
I’m sure hotels in Gatlinburg are nice and all, but if you’re going to spend a week in Tennessee, I highly recommend staying in a cabin. We actually found our cabin to be cheaper than hotel rates in the area. This was partly due to the lack of daily cleaning services and continental breakfasts, but we didn’t much mind. G and I made the bed each morning and were able to make a few meals at the cabin, including a steak dinner. It was perfectly US.
Restaurant Recommendations
We pulled into Gatlinburg relatively late on Monday. After the typical travel stops, we were set to arrive at our cabin on-time, but then we hit the main stretch of Sevierville which led into Gatlinburg. It took nearly an hour and a half to travel through the shopping district of Sevierville which is only about 18 miles. The traffic was horrendous. Stop, go. Stop, go. By the time we navigated the winding highway to Gatlinburg and the mountain roads to our cabin, it was nearly 7’o’clock and we were hungry. Choosing not to go into the actual town of Gatlinburg (we were over the crowds by this point), we instead headed to the outskirts and wandered.
This is a nice way of saying we got lost.
We took a nice little drive around a local high school. We turned around at a closed drive-in diner. Twice. And we noted a little grocery store where we planned to purchase some bottles of wine and whiskey after dinner — we needed a drink or two. After discovering there was no Taco Bell nearby (and a grumbling husband’s retort at this news), it was growing dark. Then we both noticed a glittering tree down the road. As we approached, we saw numerous LED icicles hanging from the tree’s branches, and an OPEN sign flashed beneath it on a bridge. Behind the bridge sat a restaurant with a waterfall flowing over the roof — it was simply spectacular.
Crystelle Creek was our favorite restaurant the entire trip. Sitting behind the bridge along a creek, the dining area was rustic and cozy. Though we arrived only an hour before they closed, our waiter was welcoming and sat us near a live soloist. He provided us recommendations on wine and food, and we ordered: G had a Cajun shrimp Alfredo and I chose a chopped steak. Splitting a bottle of Malbec, we sat back and took a deep breath. We had made it. The soloist was personable, telling us he had visited our hometown several times as he once lived in Michigan. His easy music was beautifully paired with our meals. We were blown away! So much that we debated revisiting Crystelle Creek during our stay.
If it hadn’t been for our desire to try a few other selections in town, we would have gone back for another dinner. However, we enjoyed our other options as well. One night we visited The Peddler Steakhouse and indulged. A peddler comes to each table with a selection of meat cuts and you choose your steak. It was an engaging experience and the food was superb. We also went to a Mexican cuisine restaurant, No Way Jose’s Cantina, and split a burrito beside some margaritas. It was your typical Tex-Mex sort of atmosphere, but we still enjoyed ourselves and the Jose’s we ate at was an ideal locale in Downtown Gatlinburg. So after-dinner activities in town were easy to navigate.
Attractions We Loved
Our first full day in Gatlinburg was a scorcher, but the high temps didn’t deter us from walking the crowded streets downtown and partaking in the local wine and whiskey scene. G fancies whiskey and I, obviously, love me some wine, so tasting the town was a no-brainer for us. After the first distillery (Doc Collier Moonshine Distillery) I decided to tap-out and only do wine tastings, but G and I had a blast. Each distillery offers a $5 tasting of over 10 different whiskies or moonshines, and the wineries offered free tastings. We managed to bounce through four additional stops: Sugarland Cellars, Ole Smoky Whiskey Distillery, Tennessee Homemade Wines, and Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery. I found a few fruit wines as perfect souvenirs for our mothers, and G bought a pint of 128 proof Blue Flame Moonshine. In his words, it’s clear, clean and exactly what moonshine should be.
Getting out of town and away from the crowds was a big reason we loved Gatlinburg as well — you had the option to be a tourist or be alone. On two separate days we ventured into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. First, we chose to hike the Grotto Falls trail. This was a 3-mile trail running through the forested mountains and took us behind a 25-foot waterfall. It was a beautiful trail, and we ended up hiking a bit past the falls until we found a llama “dumping zone.” (I mean that very literally.) Nonetheless, this hiking experience was the best way to get into the Smoky Mountains and see the pristine back-country of Tennessee. I has hoped to catch a glimpse of a black bear — from afar — but unfortunately the heat and daylight seemed to play against us.
Our second outing to the Smokies was to take a driving tour to Cades Cove. It took about an hour of winding roadway to get to this 11-mile, one-way loop that circles the cove. However, once inside the loop, we were able to sight-see at our leisure. Traffic was heavy, so our speeds never went over 20 miles per hour, but this enabled us to enjoy the forests, wildflower-covered meadows, and even a close encounter with a bear! The silly little thing wandered across the road only three cars before us, and then lost its balance on a log and somersaulted out of view. It was a cute interaction while watching nature. One of my favorite parts of this drive was seeing the awe-inspiring mountain views. Michigan is a beautiful state and offers some elevation in terms of dunes and hills, but the Smoky Mountains are simply amazing. If you take the trip to Tennessee, be sure to visit the Smokies — you are guaranteed to find an adventure.
Gatlinburg has a ton of tourist attractions aside from the nature surrounding it. G and I debated purchasing tickets to the Gatlinburg Sky Lift or the Gatlinburg Ziplines, but chose to visit the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies instead. A favorite from G’s childhood, the aquarium boasts a penguin playground (who doesn’t love penguins?!) as well as a shark tank tunnel. There is a moving conveyor-belt where guests can stand and be transported through the tunnel as a variety of sharks swim beside and above them. It was a fun experience! Plus, we opted to go to the aquarium after dinner one night, so it was not nearly as crowded as if we had gone during the day.
We did not spend all our time in town or hiking though. There was numerous hours spent at the cabin playing games and drinking wine on the back porch. We brought a new game we received as a wedding gift, Hogwarts Battle, and had it set up on our dining table inside throughout the whole week. We also brought cards which we played on the porch as we sipped our drinks.
This secluded time together was the best part of the entire trip.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. We packed our belongings and said goodbye to the cabin on Friday. As we exited Sevierville, Gatlinburg’s sister city, we stopped by the Smoky Mountain Knife Works and picked up a few things. Most notably was a hatchet for our future camping adventures. Then we left that little area of Tennessee behind us as we traveled to our next stop…
This is Part 1 of sharing our honeymoon road trip to Tennessee. Please find Part 2 HERE.
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