Arriving in Gatlinburg

Road-Tripping with Greg: Tuesday in Gatlinburg

What started off our whole idea for this trip was Greg's perusal of the Groupon web site. He was looking for a good deal on a place to stay for a few days.

We did the same thing in Milwaukee not long after Henry was born, but you can't have a particular place in mind. I'd never even heard of Gatlinburg until my sister-in-law and her husband went there for their honeymoon.

 

We found a deal for the Brookside Resort, and I did some research before we bought the Groupon for $60/night. I had heard the place is older, undergoing renovation, and reasonably comfortable and clean. Here's the link to my Yelp Review.

Comfortable enough for me to collapse on the bed and admire the plethora of orange surrounding me.

Those things were all true. Honestly, the room reminded me of two places: my high-school boyfriend's orange '77 Monte Carlo, complete with 8-track player, and the decor of lots of basements from my childhood.  It was all paneling and orange shag carpeting.  The kitchette and bathroom were a sea of almond and olive green counter tops, sinks, and tiles.

Oh, and they had keys! I cannot remember ever getting an actual metal key for a hotel room. They must've been phased out around the time I started being old enough to stay in hotels. Here they are, though: real keys.

 The size and feel of the room was really cozy, though, and the view on the back balcony was just amazing.

When they say "brook-side" they mean it. You could hear the brook at all times inside the hotel room. I found it pretty soothing. Listen:

On a spring break trip to Tennessee, one expects a certain amount of variability to the weather. Snow, however, seemed less likely, although I should've known. We got reservations for dinner at the Greenbrier Restaurant, which was supposedly very close to our hotel. It is, but the whole route is up a mountain. Mapquest didn't mention that. I'm so glad we decided to drive.

For a quaint log cabin of a restaurant, the food was pretty good. They sat us by the window, where we had a view of the snow covered trees and the slope down the mountain/hill/slope.

I had prime rib and I yummy cheesecake, both of which were good. (Yelp Review here.)

For our first day in Gatlinburg, we were pretty satisfied and definitely in a vacation state of mind. Tomorrow, I'll write about the perils and joys of horseback riding through the Smoky Mountains.