February Gatlinburg Trip Report, Part 2: Samples and Pleasant Surprises

The only time during the year when I’m happy to be up at 6 in the morning is right here in Gatlinburg. The beeps from my alarm never sounded better. Oh yes, this guy doesn’t care about sleeping in, because the early bird gets the worm and then some. Heck, my son even got up with me, and that’s saying something. The day started with our normal routine (The Donut Friar) being passed over for a place we hadn’t visited in more than six years.

I am talking about the Pancake Pantry. Now I know some of you want to slap me silly, and you would definitely be justified after my judgement of this visit. My wife and son don’t like a big breakfast early in the morning, so that explains some of it. But really, we’ve done this at other breakfast places in town, so that’s a poor excuse. Okay so I don’t have a good reason after all. Anyway, as an alternative to pancakes, I thought the next best thing was the Continental French Toast. And boy was I right. Every piece of the eight on my plate (I had to let my son have two) were perfect. Not overly sweet unless you slathered it with gobs of the cinnamon cream sauce and syrup, which I was conservative with. Good French Toast should get a noticeable egg flavor. It delivered in a professional manner, in taste and presentation. Worth every penny. My son is an omelet guy, and he dished out similar raves for the folded egg with sausage and cheese.

I reserved the coffee for Coffee and Company, and that meant my typical Shot in the Dark. I heap loads of praise for this decades-long stalwart of The Village on my Facebook page. Starbucks has nothing on them. My favorite coffee in the Smokies or anywhere else.

Now it was time to trek the Parkway to enjoy the sublime peacefulness of a morning walk. This is when I get my best pictures, and plenty of good ones were taken despite the overcast skies. At the near end of the Parkway is always my desired stop, Old Dad’s General Store. I was a little taken aback by the coolers that blocked the chalkboard that their menu used to be written on, but it still holds that simple charm that I love.

We’ve been extremely fortunate to have near perfect weather the past few visits. We were due for a washout. Most of the afternoon was mired in a misery-inducing rain shower that wouldn’t let up until we were finished with dinner. I’m being a little over-dramatic, but it does affect your plans a little. Yes, I would much rather be here than anywhere else when the weather is like this. I took shelter in the Ober Tram mall for maybe 30 minutes before thinking it was better being wet than waiting for it to dissipate.

Dinner was at Smoky Mountain Brewery, another favorite of ours that goes back to our first visit to Gatlinburg. The Brewmaster Club Salad is a meaty masterpiece that rivals another great salad from Calhoun’s (more on them in a bit). If this trip report sounds like a food tour, then you know how much we regard the grub in the Burg. In fact, all the more appropriate both grub and Burg spell each other backward.

Later, we sampled a couple of places we hadn’t done in a few years. Tennessee Homemade Wines gives away a few free samples before tempting you with more for $5. Out of that additional paid selections, the Cotton Clouds was the best of the bunch. We didn’t buy it, but that one was certainly a winner. Tennessee Cider Company was the other, which we also were persuaded to spend the extra dough just to sample a flavor I had my eye on, Cider Donut. It was good, but I wish I could pick any 3 for free. Keep that in mind when you’re here and see a flavor you like. You may have to pay, because they have a set three they only offer for free.

A new must for us is Cookie Dough Bliss located in the Marketplace. For me, it’s a chance to enjoy a guilt-free dessert, the Stevia-sweetened Sugar Free Chocolate Chip cookie dough. You’re hard pressed to find anything in Gatlinburg that isn’t laced with loads of sugar, but this place is a welcome surprise even though they have plenty of options with the crystallized delight.

Sunday morning started with a meeting with YouTuber, Gatlinburg local, and native New Englander, Sean Hussey. He is The Gatlinburg Hussey on YouTube, and I believe he is the first YouTuber I’ve met in person. He’s a really great guy, and we spent almost two hours chatting and making a short video of us donut-tasting from my guilty pleasure (and many others, as well), The Donut Friar. Hopefully the next time we’re in town, we can arrange another meeting; plus, I owe him for the donuts.

Lunch was our riskiest, most ambitious choice for food to date in Gatlinburg. Despite our distrust for seafood, we felt Chesapeake’s gave us our best chance at reversing our opinion of the Omega-3-rich food. Even though we’re still not going to necessarily seek it out on vacation, I don’t think we could’ve picked a better place for it. The Seafood Platter that my son ordered had cod, scallops, crab cake, and shrimp, while I had a filet and Wild Alaskan Salmon combo. Both, including my first foray into salmon, were delicious. The Platter was a mixed bag that I still found quite enjoyable as I picked off his plate. My wife sat this one out as she visited Tennessee Jed’s, instead, a delicious local eatery across from The Village.

The afternoon was bittersweet, because it represented our last visit to Anakeesta with our yearly passes, which expire in April. We love it, and it’s now hard to imagine a Gatlinburg trip without this adventure. Maybe this summer we’ll pay for another year. It pays for itself after two visits, and with the exception of alcohol, you get basically 20% off everything with your pass. They are expanding once again, and we’re excited to see the ongoing progress at our favorite attraction in town.

After getting off the chairlift, we made the slog down the Parkway for dinner at Calhoun’s As much as I love the salad at Smoky Mountain Brewery, the Smokehouse tops the Brewmaster for most likely to get the meat sweats. Don’t believe me? Try it and you’ll see what I mean. Probably the only salad in Gatlinburg that you may not be able to finish.

On day one, we shared a Cup from Crazy Mason, but on this evening, it was all about getting my own favorite at Chocolate Monkey, the Ultimate Peanut Butter Brownie. I’ve learned to have some iota of portion control, and that comes in the form of a Kiddie Cup. It was a tasteful end to the day…or was it?

My wife called it a night and went back to the condo, but my son and I didn’t want to be done. We always try to make the most of our last night in Gatlinburg, but that usually entails a final walk up and down the Parkway. Not this time. As if we never had dinner, we decided to dip into Gatlinburg Brewing Company and order a pizza. Was it a little much? Maybe. But no cares were given. We shared the brick oven plain cheese choice and even saved some for Momma, which she happily finished when we returned. To quickly review, it’s definitely the hottest pizza in town, and we thought it resembled Big Daddy’s Pizzeria, another good and similarly baked (or fired) pizza.

I wish we could’ve walked the Gatlinburg Trail, but the rains gave us too much hesitation, otherwise this would’ve been a slam dunk, adding some natural beauty to my cache of photos. But there will be a next time under what we hope to be much sunnier and warmer weather. Stay tuned for Part 3! And remember, this will only be fully readable for paid subscribers. Thank you so much for reading and subscribing!