June 2023 Gatlinburg Trip Report, Part 3: Other Observations and Opinions

Change is always evident in Gatlinburg. Some of it is good, some of it is unsatifactory to many. Believe me, I hear a lot of chatter about how the tourist town looks today. I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole, so I’ll cap my trip report series with some of my observations and opinions of a few things—positive, negative, and indifferent.

First, I’d like to state the obvious…

The large newly constructed Jason Aldean’s Restaurant and Bar, and what lies beneath, Sun Record Company Diner. The latter looks closer to complete and more ready to open than its upstairs neighbor. If I were to guess, it’ll be open in a few short weeks—possibly both. I didn’t know about the Sun Diner until a few days prior to arriving, and it looks more appealing to me only because it has breakfast offerings. I’ve looked at prices for both, and I know they’re in tourist hotbeds, but man, it could be another Ole Red-like skip. We’ll see, though. I think I may check it out at some point after it opens. The entertainment stands a good chance of drawing me in.

Staying with food, my biggest disappointment of the entire weekend visit was Cookie Dough Bliss. Unfortunately, it wasn’t close. It seems they no longer serve likely the only healthy dessert item in Gatlinburg—the sugar free chocolate chip cookie dough made with Stevia sweetener (Note: the candy shops sell sugar free chocolate, but they are made with maltitol syrup, which has the same effect on me as sugar). Sorrow was a more appropriate word than “bliss” during my discovery. I really hope the owners read this and find a way to bring it back. It’s not hard to realize sugar is king, especially in this town, but it would’ve seriously steered me away from many temptations. Instead of eating ice cream, I could’ve had this every day and felt much better. Now I have no choice but to either indulge or deny all of it. My sweet tooth and cravings defeat me almost every time, much to my disdain.

One thing we noticed about the crowds happened like we expected. Thursday definitely felt like a weekday and Sunday did too. Don’t believe me? Tell me you don’t notice a thinning of the tourist foot traffic by the middle of Sunday. Go to a restaurant, distillery, or dessert shop, and you’ll see less lines and groups of people compared to a Friday or Saturday afternoon and evening. Yes, you can certainly tell when people are leaving town after an enjoyable weekend in Gatlinburg.

When millions travel to the area, you’re going to see some trash. It still boggles the mind how people can throw stuff on the ground without a care. It’s a beautiful area, and the sheer irresponsibility is difficult to fathom. Fortunately, I didn’t see too much rubbish on The Gatlinburg Trail, but walking downtown really shows the sloppiness of people. City workers can only do so much, and I think they do an admirable job, despite the scores of lazy tourists who don’t respect their surroundings. We can do better as humans.

Our February and June visits were quite a contradiction weather-wise. It was rainy and overcast for much of the time during our late winter visit, while the sun reigned supreme during a large portion of our recent one. We always feel lucky to have wonderful weather when in Gatlinburg, but we never let the dampness and clouds cloak our happiness.

I talked about Shine Fest during Part 2 of my trip report series, and I always rave about how music enhances the vibe of Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. I admit I only listen to bluegrass when I’m here, and the same can be said about my family. If you see some of it in the Elks Plaza, I encourage you to stop and listen to Mountain Highway, a musical family that often plays here and in festivals around the area. I didn’t anticipate them as I was walking past, but live music always pulls me in, so i enjoyed their musicianship for a good five minutes before making my contribution. I have tons of respect for people devoting their time doing something they love, especially when it comes to music, which can be an excellent escape.

Strong opinion alert: What I didn’t mention about our Friday drive to the Arts and Crafts Community were the aspects that I didn’t enjoy. Sometimes I just don’t feel well and can’t seem to understand why. Unfortunately, it was early that afternoon. I was feeling sluggish before we reached Fowler’s Clay Works, but my wife didn’t get my attitude until after we visited a few other shops. It’s never my best moments, and I need to be better about not showing it as much.

I thought coffee was what I needed so I told my wife, who was getting irritated with me by now, that I wanted to stop at The Green Eye Hemp Cafe. I know what you’re thinking, but no I don’t do that stuff. Coffee was my main curiosity for stopping in, so I felt that would help cure my ills. Boy was I wrong. It was not good at all, and I blame the water quality for making it funky, unless they spiked it with some silly stuff, which I doubt. I spent more than $3 for a small that I could barely drink an ounce of. I dumped it in the trash at Food City—our last stop before returning to the condo. Safe to say I won’t be back to get coffee there. I hope it was just a one-off. I refuse to trash a business for one bad experience, so I wish them the best. Mine was memorable for the wrong reasons.

After writing the first two parts of our trip report, I decided to go the extra mile by filling in some of the blanks. As a paid subscriber, you got a post I didn’t expect to distribute. I was going to leave it at two, dive into my Astra Lumina review, and move on. I hope you enjoyed reading about my weekend trip as much as I loved being in Gatlinburg for some amazing weather and fun! If you find my writings helpful and interesting, feel free to share them on social media or by word of mouth. I love helping people decide which things they’d like to do when they’re here, and having more subscribers is essential to making sure this continues.

THANK YOU!!!