Smoky Mountain Getaway - Thanksgiving 2006


This was a Thanksgiving Getaway to the Smoky Mountains which encompassed Wednesday, November 22 thru Sunday, November 26. Pam and I also celebrated our 18th wedding aniversary on November 26. It was great family fun. I did not take as many photos as usual and completely left out "The Comedey Barn" and dinner at "Calhouns". Both were great and highly recommended. I separated the photos I did take into 7 different Photo Galleries which are summarized below.

cabin The Cabin Gallery - Almost Heaven

This was where we stayed during our visit this time. It was a nice wood cabin with a gas fireplace, a hot tub, and a pool table. It was situated in a resort with a stocked pond and mini golf. The view was not as spectacular as the one we stayed in on our last visit, but it was very enjoyable and we had more amenities. There was also a guest book that was enjoyable to read and see what other guests did during their stay. I would certainly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Pigeon Forge.
Park The Park Gallery

The first day we made a drive up into the Park to see if any snow was still left from the 9 inches they got the previous weekend. There was a little bit left, but not much. The drive was beautiful and got us pumped up for our visit.
wonderworks Wonder Works Gallery

We visited this attraction on our first evening. You can see more details at their website. It was full of fun things for kids and adults.
dollywood DollyWood Gallery

Almost everyone wants to see Dollywood when they go to Pigeon Forge. Last visit we made was during Mardi Gras and Dollywood was closed, so we wanted to try it this time. We met up with our friends David, Michelle, and Alec Newton for the all day event. Getting in proved to be a chore as they experienced a volume of 24,000 plus visitors. Quite a bit more than the expected 13,000. Lines were long, and I did not take many pictures, but we enjoyed the visit.
drive2falls Drive2Falls Gallery

On November 25, we visited 3 water falls in the Park. The first two were ones you can drive to in the Park. We first looked at Meigs Falls which is 13 miles west of Sugarlands Visitor Center where we picked up the Water-Falls Trail Map. The second one was called "The Sinks" and was about 12 miles west of Sugarlands. The actual falls were short in stature but its volume includes the entire flow of Little River and there were trails along the path making it a fun adventure.
Laurel Falls Laurel Falls Gallery

This 2.6 mile round trip trail is located about 3.5 miles west of Sugarlands Visitor Center. It was a very enjoyable hike up a paved trail and the falls were very much worth the effort. Coming back down, we even sighted a black bear although he was not close enough for a good picture. I did manage a nice sunset shot of Pam and Luke though.
Mingo Falls Mingo Falls Gallery

We made this stop as we headed back toward home. A long steep third of a mile run of stairs leads to these spectacular 120 foot falls just outside of the southeast end of the park in the Cherokee Indian Reservation. Not very noticable is a trail leading up the left side of the falls for the adventerous (like my boys). This was certainly a worthwhile stop.