Good Eats and Great Treats

Now, you must know that when we vacation...we throw ALL rules out the window!  Including the ones about counting calories!  Since we didn't have a plan, didn't have a schedule, and played everything by ear...we also didn't have food.  What does that mean?  We get to enjoy the local good eats and great treats around the mountains!

Actually, we did have one thing planned.  We bought tickets to Dixie Stampede for our first night in town.  We never go to Gatlinburg without enjoying a wonderful show and  the incredible Southern food at the Dixie Stampede!  It's a Gatlinburg staple for sure!

If you've never been to Dixie Stampede, let me walk you through it.  You start by walking into the carriage room to enjoy peanuts, popcorn, and drinks while you enjoy the opening act.  We always enjoy the comedy and musical talent of the bluegrass country band!

About 45 minutes later, we are escorted into the main arena.  This is where the magic happens!  And, by magic, I mean the most amazing food and the most entertaining show around!  The Dixie Stampede dinner and show is an action-packed and fun-filled show filled with horses, tricks, comedy, and singing!  It's very entertaining and great for families!  So, if you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it!

In case you are wondering what exactly is so wonderful about the food...let me share the menu with you.  First of all, the creamy vegetable soup is like nothing you've ever had before!  The home-made cheddar biscuits are out of this world!  There is no silverware.  Use your hands...just like they did in the Civil War days!  Oh. My!  I'm already craving another trip!

Several nights, Russ and I simply strolled the streets of downtown Gatlinburg.  We stopped in the shops, reminisced about our past trips, and took advantage of the treats as we passed by.  One of the signature stops in downtown Gatlinburg is Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen!  You can't leave Gatlinburg without some Smoky Mountain Taffy!

The main attraction inside is new!  In October, the candy kitchen was "bearglarized!"  That's right!  A bear busted the window in the front door breaking into the candy kitchen and began eating away at the sweet treats!  The newspaper articles are posted in the shop for you to see.  The eyewitness accounts are quite interesting!  The bear was found by two women who arrived early to work.  I can only imagine that early morning wake up call!

We found a new favorite spot!  I don't know why we haven't found this before!  Probably because it is near Pancake Pantry, and we are obsessed with that place.  I guess we overlooked this hidden treasure.  The Donut Friar is a perfectly quaint hole in the wall that has the most amazing hot apple cider and eclairs.  Well, they have more than that...but that was my sweet of choice.  Ha!  We stopped in at least once every single day for hot apple cider! 

And, who in their right mind goes to Gatlinburg without a trip or two to Pancake Pantry?!  There is no comparison between the "real deal" and the Nashville look alike.  I insisted on two visits this trip.  I had my regular silver dollar pancakes.  Then I finished my second trip off with the Swiss chocolate chip pancakes!  Worth. Every. Calorie!

Another yummy dinner place I love is Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant.  Unfortunately, we didn't arrive in time to shop at the Apple Barn and see all the fun treats made from apples.  The delicious dinner certainly made up for what we missed.  Let's see...our meals included hot apple fritters with apple butter, salad, main dish, two sides, and a yummy dessert!  Wow!  We were stuffed when we left with our to-go box full of dessert.

During the day, we stopped wherever we felt like it to eat lunch.  Bubba Gump's is always a fun place to grab a bite.  Russ makes a great Forrest Gump.  What do you think?  Life is like a box of chocolates...

We took one night to eat "fancy."  This time of year was perfect!  No lines or reservations needed anywhere!  Which was great since we didn't want to plan anything!  We chose The Peddlar as our nice dinner.  It was just as good as I remembered!  The peddler brought out the meat and cut our steaks in front of us.  We had a river view table.  It was a lovely evening as a Party of Two!

Dessert?  Yes, please!

Our last night in town, we wanted to make sure we had some way to watch the Orange Bowl.  I guess that is something to keep in mind when traveling the first week of January...bowl games are on every night!  We didn't miss much of any of them.  We chose Mellow Mushroom as our last meal simply because we already knew it was good, and they had televisions!  Ha! 

Our Gatlinburg vacation was a wonderful time of togetherness.  But, it was also a time of DELICIOUSNESS!