Gatlinburg Tennessee | Whiskies, Smoky Mountains, Stampede Show

“Jack Daniels is a Tennessee whiskey - proudly said one of our friend who stays in Tennessee and had visited us briefly in upstate New York where we were all traveling together. In fact, what I have heard is that one town of Lynchburg, Tennessee with the population of 600 has everyone or other related to Jack Daniels Distillery, it’s like a community there. Me and my hubby glared towards each other. We love Jack Daniels. Who doesn’t? That smooth flavor of Whiskies going down our throat is every whisky lover delight. Who knew Whiskies were made in USA!

But we didn’t end up going to Lynchburg. Because we were heading towards Gatlinburg, one of the most famous towns in Smoky Mountains Area, thanks to TakeTours.

 Gatlinburg reminded me of the countryside of Switzerland . It was calm, relaxed with a countryside ambiance and countryside music. 

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 One was the main street on the river road or the downtown and another was the street behind the street. Gatlinburg also reminded me of mini Vegas set up in the valley of mountains because it had many interesting activities and theme parks to participate in. In fact, it felt like a small little town of creativity. The shops and the numerous activities have very interesting exterior as well as interiors. It’s an amazing place to walk by.

What is Tennessee?

Tennessee is called the volunteer state of America. Primarily because, during the American British and the civil war, there were lot of volunteers joining the military and they fought for the country. So, in order to honor them, this is called volunteer state.

Tennessee is also an agriculture state, which mainly produces pork and sweet corn.

What is Gatlinburg famous for?

Since we have gone on the weekend that was US holiday long weekend, there was traffic jam in the area which gave us just an hour and a half to explore Gatlinburg which otherwise we get 4 hours.

What we learnt about Gatlinburg was:

1) Gatlinburg is famous for Moonshine Whiskey. It is one of the famous distilleries in Tennessee. Moonshine also called Smoky Mountain Moonshine a Whiskey has tasting tour of $5 and they make you taste many different varieties of Whiskey in Whiskey tasting - a lot of them is a fusion of fruit with the whiskey , others are unique flavors. Taste the Moonshine but don’t just stop there, try also the Sugarland Shine Distillery.

2) Gatlinburg is also famous for Countryside Music. Dolly Parton is one of the creator of American Countryside Music. And there’s this show that we watched that we couldn’t forget. That is Dolly Parton’s Dixie Parade which was Texas Style Stampede with live Dining Experience. The food was finger licking good and the show in front of our eyes too was outstanding. There were horses and stampede and bison and music and acts, it was a live circus.

3) Ober Gatlinburg is the scenic world of Gatlinburg Amusement Park and Ski Area. Even during summers, its a mountain for entire family. There’s this Ariel Tramway that we took that took us to magnificent views of Smoky Mountains. Once you reach level 1, there’s scenic chairlift that goes to level 2 you can take to enjoy mountains further. You have many interesting rides in the area like Ski Mountain Coaster ($13), Alpine Slide($7), Scenic Chairlifts ($7), Ariel Tramway($13), Ice Skating ($9) etc.

4) When it comes to tradition, Gatlinburg is home of the nation’s largest organization of independent artisans. Gatlinburg’s arts and crafts community features shops and galleries that showcase pottery, paintings, quilts, woodcarving, musical instruments, leather works and many other mixed-media pieces. More details here

5) Gatlinburg is also home to some of the unique parks and shows like Amazing Mirror Maze, Rowdy Bear Mountain Coaster, Moving Theatre, Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, Hollywood cars Museum etc.

6) Gatlinburg is also home to best ribbed pork. Although, we are more chicken and fish people, we loved the pork here in Gatlinburg. Try Pork sandwich at Bennett's Pit Bar-B-Que or Calhoun's famous pork. It’s very fresh, very juice, very smoky, the perfect pork!