Seeing the news today about the horrific wildfire affecting Gatlinburg, Tennessee and surrounding area is heartbreaking. I vacationed there 2 years ago. It’s a truly fun tourist destination. I’m at least happy to hear that Emergency Management officials initial report that Ober Gatlinburg ski resort had been destroyed turned out to be false.
This seems like a good time to take a look at my photos from Gatlinburg when it wasn’t the frightening disaster area it is right now.
While in Gatlinburg we intentionally dined at a different restaurant for each meal of our trip. There are a lot from which to choose. This was the only restaurant we decided to go back to for a second dinner. It’s farther east on Parkway then many other restaurants but it was well worth the mile and a quarter round trip walk from our hotel.
It’s a very small restaurant that is only open 4 hours each evening. I would highly recommend calling ahead for reservations. Because the restaurant is so small, when you enter they have you go upstairs to wait for your table to be ready. You can also wait outside. The gentleman who runs the place (the owner?) keeps everything moving smoothly.
They serve dishes other then the fresh caught rainbow trout for which the restaurant is named although I am guessing nobody knows what those dishes taste like because you would be crazy to order anything but one of the 15 available trout dishes. All of the trout preparations that we tried were lightly seasoned enough to let the amazing flavor of the fish come through. It all tasted so fresh.
If I ever make it back to Gatlinburg this would be the first place that I head for dinner.
Photos from my trip to Gatlinburg, TN are finally posted. The foliage was less than colorful, although I suppose green is a color. However, it was a fun trip. We spent a lot of time walking around downtown Gatlinburg visiting various stores and tourist destinations, dining at great restaurants, sampling moonshine and just people watching. We also took the aerial tramway up to the Ober Gatlinburg ski resort for their Oktoberfest and spent a day visiting the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair. We spent one morning in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg’s slightly more obnoxious and touristy neighbor. The trip was rounded out by some time in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.