This past week I went to Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge and Sevierville run together depending on where you go. I love Pigeon Forge. I’ve been going there for at least 35 to 40 years. Actually, it’s been longer than that. I was taken there as a little girl. Pigeon Forge is a beautiful little town in the Tennessee mountains that is famous for the change of leaves during the Fall season. People come from all over to see this spectacular display that mother nature puts on every year. It has a calming effect on me. And of course the Pigeon River that runs all through the town helps.
Pigeon Forge has something for every age and it has activities for whatever you desire. If you like to hike, this is the place to go. Whatever outdoor things you like to do are up here. If you like shopping for bargains, the Tanger Outlet Mall is up there and many people I know go just for that reason. There is every brand name a person could want in that mall. If you just want to have family time, then Pigeon Forge is all about family. There are hotels on every corner and many, many cabins to rent. There are so many places to eat with different cuisines that you can’t possibly be disappointed. Pancakes are a huge deal up here.
Pigeon Forge has been referred to as the gateway to the Smoky Mountains. No one who goes up there could be disappointed. What you do in Pigeon Forge depends on what season of life you are in. Some of my favorite places to go(I’m an empty nester) are The Old Mill Restaurant which has been in operation since the 1830s and still serves fresh stone ground grits. I usually go there for breakfast. It’s one of the best I’ve ever eaten. This is a family style restaurant. And of course, there is a General Store and a whole little village surrounding the restaurant. The other breakfast place I love to go is The Apple Barn and Cider Mill. This is a working Apple Farm. And there is so much to see and do here. Both of these places have the best bacon I’ve ever eaten. Don’t forget to visit there General Stores for fresh made products to carry home.
There is another place I love to go when in Pigeon Forge and it’s called The Gem Mine. You can buy a bucket of dirt and mine for gemstones, fossils, and stones. I’m never disappointed here. It’s relaxing to sit down at the trough with water running down it, take my hand shovel and scoop dirt into my screen box and put it down into the running water to wash the sand away and see what shows up. This time I found a pretty large raw garnet, some rubies, smokey quartz, and some other nice gems. A person can also get their stones cut and set in gold or silver inside the store. The people inside the store will show you exactly what you have found too. The dirt buckets go anywhere from $35 up to $2500. Even Geodes are found and they have some fabulous huge cut Geodes in the store. Kids absolutely love this place. One of the things I enjoy the most are watching the parents help the kids with their buckets of dirt. Both the parents and kids get so excited.
I love covered bridges so there are several of them up there. I have photographed two so far. I found a new road to ride this time. It’s called Wear Valley Rd and it’s pretty nice scenic drive so be sure to keep that in mind. There are all kinds of roadside attractions on this road also.
And of course the famous Dollywood is in the town. You have to go there at least once but beware. It’s expensive. There is so much to do and see that it’s just nearly impossible for me list all of them and to photograph all the places so what I did was just take some random photos of some of the places that are up there just to give you an idea of what you can do. And these photos do not do Pigeon Forge justice. Please look this place up to fine what you love. I forgot to photograph the Titanic museum. This is such a good place to go alone or with your children. It’s not your run of mill museum. They have artifacts from the Titanic but the thing that impressed me the most was they paid homage to different groups that were on the Titanic such as the kids, and the dogs, and the lower class passengers and well as the wealthy. It’s totally worth the money and time to go see this special place.
These photos that I’m going to display have not had a lot of editing done if any. I just really wanted to get this trip out to ya’ll. I hope you visit Pigeon Forge at least once. You will get hooked on it and go time and time again. I’m sorry for all the power lines in the photos but I started editing them out but there were just too many. I hope ya’ll enjoy.
