The Mountain Heritage Inn located on River Road in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is a quaint Inn with standard rooms, deluxe rooms, cottages, Roundettes, and suites. When I'm on business, I usually stay at the Cottage, Room 127 but when Patty (My wife) and I go to Gatlinburg, we move around a bit. Last time, we stayed in the Honeymoon Suite, room 201.
The cost was $124.00, just $25.00 more per night than the deluxe rooms. It was a bargain. The suite has a nice size bedroom, king size bed, TV, window, a good size bathroom, a ready room, large living room, with fireplace, a heart-shaped jacuzzi, kitchen with stove, frig, sink, dishes, etc, and a wrap around second story balcony. There is even an elevator so you do not have to lug your luggage up stairs. It did come in handy.
The room was clean, roomy, felt very secure, (Door locks were tight with no wiggle) and the area well-lit. A great place to stay when visiting Gatlinburg as the Inn is just a several minute walk to the Parkway.
Apple Barn - Gatlinburg - Chicken Dinner
The Apple Barn, located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is one of my favorite restaurants. The reason are simple. Excellent home style cooking food. Reasonable prices. Good service. Cheerful and nice employee's. As you can see, I ordered the chicken planks dinner with mashed potatoes with gravy, mac and cheese, fresh rolls, plus a diet Coke.
The chicken was hot, crispy, and excellent tasting. The mashed potatoes were real, not the fake flakes from a box. The mac and cheese hot and good. And the roll, fresh, hot, and tasty. All for about 12 bucks.
The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends Apple Barn for dinner.
If you have the good fortune to be in Gatlinburg, Tennessee this October, make sure you spare some time to be on the Parkway Friday and Saturday evenings. Head on down to Ripley's Haunted Adventure and say hello to Stumpy. She's the gal hanging out in front of the haunt.
I got to talking with her and asked a favor, a shout out. She came through, literally. Thank you.
And make sure you go through the haunted house, it's certainly worth the wait, and the money.
Every year I return to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and even though it appears to not change, new businesses do spring up along the Parkway. Berg Coffee's is one of the new shops on the scene.
It was raining hard in Frisco,
I needed one more fare to make my night.....
Wait a minute, wrong city.
It was raining hard in Gatlinburg,
I ducked inside for shelter from the rain.
The sexy redhead Russian hostess asked me what I desired.
I said a large ice cream twist please.
My apologies to the late Harry Chapin for mangling his lyrics.
The red head whose name was Veronica struck up a conversation with us. Asking where we were from, if we were here for work or pleasure, (Yes, those were her words, spoken in a sexy Russian accent) and how long we planned on staying.
As I enjoyed the ice cream, which cost $3 dollars was on the average size for around these parts as was the cost. If I were in Geneva, the size of the cone and ice cream would be at least double this size for 50 cents less. Yes, that big.
But, this ice cream was served by a sexy 20 something red head in tight jeans and perky breasts with a killer accent. Now you can see the reason for the up-charge.
The taste was standard fare, the cone fresh and not soggy, and as ice cream cones go, it was adequate. The Burg dispenses ice cream as a side item. Specialized coffee was their forte as their menu had many types and variations of coffee.
Because of the sexy red head, The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 3.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Burg Coffees for an exquisite pause from inclement weather. And sunshine as well.
I have been going to Gatlinburg for over 20 years and finally stopped for dinner at the Old Mill. I had heard good things about the Mill, good food, good service, fair prices.
Being November, of course this was a 20-30 minute for a table, but no problem, the air that evening was warm and the Christmas lights were on. The wait wasn't as long as expected and we were seated in less than 20 minutes. Rolls, butter, and an assortment of breads were brought right out along with menu's. So far so good.
Old Mill Soup And Salad
I ordered one of the popular house entree dinners, Southern fried chicken. Soup, house salad, mashed potatoes and corn came with the meal. I asked the waitress if I could have macaroni and cheese (Which was a side order on the menu) but she flatly said that no substitutions were permitted with the dinners. I politely pointed out that it was on the menu as a side but she again said no substitutions were permitted.
No big deal. Odd, but no big deal. My soup and salad were delivered to my table in minutes. Not bad service and not a bad salad either. The soup, chicken noodle, was bland, edible at best.
Southern Fried Chicken
As you can see, the fried chicken was golden brown and the pieces were average sized. And it tasted OK. The batter was crispy and the chicken juicy, as expected. The potatoes were all right but the corn was horrendous. (Now I understand why there were no substitutions, they were pushing the corn.)
The cost was just under $20 without tip.
The Grassy Knoll Institute awards 2.5 out of 5 shots as the food was average, nothing special, and points deducted for not being able to substitute a side dish and with that does not recommend the Old Mill for lunch or dinner.
Lolo.
I call them as I see them. Perhaps the waitress was having a bad night or whatever but, the fact is that she was border line rude and I really never heard that you couldn’t substitute one of the side dishes from your main course.
As you can tell, the Smoky Mountain Brewery and Restaurant is one of my favorite places in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This trip, I decided on their famous home made pizza. I choose BBQ chicken as the topping. During football season, it is better to get to this restaurant early lest you want to wait a while. We got lucky and got squeezed in before the crowd came to watch the many college football games on the numerous flat screen television sets positioned around the restaurant.
As you can see, the pizza was a large, a 12 inch pizza. It was delivered in about 20 minutes, which is pretty damn quick as it takes about that time for the pizza to bake in the oven. The crust was thin and crunchy, the cheese plentiful and the sauce zesty and good. And oh yea, the BBQ chicken topping was generous and tasty.
The cost was fair, about 14 dollars without tip. The Grassy Knoll Diner awards 4 stars out of 5 to the Smoky Mountain Brewery Pizza and recommends them for dinner.
The Peddler Steakhouse has a reputation as being the best steakhouse in the Gatlinburg Smoky Mountains. We are all about to put that reputation to the test.
Yes, the Peddler has already been critiqued, but the steak was so good last time, it would merit a second visit. As usual, the Peddler was packed, all the tables occupied and about 100 people waiting to get a table. Knowing the little secret to secure a table we moved to the cocktail area overlooking the scenic stream. (You see, there is usually an hour to two hour wait for a table down stairs but if you go to the cock tail area, there are tables scattered about and you can order dinner and sit there.)
Our waitress came over and asked us what we wanted to drink. I went with the diet Coke and said we would also like to order dinner as well. (In like Flint) I began with the salad, one you make yourself from the salad bar down stairs. Notice the huge chunks of ham and hard boiled egg halves plus real bacon, not those cheap baco bits. The salad is a meal in itself. There were dozens of choices to select from. No two salads are the same.
Peddler Filet
The Gatlinburg Peddler is famous for steak, so of course I ordered the filet mignon and a baked potato. For the restaurant being so crowded, the service was quite peppy. In less than 20 minutes our steaks were delivered to our table plus another round of diet Cokes. Of course the filet was prepared perfectly. The taste was exquisite, yes, I said exquisite. Zero fat and juicy and tender and bursting with flavor. One of the best steaks I have ever had.
The only setback for the Peddler is it's own popularity. No matter when you go, no matter what day, you will always wait. Always. A one hour wait time is the average to get a seat.
The cost for the dinner is around $45.00 without tip but you get a fabulous salad, great steak, big ass baked potato, hot fresh rolls with butter, and the soft drink, (Coke) of your choice.
Yes, the Gatlinburg Peddler Steakhouse reputation does exceed expectations. With that, The Grassy Knoll Diner awards 4.75 out of 5 shots to the Peddler and recommends the steak house for dinner.
It’s taking a day or more to recieve your alerts in my email for your posts. :/ Shame on you for posting such delicious food, I’m fighting not to gnaw at my monitor..LOL
Do you mean the Yahoo alerts? if so, there is no problem. I just don’t update it as I should.
However, if you subscribe to the feed… http://lotgk.wordpress.com/feed/
Either through Feedburner or Google reader, you will receive updates as they happen.
Walking on the Parkway, (The main drag in Gatlinburg) I happened by Aunt Mahalia's Homemade candy store. A huge picture window dominated the store showcasing all the sweet confections.
I decided on the artery busting cluster confection of chocolate, cashews, and caramel.
In a word, it tasted delightful. However, the cost was $2.49 for this one piece of delightful. Not so delightful anymore. (Do you think I can squeeze the word delightful in this post one more time?) The cashews were fresh, and whole, (Whole cashews just seem to taste better than pieced cashews) the chocolate was divine, and the caramel nice and thick. It was very good tasting for sure.
The Grassy Knoll Diner awards 2.5 shots out of 5 and only recommends Aunt Mahalia's delightful (Ding, ding, ding) convection only if you got money to throw out the window.
Ripley's Haunted Adventure located on the Parkway in Gatlinburg, Tennessee is a very popular haunt during the month of October. I have visited this haunt several times before but never in the month of October. Until this year.
Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the month of October, at 6:13PM sharp, Ripley's has their own version of a zombie crawl as a horde of monsters parade down the Parkway ending up in front of the Haunted Adventure where they interact with the people on the street. after about 20 minutes, the monsters filter into the haunt and add to the excitement and fright.
We bought our tickets and got in line. There were about 100 people in front of us and several hundred behind us before it was our turn.
It was now our time to step into the rickety old cage that takes it's paying customers (Victims) to the top of the haunt. It is a very effective prop. Very loud, old, looks unsafe, and has a hint of danger to it. We met a crazy man at the top. I was informed that my camera must be turned off at this point. I obliged.
The haunt is a self guided tour. We were in a group of six people. I was the lead, my wife Patty behind me, the others behind her. We were instructed to put our hand on the persons back in front of us. A few seconds later we began our march through the haunt.
I will say the haunt is much larger than what it looks like from the outside. There were many rooms inside to navigate through. The props and graphics were above average and the actors were well trained and effective. This haunt was all about misdirection.
After about 30 minutes, we found our way out. We stepped into the elevator and.... I won't spoil it for you.
One thing I didn't like about this haunt. Outside while we were waiting in line, a woman was selling fiber optic lights to help you see in the haunt. She said it was absolutely necessary to see inside the haunt for it was pitch black inside. The lights, (Which were throw away quality) cost five dollars. I noticed that if you bought the lights at the ticket box office, they were only $2 dollars. Whip a rip off. I declined to buy the light. The woman selling them told me I would be sorry.
I was not. At no time did I ever need the fiber optic light. DO NOT BUY THE LIGHT! IT IS A RIP OFF. The rest of the haunted adventure was very entertaining and enjoyable. It was actually fun. We recommend it in the month of October.
Gumby said
Uni-Verse said
Lolo said
LOTGK said
I call them as I see them. Perhaps the waitress was having a bad night or whatever but, the fact is that she was border line rude and I really never heard that you couldn’t substitute one of the side dishes from your main course.
Deeroddy said
LOTGK said