Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg 2017

Many summers ago my aunt and uncle took me to the Smokey Mountains for the first time. 

We packed up the vehicle and drove up to enjoy a picnic in the mountains. 

It was also the first and last time I had sushi.

No thank you!

A lot is the same and a lot has changed since that first time. 

I love reliving that day each summer when I come to visit. 

This visit was extra special because we hadn't made the trip last summer with the wedding and everything. 

Also, unfortunately there was a huge fire last fall that caused a lot of destruction. 

You really could not tell any difference until you got into Gatlinburg.

We drove through the downtown area with all of the shops and could not tell anything had happened.

It wasn't until we made it to this spot that we could tell.

The hill sides were burnt.

A bit further up-some more destruction.

We saw the trail head where the fire started-Chimney Top Trail. 

It is now closed. 

You can't pull off at that area or anything. 

It's so eerie to see how mother nature works. 

There would be spots of green vegetation and then boom burnt, then grass and trees then burnt. 

Since the fire was started at the Chimney Top Trail, the area above it wasn't burnt at all. 

I'm guess the fire moved down the mountains instead of up. 

The top was as amazing as ever!

It was hard to capture all of the destruction. 

We saw one cabin area that was intact but the trees and everything right in front of it were burnt. 

I cannot image the terror those people endured!

We saw more damage going down the bypass than up the regular side.

Can you see the hillside in the distance?

All brown and charred.

For dinner we stopped at the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge.

It's a neat little campus with a restaurant, shops, candy store, ice cream store, Christmas store and wine tasting.

Lots of dips, jams and salsas to buy.

It's a bite pricier, but the meal comes first with these apple fritters.

Then, you get a bowl of soup, salad, mashed potatoes, choice of a side and dessert.

It's really a lot to eat. 

They have an ice cream store that we stopped in before we ate. 

They had Apple Pie ice cream. 

I went to a math and science camp in middle school and that camp had Apple Pie ice cream. 

It was my favorite, and I've never had it since. 

I thought I would get to enjoy it again, but I didn't.

Have you guys been to Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg before?

What do you love?

We typically love the outlets, but we didn't get an early start, so we were nearly out of time to shop by the time we got done with dinner. 

A lot of the decorations for our home came from the Kirkland's there a few summers ago. 

Two summers ago we ate at the Paula Deen restaurant. 

It was so neat to try, but holy salt. 

I don't salt anything, and I feel like a whole shaker was used in our homestyle meal. 

It was a neat experience, but I think I would pass on a second one.

Hopefully next summer we will be back for another visit and might get to try out something else new.