Thursday, October 9, 2008

Gatlinburg - and Shopping

The day started cool and cloudy, but at least the rain seemed to be done. After our usual start with coffee, breakfast and dog walking, we headed out to see what we could find.

Oh, yes, traffic! Have I mentioned that we're visiting this area at the height of tourist season? We definitely found a lot of traffic, and of course, the powers that be think this is also a great time to get out there and work on the roads! But we did manage to find Lid'l Dolly's Quilt Shop in Pigeon Forge and browsed through all the quilts on display.

The next stop was an outlet mall (there are a bunch of them here) that had a Corning store. I've been wanting to replace my old set of Corningware dishes since they don't match either the motor home or each other. I found a set that we both like, so we bought that.

Our next destination was Gatlinburg, so we crept through the traffic and construction and made our way there. We just thought there were a lot of people in Pigeon Forge, but it was empty compared to Gatlinburg. We found a spot in a parking garage. By that time we were hungry so we had a quick lunch and headed out to see the offerings in the local stores. We spent several hours browsing through jewelry, hats, t-shirts, pottery, artwork, and more. I think Mark found a hat and belt, but the rest of us just looked.

Mark, Dortha and Jim in a crowd:


There were fall harvest scenes set up everywhere we went:


Here's a clever-looking fellow:


There are a lot of nooks and crannies in Gatlinburg that go back from the street. Once you get back into them, they open up to these pretty courtyards with shops all around.

On the way back to the car, we came across a rose garden where there are still beautiful blooms:

Once we got back to Pigeon Forge, we stopped for a tour of a winery. The "tour" turned out to be a short visit with one of the workers - there wasn't really any tour to it. But we did taste some wine and ended up buying three bottles there.

Off to Apple Valley Winery for a little more tasting and a final purchase of 3 more bottles.

It was time to come home, relax and settle in for the evening. We got a lot of steps today!

1 comment:

Speedy said...

All that shopping and I would have to tie Sherri up to a park bench. Gee she can't go anywhere and shop without spending money. When we get on the old fix budget shopping will be out.

Joe and Sherri