My wife and I went on our first trip together to the Smoky Mountains. The city and prime spot of interest: Gatlingburg, TN. We decided to forego plans to hit up Cali or the southeastern coast and go straight south to Tennessee and alhumdulillah we really enjoyed it and felt it was worth it. Here’s why.

Choosing the Smoky Mountains

The reason why I chose this place was for many reasons. One, it was less pricey than a trip to Hawaii or the Bahamas. Two, it’s a nice change from the cliche honeymoon trip. And three, a few close friends who went there recommended it because there was SO much to do there.

The Drive Down

We drove down from Chicago and drove back to Michigan. The drive down south from Chicago through I-65 in Indiana and into Kentucky and Tennessee was awesome.

Moo.

Rajput Brotharzs from Maine. Props to wife who spotted this one.

Billboards that indicated we were headed to the South.

What’s sweet is that there’s a build up on the way down. The drive on I-65 was fun, but it got better as we entered Kentucky, and turned for awesome the moment we entered ol’ Tenner-see. The highways become very hilly and full of curves. It was almost scary, but fun!

Roads got crazy!

In the ‘08 Ford Focus, averaging a sick 35 mpg.

Just in case we forgot we were going south.

We left at 9:45am Chicago time and got there 11pm at night to our first stay, where it was difficult to drive 2 miles up a 45° inclined pitch black mountain road at night. Had we left only three hours earlier after Fajr we would’ve been fine. Best to get there before Maghrib!

Christopher Place

The first place we stayed, for the first two nights, was at Christopher Place. It’s in Newport, TN, about 45 mins before reaching Gatlinburg. This was the “nice” place we went first before hitting up Gatlinburg where we spent four days over three nights.

This is the back. This pic is from their website.

The foyer looking at the entrance.

Underneath the chandelier.

The 2 mile 45° inclined type road that leads to the Inn.

The story behind it is it was a huge house some rich guy built in the 70s, but later sold off to the current owner in 2004 who turned it into a resort. So it’s a huge mansion with three floors, and each room is checked out like a hotel. We went there first because my wife wanted to stay there. It’s an Inn type resort, where you stay there and chill out in the house rather than go around town all day.

We just chilled, enjoyed the scenery, played board games they had there, went out to eat at a nearby place, but mainly stayed there. Amazing breakfast (which I’ll explain later) is free in the mornings, and there’s an optional expensive dinner at night if you want ($35 per person).

Alhumdulillah it was sweet, but the price for this place was EXPENSIVE. We picked the cheapest room, $165 per night (think of it like an AlMaghrib class for me and my wife), and only stayed for two nights because of the priceyness and you can only do so much in that area. I would only recommend going there if you can afford it. Otherwise just go to Gatlinburg.

Gatlinburg, TN

After two nights at Christopher Place, we drove to Gatlinburg, TN. Here we spent four days over three nights.

Only rained once.

Remember him?

Gatlinburg is the famous place in the heart of the Smokies that all the people stay in. It’s a small town only 2 miles wide with only 1 main street full of things to do. Very commercial and touristy. We stayed there at the second half of our trip, for three out of the five nights. This is the place you’ll want to pay attention to. While I was there, another brother (who was at Sacred Scrolls) was there for his honeymoon too!

Time lapse shot at night. 10 second shutter with ISO 100.

What’s nice about the place is that it has a LOT of stuff. Tons of places to stay, and things to do. Also, about a 15 minute drive away from the small town is a bigger town called Sevierville, TN. That place had tons of the “normal” restaurants, grocery stores, Wal-Marts, as well as lots of fun carnival/arcades/go-karting places.

Click for larger panoramic shot.

Multi-level indoor two seater go-karts. I drove, she took pics.
I’m certain I had the best lap times.

Places to stay

We stayed in a normal hotel called Rodeway Inn for around $70 a night. It wasn’t the nicest, but it was perfect because it was 5 minute walk into the town. Rodeway Inn was perfect; I’d recommend it. Remember it’s not that nice! But super close to town. They also have really helpful staff.

Randomly sick S2000 sittin’ outside. Bet he had a blast driving around the area.

There are tons of other places to stay in the town, including lots of inns way at the top of the mountains. They’re like a 10 minute drive up the mountains and when you stay there you can see the whole town. My friend stayed there, but he said those places weren’t all too nice inside and it was sometimes frustrating to come up and down from your hotel throughout the day. They’re also pricier.

To be continued… (in pt 2: things we did!)