Wow! My better half and I went to Gatlinburg on our honeymoon in '91 and at least once every year since until last year. It's fun and cheesy and crowed. We've stayed in cabins, cheap hotels/motels, and past few years at the Hilton on River Road. The cheesiest attraction there, still going since '91 is The Earthquake ride. After 20 years we refined it to certain restaurants, shops, and bars. As a child we didn't have a "tourist trap" town we went to, but we would go to what I lovingly refer to as the poor mans Kings Island...Camden Park in Huntington WV. We live in eastern KY and it was just an 1.5 hour drive. At any rate I think you'll have a blast! Take care and stay safe!
Gatlinburg! I was there once with a sorority I didn't join. Who knew that peppermint schnapps and salt water taffy could constitute a complete meal? I LOVE towns/attractions with a healthy cheese factor! Saint Augustine in Florida is a big, big love, as well as Solvang, CA--best during Danish Days when there's a viking village and polka dancing. There's also an ostrich farm nearby. As a biscuit lover, definitely check out the ebelskivers.
I ❤ Gatlinburg! I have very fond memories of visiting as a teenager. We have Wisconsin Dells here, with the duck rides & the massive water parks. It used to be more cheesy & more fun with the little parks like Fairy tale gardens & the deer park and the tourist shops. Now it's too many condos for Bachelorette parties & too much stuff for the grown ups
I've been to Gatlinburg once - traffic was INSANE. But there was a knife outlet I went to with my father-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew, and it was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. You could get a machete (3, 4 and 5' blades) for as little as $19.95. Couple of guys were bitching that they weren't a specific grade of steel, and all I could think was, "Well, even shit steel's gonna take off somebody's head."
Next time you're in Wisconsin, visit Wisconsin Dells. Dells are like stalagtites from caves but they come OUT of the water of this man-made lake. There are these amphibious vehicles you can take that everybody crowds in on, and you leave the parking lot and just drive into the lake. They call 'em duck boats because most of them have a duck's head on the front. All sorts of garish stores and attractions, including The White House as if had been in a tornado and was flipped upside down.
Tons of good and bad accomodations, but the best I stayed at (for a seminar) had theme rooms on the ground floor. My wife and I had only been married a few months, and the company we did work with put us in the S&M Suite. Furry handcuffs, restraints on each post of the bed - the whole nine painful yards. Obviously Wisconsin's answer to Gatlinburg's saltwater taffy is cheese. And it's almost all that petroleum based garbage you get on a dozen crappy taco chips they charge you $25 for at the Braves game. The locals laugh at everybody eating that crap - you might as well dump it in your gas tank for fuel as eat it. I always picture a gang from an oil rig mixing it with real cheese out back, with signs all over forbidding smoking or any open flames.
Santa Claus Indiana is, as you would expect, Christmas themed. It makes Gatlinburg feel like Monaco. Way out of the way though.
Branson, MO is the whole Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge vibe. You have Silver Dollar City, outlet malls, shows and all. Avoid at all costs during summer though.
Very late responding, but my husband and I just listened to this and we wanted to put our two cents in. We were literally just talking about trying to convince his more pretentious family members about renting a cabin in Gatlinburg, but they're apprehensive because it's not something they grew up with. I turned my husband onto it when we got together, as he's from central Virginia, and I am from Southwest Virginia, so it was not a place he grew up going to.
A place that his family went to that I did not get go to go as often was Busch Gardens/Colonial Williamsburg, VA. Corey, you being a history buff and your wife a teacher, I highly recommend you guys check out Colonial Williamsburg. It's something you truly appreciate with age, with the living history including reenactors. They've got it all, including ghost tours, witch trials, carriage rides, and staff performaning colonial era trades.
Busch Gardens is a theme park that even if you don't get down with rides is something everyone can enjoy as it's separated into 5 different countries: Germany, England, Ireland, and France. ADDED BONUS: They've got one helluva outlet mall-SKEW!
Hope you guys get to check it out sometime, and we're able to convince our fam to go in on a bad ass cabin in Gatlinburg.
Now you’ve got this PA girl wanting to make that 10 hour again. Walking through The Village would be awesome.
I haven’t been to Gatlinburg but I think Frankenmuth in Michigan would fit the bill. Plus it’s 30 minutes from a leeeegit outlet mall.
Wow! My better half and I went to Gatlinburg on our honeymoon in '91 and at least once every year since until last year. It's fun and cheesy and crowed. We've stayed in cabins, cheap hotels/motels, and past few years at the Hilton on River Road. The cheesiest attraction there, still going since '91 is The Earthquake ride. After 20 years we refined it to certain restaurants, shops, and bars. As a child we didn't have a "tourist trap" town we went to, but we would go to what I lovingly refer to as the poor mans Kings Island...Camden Park in Huntington WV. We live in eastern KY and it was just an 1.5 hour drive. At any rate I think you'll have a blast! Take care and stay safe!
Gatlinburg! I was there once with a sorority I didn't join. Who knew that peppermint schnapps and salt water taffy could constitute a complete meal? I LOVE towns/attractions with a healthy cheese factor! Saint Augustine in Florida is a big, big love, as well as Solvang, CA--best during Danish Days when there's a viking village and polka dancing. There's also an ostrich farm nearby. As a biscuit lover, definitely check out the ebelskivers.
Check out Leavenworth, WA.
I live and work in Gatlinburg. You do NOT want to live here.
Rock City is my favorite tourist trap, wanna trade?
Listening to this was a really positive way to start the day in Hertfordshire, UK.
Our equivalent of Gatlinburg? Southend on Sea, Margate and Clacton on Sea that I visited as a child.
I've heard Niagara Falls is kooky between the cities on either side of the border.
Please dress in drag if you go to Tennessee, and get drunk in that brewery where the taproom is basically wood, antlers, beer, and more wood.
Also, outlet malls hit.
I ❤ Gatlinburg! I have very fond memories of visiting as a teenager. We have Wisconsin Dells here, with the duck rides & the massive water parks. It used to be more cheesy & more fun with the little parks like Fairy tale gardens & the deer park and the tourist shops. Now it's too many condos for Bachelorette parties & too much stuff for the grown ups
I’d like to put in a second plug for Leavenworth, WA, a town that’s got Bavarian theme.
Lincoln City, OR is a cool, cheesy beach town that has an outlet mall and Otis Cafe, some of the best home-cooked food around
I've been to Gatlinburg once - traffic was INSANE. But there was a knife outlet I went to with my father-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew, and it was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. You could get a machete (3, 4 and 5' blades) for as little as $19.95. Couple of guys were bitching that they weren't a specific grade of steel, and all I could think was, "Well, even shit steel's gonna take off somebody's head."
Next time you're in Wisconsin, visit Wisconsin Dells. Dells are like stalagtites from caves but they come OUT of the water of this man-made lake. There are these amphibious vehicles you can take that everybody crowds in on, and you leave the parking lot and just drive into the lake. They call 'em duck boats because most of them have a duck's head on the front. All sorts of garish stores and attractions, including The White House as if had been in a tornado and was flipped upside down.
Tons of good and bad accomodations, but the best I stayed at (for a seminar) had theme rooms on the ground floor. My wife and I had only been married a few months, and the company we did work with put us in the S&M Suite. Furry handcuffs, restraints on each post of the bed - the whole nine painful yards. Obviously Wisconsin's answer to Gatlinburg's saltwater taffy is cheese. And it's almost all that petroleum based garbage you get on a dozen crappy taco chips they charge you $25 for at the Braves game. The locals laugh at everybody eating that crap - you might as well dump it in your gas tank for fuel as eat it. I always picture a gang from an oil rig mixing it with real cheese out back, with signs all over forbidding smoking or any open flames.
Santa Claus Indiana is, as you would expect, Christmas themed. It makes Gatlinburg feel like Monaco. Way out of the way though.
Branson, MO is the whole Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge vibe. You have Silver Dollar City, outlet malls, shows and all. Avoid at all costs during summer though.
Oh yes, I've heard about Gatlinburg.😊 The best carnival you can visit in the world, 365 days a year.
I love Pigeon Forge, but Gatlinburg don’t hit for me.
Very late responding, but my husband and I just listened to this and we wanted to put our two cents in. We were literally just talking about trying to convince his more pretentious family members about renting a cabin in Gatlinburg, but they're apprehensive because it's not something they grew up with. I turned my husband onto it when we got together, as he's from central Virginia, and I am from Southwest Virginia, so it was not a place he grew up going to.
A place that his family went to that I did not get go to go as often was Busch Gardens/Colonial Williamsburg, VA. Corey, you being a history buff and your wife a teacher, I highly recommend you guys check out Colonial Williamsburg. It's something you truly appreciate with age, with the living history including reenactors. They've got it all, including ghost tours, witch trials, carriage rides, and staff performaning colonial era trades.
Busch Gardens is a theme park that even if you don't get down with rides is something everyone can enjoy as it's separated into 5 different countries: Germany, England, Ireland, and France. ADDED BONUS: They've got one helluva outlet mall-SKEW!
Hope you guys get to check it out sometime, and we're able to convince our fam to go in on a bad ass cabin in Gatlinburg.