The Fun Times Guide > Franklin/Nashville, TN > Gatlinburg TN

Pancake Pantry Nashville: Add It To Your Bucket List!

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Soon after we moved to Nashville in 2001, Jim made a point to take me to one of Nashville's most popular places for breakfast: the Pancake Pantry! He had lived in Nashville before, and he also took a lot of business trips here with his previous jobs, so Jim was very familiar with this historic restaurant. One way he enticed me to go was by telling me about all of the Nashville celebrities who dine there. Most recently, Jim took clients to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast and they … [Read more...]

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Review Of Pigeon Forge Cabin Rental: Brothers Cove

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Last month, we rented a cabin at Brothers Cove in Sevierville, Tennessee. There were 8 of us (including 2 children). If you're looking for some really nice -- and affordable -- Pigeon Forge cabin rentals, then Brothers Cove is definitely worth considering! A few years ago, we rented a different cabin in nearby Cosby, Tennessee. Cosby Creek Cabins are really nice as well. I'll try to point out some of the differences...   … [Read more...]

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Looking For Ghosts & Haunted Places In Tennessee?

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If you're in the Franklin/Nashville area, I'd encourage you to take one of these walking tours. Some are conducted year-round. Others take place only around the Halloween season.     ...See how scared you get as part of a small group of people walking the streets at night while hearing about dozens of "well-documented" stories about local ghosts & hauntings! If you're looking for a LIST of haunted places in Nashville and other parts of Tennessee, then check this … [Read more...]

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Fun Things To Do In Gatlinburg, Tennessee

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We love exploring all there is to see & do in the Gatlinburg area. Actually, I'm referring to those areas surrounding Gatlinburg more than the actual town of Gatlinburg itself. Why? Because the town itself is so touristy -- with all the souvenir shops and fun things to do downtown -- that it gets pretty hectic and congested. … [Read more...]

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Cosby Creek Cabins: Best Cabin Rentals In The Smoky Mountains

parked outside our cabin rental

We rented a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains for the first time last June. After researching several different cabins online, we opted to rent through Cosby Creek Cabins in Cosby, Tennessee. They offered the best view, the most amenities, and the lowest price -- and they were just a hop, skip & a jump from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Our primary goal was to rent a Jeep Wrangler for the weekend, come and go as we liked, explore the long & winding back roads in and around … [Read more...]

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Freestyle Kayaking/Playboating & Whitewater Rafting At Hell’s Hole

One of the "off-the-beaten-path" roads that we took through East Tennessee last weekend was Highway 64. The road runs parallel to the Ocoee River, and when we noticed how close we were to this whitewater playground, we set out to find a spot to watch some of the whitewater rafters (in huge 8-person rubber rafts) and boaters (in individual plastic kayaks) maneuver the rapids. The Ocoee River is known as "the birthplace of freestyle kayaking", and from what we witnessed on this day, I can see … [Read more...]

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The ‘Nation’s First’ Doesn’t Necessarily Mean The Nation’s Best!

We skipped town for the weekend and headed to Gatlinburg over the 4th of July holiday. Not only did we get to see "the nation's FIRST 2005 Fourth of July Parade" (which took place at 12:01 a.m. on Monday July 4th -- really midnight of July 3rd)... ooooooohh! But we also got to witness "the nation's LAST 2005 Fourth of July Fireworks Display" (which took place at 11:59 p.m. on Monday July 4th)... aaaaaahhh! Both were just okay. … [Read more...]

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Leaf Peeping In Tennessee… The Time Is NOW!

Looking for colorful leaves? Hoping to catch the fiery fall colors before they fade? We are too. This weekend, we plan to capture some of nature's most colorful beauty in photographs. So we'll arm ourselves with our Canon digital camera, tripod, zoom lens, macro lens, adjustable flash, freshly charged battery, and a spare memory card, then we'll be hitting the backcountry roads of Tennessee! More leaf-peeping tips for ALL states! The good news for Tennesseans like us is this state is filled … [Read more...]

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Whitewater Rafting Fun Last Weekend

After a night of camping at Cades Cove in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, we all drove (the twisty, windy, turn-your-stomach mountain roads of the Great Smoky Mountains) over to Bryson City, North Carolina for a day of whitewater rafting with the fine folks at Nantahala Outdoor Center. This was mom's first-ever whitewater rafting adventure, my second (though both were on the same river), and Jim's fourth (all on different rivers).   We went on the Nantahala River. Boring piece of … [Read more...]

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Black Bears Run Wild In Cades Cove – Gatlinburg

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We planned a spur-of-the-moment trip to Gatlinburg this past weekend. My mom joined us for her first camping trip in years. Last time she went camping was with dad when we were kids. (She reminded me that we used to camp in these "tents" my dad made - without floors in them!) On Saturday afternoon, Mom drove down from Indiana, and we all headed to Gatlinburg in our Jeep Grand Cherokee on Sunday morning. Just our luck... it started raining the second we got our tents put up! So we drove … [Read more...]

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