Tag Archives: Travel

Itinerary for Great Smokey Mountains Nat’l Park

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I’m in the midst of preparing an itinerary for a last-minute trip to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park for this weekend!  I found the cutest studio cottage for only $60 a night–10 miles from Gatlinburg, situated on 2 acres–with a pond.  Here are some photos from the owner’s site…

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I’ve been to Gatlinburg a couple of times years ago, but never hiking in the National Park.  When my son was young, we would take a 12 hour road trip in our conversion van to Myrtle Beach every year, taking along a friend for him.  They had it pretty good…with a T.V., Nintendo and plenty of leg room!  We stopped in Gatlinburg once on the way back.

Anyway, after researching the available hikes, I’ve decided the Charlies Bunion 8 mile round trip hike on the Appalachian Trail sounds like it will be the perfect hike for us!  It’s at the top of the mountain with amazing views!  I have no desire to window shop in Gatlinburg, but would like to drive into the town of Cherokee in North Carolina.  I’ve heard it’s only 25 minutes from where we’ll be hiking.  One of the nice things about renting a place like this is being able to cook there to keep your expenses down.  So, here’s the proposed itinerary:

Friday – May 24th

8am – Depart

12noon – Stop at Cafe4 in Knoxville‘s Market Square District (I think I want the Shrimp and Grits…yum!)

1:30pm – Hit the road again

2:30-3:00pm – Arrive

Unpack – Relax – Explore property – take a walk

5:00pm – Make Steak dinner

Watch a DVD

Saturday – May 25th

6:00am – Wake up – Brft – Make sandwiches for lunch

6:45am – Drive to Newfound Gap & possibly go to Clingman Dome

(This is where the Charlies Bunion trail is located)

7:30am – Hit the Trail

10:30am – Stop for early lunch on the trail

12:00pm – Drive to Cherokee, N.C.

12:30pm – Explore town

2:00pm – Drive back to cottage

3:30pm – Arrive

4:30pm – Prepare pasta or dine out

Sunday – May 26th

Unscheduled – possible activities:

Have breakfast out at either Log Cabin Pancake House or Cracker Barrel

Drive/Hike around Cades Cove area

Grotto Falls Trail

Porters Creek Trail

Have lunch or dinner at: Old Mill Pottery House Cafe (at Traffic Light #7 in Pigeon Forge)

Monday – May 27th

Cereal for brft.

10am – Depart for home

Here’s my food shopping list:

Food:

Steak/Salad/Salad Dressing/Bread/Butter

Coffee/Cream/Wine/Beer/Bottled Water

Cereal/Almond Milk

Turkey/Cheese/Mayo/Bread

Trailmix

Pasta/Sauce/Parmesan Cheese

I usually eat healthier at home, but we’ll be on vacation!

Hope everyone has something fun planned for Memorial Day weekend, or if you’re staying home, I think it’s nice to have friends over for a barbecue!  Whatever you do…make it fun!!

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Top of the Rock

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My three-day exploration of New York City ended with a trip to the “Top of the Rock” aka 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  If you remember Molly, she accompanied me and we waited in line to buy our $27 ticket to the top.  I wanted to see the views before dusk and at sunset, so we timed it just right and were at the top for about 30 minutes.

This is my final shot before taking the elevator down 70 floors to the bottom.  You can see the Empire State Building…

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Bicycling Through Central Park

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I highly recommend taking a guided bicycle tour of Central Park!  There are lots of companies to choose from and I chose a company called Must See Central Park for a 2 hour $45 tour.  The tour ended up taking 2 1/2 hours because the tour guide was very laid back.  There were four others on the tour, not including the guide, which made it nice to be able to stop and take photographs a little more often.  The guide informed us that there are 15 entrances to Central Park and it’s 1.5 miles long, with a 6 mile circumference.

A few other tid bits of info…the Park encompasses 6% of Manhattan; 38 million people visit the Park per year ( I wonder how they know?); there are 21 playgrounds; 24,000 trees; 9,000 benches; and the Park closes at 1am and reopens at 6am.

We saw the Conservatory Water Pond where you can rent a sailboat…

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Walking Across Brooklyn Bridge

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Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge seems to be a touristy thing to do.  I questioned a number of native New Yorker’s about the experience, and none of them had ever done it!  I had read that walking from the Brooklyn side to Manhattan was the best way to appreciate it, so I took the subway from Brooklyn into Manhattan, transferred to a train back into Brooklyn to High Street, where you find the entrance to the Bridge.  You can either use Google Maps and click on the train/subway emblem for the appropriate subways/times or go to the MTA site.   It’s only a mile across and the views are absolutely breathtaking!

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First Look at Central Park

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Central Park holds a certain mystique for those who have never taken a stroll along one of its many lovely paths.  New York City was never on my list of “must visit” destinations, but I have to confess that I was pleasantly surprised.  I felt the same way about Rome.  Before visiting, I envisioned it to be somewhat dirty and more touristy than it was.  Anyway, back to Central Park…after exploring the Rockefeller Center area on my second day in New York City, I had enough time and energy left before heading back to my Couchsurfing host’s home to walk 9 blocks uptown to see for myself what Central Park was like.

What’s not to love about views like this…

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Rockefeller Center in Spring

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Rockefeller Center in the Spring is beautiful!  My second day in New York City started with a view of the One World Trade Center, followed by a walk through Little Italy and Chinatown and then a quick subway ride to Rockefeller Center.  I stopped a man in a business suit and asked him what there was to see in the area.  He told me about this area behind the Center with beautiful tulips and fountains.

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