Great Smoky Mountains Fun – Scenic Drive and Chattanooga

This post is a day late and a dollar short, but time escapes me during the summer months when we’re constantly on the go. Tell me I’m not the only one.

So where did I leave off…

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A good night’s sleep enabled us to get up bright and early on Day Four. We checked out of the resort and headed back to Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a scenic drive. We opted for the Little River Road route, which is an 18 mile stretch connecting Gatlinburg with Townsend.

We stopped periodically to wade in streams.

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And found this group diving from rocks and tubing. Fun!

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Blinky even found some time to practice her yoga skills.

Totally zen.

Chattanooga Choo Choo

After a few hours, we decided to start the long drive back home with plans to stop in Chattanooga to stretch our legs. On our 2014 visit, we toured Rock City and Ruby Falls, and rode the Incline Railway. But we ran out of time and didn’t get to visit the Chattanooga Choo Choo. So we knew exactly where to head for our upcoming pit stop!

The Chattanooga Choo Choo is a former railway station turned historic hotel. A group of local businessmen decided to save the Terminal Station, investing $4 million to transform it as a “unique vacation complex.” In addition to the hotel, there are also restaurants, retail shops, a lush rose garden, and train memorabilia. You can literally entertain yourself for hours.

After touring the complex, we ventured over to the Frothy Monkey for well-deserved treats. Then it was back in the car for the last stretch of our drive.

And so ends our Smoky Mountain Adventure. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the daily recaps as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.

One of the questions I’ve received is about meals on our trip. Truthfully, I hardly ever blog about this unless it involves seafood or Cajun dishes, which are my favorite. The DH is probably the only foodie in the family and typically he gets stuck eating what we eat. Bless his heart. But I will make more of an effort to cover this in the future.

Have a great weekend!