DAY ONE - Sat, Jul 18th
We left after Brennan got his run in and drove to New Orleans (8.5 hrs). We aimed to get local cuisine in each state, so we stopped at Popeye's. It was HORRIBLE. Mold on the ceiling with dripping condensation, dirty bathroom, horrible side dishes, and too much breading on the chicken. The only thing we liked were the seasoned, crinkle-cut fries.
We got checked into our downtown hotel (they gave away our larger room, so they gave us two instead!) just in time to watch the 3rd place World Cup Game (France & England). While we watched, Ryan and Collin trekked over to Bourbon St. to listen to jazz. Ryan got pulled into a street performer's show, and they had a great time.
One of our room had a boardroom table and dry erase board, so we borrowed a dry erase marker from the lobby staff and played cards, keeping score on the wall. Fun memory! We also learned to played Imposter (cell phone game), which we continued through the whole trip.
DAY TWO: New Orleans - Sun, Jul 19th
We woke up early to beat the crowds and walked to Café du Monde for beignets (cash only). On the way, we passed this cute castle as we wandered through the French Quarter. I was also able to snag a pic to represent my 44th state.
We stayed the night in Chattanooga and wished we still had two rooms! Haha.
DAY THREE: Chattanooga & Sevierville - Mon, Jul 20th
We chose a stop in Chattanooga in order to visit Ruby Falls. It was a guided tour starting with a trip down an elevator to a 90-min walk to an underground waterfall. It was pretty touristy for our usual destinations, but it was still neat.
Afterwards, we found a riverwalk park to wander around. Ryan and the boys threw around the Frisbee, and Katelyn and I watched the paddleboarders on the river.
We grabbed some delicious ice cream at Crumpie's, and then hopped back on the road to our final destnation, Gatlinburg (1 hr)
On the way, we stopped in Sevierville for lunch (after the Popeye's catastrophe we played it safe with trusty Panda Express). Katelyn has having all kinds of foot pain, so we had ordered insoles for her tennis shoes for Amazon locker drop-off at the Ross Dress for Less. Unfornately, they hadn't delivered yet, so we just bought her new shoes. Next, we stopped at Walmart for a curbside pickup of groceries for the cabin.
We finally made it to our DARLING cabin and got settled in. Ryan and I took the master on the main floor. Katelyn had the pull-out bed in the living room. The boys shared the upstairs master. The upstairs also had a pool table and arcade game in the loft.
We decided to check out the neighborhood amenities before bed. We even played a little pickleball before bed.
Fearing a lack of parking, we were up by 6am to drive to the Grotto Falls trailhead. We got the last parking spot at 7:10 am! It was 2.6 miles with 585 feet of elevation gain. The destination was this beautiful waterfall with a path that went behind it. The boys even hiked up around off-trail to the top, which they thought was awesome.
Ryan and Brennan ran the mountain (HILLY!), and we got washed up to check out the town of Gatlinburg.
We wandered the main strip, and we got some souvenirs. We had dinner at Best Italian. They had a cute outdoor patio along a little creek. They are known for their garlic rolls, which we hated (dinner rolls with mounds of minced garlic on top). I got some delicious lasagna, and Ethan & Katelyn shared a yummy supreme pizza. Ryan & Collin enjoyed chicken fetticini alfredo, but Brennan got this lemon shrimp fetticini, and it was HORRIBLE. Anyway, you win some, and you lose some.
DAY FIVE: Gatlinburg - Wed, Jul 22nd
Another early morning for a parking spot... which we didn't get. We had to park down the road and hike back to get to the trailhead for Alum Cave. It was 4.6 miles with 1145 feet of elevation gain. It was a little rough for this old lady, but we all made it! It used to be a Confederate gunpowder mining site.
When we got to the top, we had hoped to get a cell signal to reserve Collin's senior parking spot (they opened at a certain time), but we failed. The whole speedy walk down we all searched for a signal, then drove to our next destination, still searching for a signal.
At the Clingman's Dome trailhead parking lot (lots of spots!), we finally got the websites to load (an hour late), and he got a spot near by his friends but not in the same strip. Sigh. Can't win them all.
Clingman's Dome was COLD and FOGGY. It is a 1 mile paved walkway with CRAZY incline (350 feet of elevation gain). There is an outlook at the top. I was excited to go to the Visitor's Center, but it was just another gift shop.
After BOTH hikes, we were hungry. We talked to the kids into trying lunch at Reggae Jam. Jamaican food! I got the jerk chicken, mac & cheese, and dirty rice, and OH MY GOODNESS - Heaven on a plate. I love Carribbean food!
After heading back to the cabin and resting, we played pickleball as a family and swam. More game playing before bed!
DAY SIX: Gatlinburg - Thu, Jul 23rd
The day we had been waiting for - our whitewater rafting day with Raft Outdoor Adventures in Hartford. The location was in part of the hardest hit areas of Hurricane Helene two years ago (2024), so the 1-hr drive there was full of construction.
It rained the whole way there, stopped for our trip, and started again when we were done. Tender Mercy! The water was running fast and bumpy, and we had a GREAT time. The guide was impressed with our paddling, so he took us through some rougher sections too. Awesome!
Afterwards, we changed clothes and grabbed lunch at Greasy Spoon - sometimes burgers, fries, onion rings, and milkshakes really hit the spot!
Getting back to the cabin, we rested and headed to the gym to run/lift and play some more pickleball.
DAY SEVEN: Memphis - Fri, Jul 24th
We got all packed up and on the road to Nashville (4 hr drive). We had lunch downtown at Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, and wandered down Broadway and listened to the music pouring out of all the bars.
We saw some more riverboats along their waterfront, and then headed back to the car. Onward to Memphis (3 more hrs)! We started our sightseeing at the Pyramid Bass Pro Shop. Then we checked into our downtown hotel. After Ryan & Brennan ran on the treadmills, we headed to Beale Street for dinner. We ate at Blue City Diner for dinner - catfish, ribs, and fried shrimp. Perfection!
After dinner, we went through the metal detectors and had our IDs scanned in order to listen to some blues. We really liked Beale St (better than NO's Bourbon St & Nashville's Broadway), but we left before dark. Collin loves all music, but Ethan really got into all the saxphones.
We grabbed some ice cream on the way back to the hotel and fell into bed.
DAY EIGHT - Sat, Jul 25th
Ryan and Brennan ran the 6-miles round-trip to the Big River Crossing (free one-mile pedestrian bridge over the Mississippi River).
The rest of us walked to the Tom Lee River Park (2 miles). Memphis had a great riverfront too!
After hotel breakfast and showers, we started our 7-hour drive to Frisco. We checked into our hotel, and then met up with Megan & Chris at Hutchin's BBQ - best in Texas IMO. Afterwards, we played cards at their house before returning to our hotel to sleep.
DAY NIGHT - Sun, Jul 26th
Finally headed home! We were more than ready to make the final trek home (5 hrs). We were happy to face the least nasty traffic we've ever experienced on this stretch and made it home at 1 o'clock. Hooray!
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Tennessee is beautiful. Smoke Mountains are gorgeous. We super overate good and bad food. I think this may have been our last family road trip, which is just about killing me. Yay for family games and hiking and memories!
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