Windy City, Smoky Mountains ~ Day 12 - Early morning visitor

[wickesy]

Dad was up at 8:30 this morning and at 8:40 he called me downstairs as there was a bear walking past the cabin! I grabbed my video camera from the table and managed to get this video as he walked past the cabin opposite us and down over the hill out of sight.



We saw him again when we went out but he took one look at me and walked off into the trees before I could get a picture of him.

It was raining again this morning so we decided to cross another indoor item off the list and drove to “The World’s Largest As Seen On TV Store”, which basically sells all those gadgets you see on TV that never quite work the same when you get them home. We had a good look round and were tempted by a couple of things but came away empty-handed.

We made our way back towards Pigeon Forge and stopped off at Tanger Outlets where there was a Disney outlet (today’s Disney reference) but it wasn’t a patch on the ones in Orlando and again we came away with nothing. We then went next door to Ripley’s Old MacDonald’s Farm mini-golf where we played ‘The Udder Course’ and I went round in a 5 over par 44, with Dad beating me by one shot on 43.












Continued

[wickesy]

From the mini-golf we carried on back towards Gatlinburg, stopping off to take a photo of the new Titanic exhibition that is being built. As you can see the museum is going to be in the shape of the Titanic and will be similar to the other Titanic exhibitions around the country.



Next stop off was the Mountain Valley winery where we tasted a few of the wines (only two sips for me) and bought a bottle each of Mountain Valley Peach, Mountain Valley Blush and Mountain Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - all three for $37.26.

From the winery we came back to Gatlinburg and went up the Space Needle, which is a 407 foot tower with a 360 degree view of the town.









Once we were back on the ground we wandered up to another complex of shops we hadn’t been to before where we admired the scenery



And then stopped off in a shop where I saw three bear figurines that I liked the look of and as I couldn’t decide which one to get I bought all three.




We then got back to the cabin just after 3:00 where we had a short break and Dad did another load of washing before going out for something to eat at around 5:30. The dining establishment for tonight was Bennett’s Pit Bar-B-Que, a restaurant just off the main Parkway in Gatlinburg where Dad had a combo of pulled pork, brisket and sausage and I had the Hickory Smoked Sausage, both with barbecue beans and fries and we had a root beer each. The total including tip and after 10% discount was $40.

We were back in the cabin by 6:30 where the rest of the evening was spent sitting about, Dad did a final load of washing and we were in bed at the usual time ready for our final whole day in the Smokies tomorrow.

Day 13

[Strommie]

Another great day. I love the video of the bear.

[Guest]

Another great report with lovely photos.

Your video is brillant.

[DisneyMadAng]

Oh my word..you thought I was jealous at the photo... got me sat here with tears in my eyes now lol fantastic video though.

I love the sound of the As Seen on TV Shop... I used to buy really silly kitchen things off them...anyone remember the Rap'Tou? I'm probably the only person who bought one.

You'll never guess...but I think the bear figurines are adorable. Good buy there

[Guest]

Wow how cool was that seeing a bear beside the cabin - maybe a bit close for comfort? It's great to see real America. I love your bear figures - they are adorable.

[wickesy]

I must admit I was a bit wary when we saw him again when we were getting into the car. He just wandered off when he saw us though so maybe he was away from his 'territory' and didn't feel threatened.

[orlandosgr8]

A lovely day and your bear figures are lovely.

[DIBBadmin]

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