Gatlinburg and Nashville, Tennessee
Thursday, May 7, 2026 - Saturday, May 16, 2026
So this one's a 'two parter', and the best part about it is we got to spend time with two of our kids, their S.O.'s and their S.O.'s family as well!
Thursday
Started out on Thursday morning, with our sights set on Gatlinberg, TN. This was a location that Jill and I had always thought about going to. It worked out that Mike and Stephanie, along with her immediate family planned a family vacation there for this summer - so we got to tag along! Headed out I-4 to I-95 with an obligatory stop at Buc-ee's in Daytona Beach along the way. Arrived at the cabin in Gatlinberg mid-evening; hung out there with everyone and called it a night after a long day of travel (for everyone).
Friday
On Friday we all drove to Cades Cove, which is within the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's an 11 mile loop and a great opportunity to see some beautiful sights as well as a black bear or two (or three or four or...). Mike and Stephanie rode with us; Dee, Mikaela and Colin rode with Julie in her car. It was about an hour drive to get there. We did the loop, saw and took some pics of the black bears, stopped at a church, stopped at the visitor center. Afterwards, we went the Pigeon Forge and had lunch with everyone at the Margaritaville. It was part of a larger complex called The Island. Wandered around there for a bit after eating. At that point Jill and I decided to go back to Gatlinburg and wander a bit there too. Headed back to the cabin afterwards.
Saturday
Saturday rolled around and the crew was planning on going to the Anakeesta Adventure Mountain. It didn't sound like Jill and I's vibe, so instead we went to Dollywood to check it out on our own (before the entire crew headed there on Sunday.
We wandered the park (it's a bit hilly compared to the ones we're used to!), rode Blazing Fury (a few times over a couple of days) and the train. Made sure to get some cinnamon bread at the Grist Mill (the thing to do at Dollywood), and watched 'Forever Country' in the Valley Theater. We ate lunch at Granny Ogle's Ham and Beans, where I had Aunt Fronnie's Sampler (pit ham and meatloaf served with mashed potatoes, carrots, turnip greens and pinto beans) and Jill had the Butterfly Chicken Salad Sandwich (which was actually a butterfly-shaped pretzel, with leaf lettuce and chicken salad served with kettle chips).
After wandering the park and riding and eating we decided to call it a day (at least at Dollywood) and headed back to Gatlinberg to catch up with the rest of the crew. They wanted to do some moonshine tastings, and who are we to argue! :-) Started out at Sugarlands. Pretty good tasting, and actually got to see the bartender toss a guy out because he was being a jerk - bonus entertainment!. From there we went to Ole Smoky, which was just a few doors up the street. Finished that tasting and then went back to Sugarlands; they had a bar in the back that we grabbed another drink at and hung out for a bit. Headed out of there - and most (but not all) headed back to the cabin. Mike, Jill and I made another stop at The Daiquiri Shack for another drink and some food before heading back to the cabin.
Sunday
Mother's Day! Jill got to spend her first mom's day with Mike in a couple of years :-) (which really was one of the biggest reasons we took this trip). This was the entire groups day at Dollywood. Up and out early, at the park for rope drop. Wandered around like we did 'yesterday'. Went on Mystery Mine (yeah that's a one and done for us), as well as Blazin' Fury and the train. Jill and I found a nice out of the way cool spot to hang out too. When everyone was all set at Dollywood, we all went back to the cabin - had leftovers for dinner and there was some s'more making
Monday
Woke up in the morning to find that everyone (except for Mike and Stephanie) had already headed out to an outlet mall in the area. The gameplan was that we would meet them in Pigeon Forge later in the day. Got ready and headed out to Pigeon Forge. Found the Smoky Mountain Brewery and grabbed some lunch. From there went towards a Scooby-Doo mini-golf course that Steph wanted to try out. As we waited for the rest, we went next door to a plaza to do some wine tastings Currahee Vineyards (and ended up buying three bottles!). The rest of the group showed up, Mike and Steph went to play mini-golf, Jill and I continued to wander around the plaza before going over to watch them play golf. Afterwards, Mike and Colin both wanted to do some go-karting so they found the Nascar Speed Park.
In the evening, we got to go to a show that Jill has been waiting a long time to see! (in part because there used to be one in Orlando near Lake Buena Vista). Dolly Parton's Stampede (to us AKA the Dixieland Stampede) is kind of like Medieval Times, just with a country theme (and utensils with dinner too!). For dinner we got veggie soup, an entire small chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, pulled pork, and apple cobbler for dessert. The show was interesting - overall had a good time! Back to the cabin afterwards.
Tuesday
Tuesday morning rolled around and it was time to move onto 'phase 2' of our vacation. Stephanie's family were up and out before we got moving in the morning - mostly because they were going aaaaallll the way back to Iowa, and we were only going to Nashville. Headed out of the cabin and stopped at the Waffle House in Pigeon Forge for a bite to eat. Afterwards made our way to Nashville (with a stop at a Buc-ee's along the way of course!).
Made it to our Air B&B mid afternoon. Jill found one that was conveniently (and literally) two blocks from Sara and McLean's house! Nice place to call our 'home base' for a few days while we spent time in Nashvegas.
Got the car(s) unloaded and then set out to peruse Nashville. This was Mike's first time there, so we wanted to get a 'lay of the land'. We started downtown, going by the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena, and down Broadway (with the football stadium - both old and new - in the distance as well), before heading towards the soccer stadium and the fairgrounds speedway. We decided we might like some food, so we went to a favorite of mine - 12 South Taproom and Grill. Unfortunately, this would be our last opportunity to go there since this location was closing 'soon'. Glad we could get there - when Sara was at Belmont this was one place we went to a few times.
In the evening, we went and picked up Sara and head out to the East Nashville Beer Works on Callis Road in Lebanon, Tennessee. Greg and Debbie Pillon met us there as well. (McLean was feeling under the weather so he wasn't able to join us). Hung out and chatted with everyone for a while before taking Sara home and heading to the Air B&B ourselves.
Wednesday
This was our first full day in Nashville, and I mean FULL! Started the day out at the Country Music Hall of Fame wandering through the exhibits. After that we went to the Bridgestone to check out the Preds store (where Jill and I realized that we have quite a bit of Preds gear for a team we've only seen play once - helps that Sara used to work for them :) ). Then it was on to the main event (for Mike) for the trip - Broadway!
So, day one on Broadway. We started out at AJ's Good Time Barwhere we had a drink or two. Then we moved onto Friends in Low Places where we had a couple of drinks and some lunch. From there, it was Posty's for, you guessed it, a couple of drinks. Our last stop on Broadway (for Wednesday) was the Redneck Riviera where we had a couple of drinks. In each place we also listened to some pretty good live music as well!
Another highlight of the trip was to come on Wednesday night. But first, we met Sara and McLean at Tennfold Brewing, a place that Jill and I had been to a few times before on past trips and really liked. After hanging there for a bit we (Mike, Stephanie, Jill and I) were off to the Opry! Mike found that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was playing there and wanted to go and see them (and the Opry as well). Was a pretty cool venue from a historical perspective. We left 'early' although we had been there over two hours at that point - waited for them to play their biggest hit "Fishin' in the Dark" (although we heard Mr. Bojangles as well and that's a pretty big hit for them as well!). Wanted some food - so we went to The Nashville Palace. Waitress was definitely not happy we came in so late - poor service, mediocre food, take it off 'the list'.
Thursday
Another day, another trip to Broadway! (just kept hoping my liver would hold out!). Picked up Sara in the morning and made a quick stop at Tim Horton's for some base, I mean, breakfast. Then, headed to do a bit more touring before we went back to Broadway. Parked at Belmont and toured around the campus. It had changed a lot since the last time we were there!
After Belmont it was back to Broadway! Woot! Started out at the Hank Williams, Jr. Boogie Bar. From there we went to Nudie's Honky Tonk, and then onto Luke's 32 Bridge where I'm pretty sure we ate lunch (and there was a guy in the band from Bartow, Florida). After that we went to Lainey Wilson's Bell Bottoms Up Bar. And, the last stop for today, is the one you can't miss on Broadway - Tootsie's. Iconic and classic location. Jill and I had been here one other time a few years back with Gary and Becky Severcool (before a Preds game); was pretty cool to be able to go there with the 'kids' :-)
In the evening I had grabbed up tickets for all of us for the Nashville Sounds game. McLean met us at the ballpark. Mike was pretty excited about this part of the trip as well since he had never been to this ballpark before. And then, after the game, another treat! (for all of us!). We went to Skull's Rainbow Room for a late dinner. Jill and I had been here with Sara and McLean on a previous trip and we knew we wanted to get back there with Mike and Stephanie. A great meal for sure! Back to the Air B&B after dinner to crash out, I mean, to reset.
Friday
Our last day in Nashville. You would think we would be on the struggle bus at this point and, well, you might be right! LOL! In an attempt to not spend the ENTIRE day on Broadway, we started out at Jackalope Brewing. Tried a couple of their brews and then just said 'okay, let's go to Broadway'. The main and pretty much entire intent of going here on Friday was to see the Music Row Happy Hour at Chief's on Broadway. Pretty cool show - even got Mike to do a Yee Haw that Dave (in Orlando) could hear on the broadcast! Left there and hit one...last...bar... (on Broadway). Found ourselves at Jelly Roll's Goodnight Bar; and when you think about it, it was pretty apropos to 'end' here - Goodnight Broadway!
There was one final Nashville bar that we wanted to get to before the trip came to a close. Santa's Pub is just one of those places you HAVE to visit! That is, if you like dive bars with a cool vibe (and we certainly do!). McLean met us here, we hung out for a bit. From there we decided we needed dinner so we went to Good Times, a bar that Sara and McLean love to go to and wanted us to see as well. Another cool spot in Nashville for sure! Good drinks, good food, nice vibe.
Saturday
Saturday...ah, Saturday. Worst day of the trip for sure, mostly because we were driving in the opposite direction of all of the kids :-( . Mike and Stephanie headed back to Iowa early Saturday morning, with Jill and I not far behind heading south to Florida. Stopped at the Buc-ee's north of Atlanta on the way through (tradition and all ya know). Got home around 8:00ish Saturday evening.