April 29th – May 1st, 2022
Waaaayyyy back in April 2022 I decided I needed to take a weekend to just get away, to be in nature, to spend time with myself and to see if I could make it on my own. Gosh, thinking back on this time it’s so crazy. I remember wanting independence, I remember wanting solitude, I remember wanting to make a change. Since then my life has become so different! I’ve gotten all of the things I was longing for and I couldn’t be happier! There are times that are so incredibly tough, mourning the life I had, the life that I had planned, the life that I thought was guaranteed BUT the good outweighs the bad, truly. Traveling solo and now with someone else has taught me so much more than I ever thought I’d know.
This was the cabin I rented through AirBnb
Admittedly I have been to Tennessee more times than I could count but ya girl loves Dolly. I don’t care about Dollywood but channeling my inner Dolly was the theme of this trip. To live fearlessly, without self-judgment, to dress how TF I wanted to dress, and to enjoy every second while showing kindness, compassion and empathy to everyone I meet.
Every day/night I spent time outside in the woods, on the front porch, on the deck and in the hot tub enjoying the mountain breeze and listening to birds singing. I read books, I partook in an edible or two, I spent time listening to music that made me happy as well as music that put me in my feels – it was important to me during this trip to find at least a semblance of the clarity that I was looking for with my relationship, my life and the path I wanted to take for the near future. I did things that brought me joy, I did things that scared the shit out of me, I met new friends and I took myself on many, many dates (which is and has been one of my favorite activities for the last year and a half)!
Things to do (that I did):
Listening Room Cafe – live music, decent drinks and a cool vibe!
Downtown Flavortown – When I go places I typically try to stay away from chains BUT this was weird, funky and a super fun atmosphere so I lived it up with my boy Guy Fieri! Jk, he wasn’t there but my server, Aaron was amazing – so much so that I still remember his name, his husband’s name, and his whole life story almost a year later. He was a total gem! The ahi wonton tacos were amazing and margs perfection!
Cinnaholic – OH MY GAWD. This cinnamon bun bakery was heaven, like I truly died and went here. It’s 100% vegan and the most delicious cinnamon buns I’ve had in my entire life. I’m not vegan but I am super lactose intolerant (and have an issue with gluten) but I low key just pretend I don’t have an upset tummy 100000% of my life when I’m on vacation. Anyway, go there, spend lots of dollars on the buns and be happy. K? Cool, thanks.
On your way from wherever you’re coming from to get into Sevierville, stop at a roadside market. You’ll find jams, homemade fudge, tons of produce, and other fun treats and never once has anyone regretted getting homemade jams + fudge from a southerner. Trust me, it’s a fact.
Harpoon Harry’s Crab House – very tasty, good margs, sat at the bar with a good book eating sushi for a couple of hours and had a blast talking to tons of people near me!
When near Gatlinburg you have to do the touristy things and since I hadn’t been as an adult, I needed to pop over into the heavily populated area to do all the things. All of the things were as follows:
Ripley’s Museum – This was fun ish, wouldn’t go again tbh.
Moonshine Tastings – I don’t typically like moonshine unless it’s apple pie moonshine and made by some man my family somehow has trusted the last few decades to make this absurd lighter fluid of a drink, but it was a fun experience.
Chair Lift – by far one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever had. 2/10 would recommend. Okay and a quick disclaimer, I don’t hate heights but what I am slightly terrified of is safety features not being inspected/maintained, janky old equipment, and both human and mechanical error. The deets: I was by myself so the guy had me sit in the middle of the seat while getting on the still moving chairlift, if you go or have seen my pictures/videos above/below then you’ll see that the “safety rail” has two vertical dividers that you’re supposed to straddle (if there are two people on the lift) welllll it’s safe to say that my intrusive thoughts didn’t win on that day and I stayed seated instead of casually slipping through and falling a billion feet. Anyway, I blasted Florence and the Machine because I didn’t have earbuds and because my girl Florence is the only one who can calm me down. It was janky, old, rickety and the “safety bar” comes right up without any locking mechanisms. Love that for us. It was like 15 min to the top and then fun fact, you have to get back on to go down. Yay. The view was pretty but so is a post card, so are the pictures on google. It was an experience, I’m glad I did it I guess. lol. I stood in the gift shop bathroom giving myself a pep talk about how I’m a bad bitch and I can totally hop back on and take that janky lift back down to the bottom. Guess what? I did it, she’s a bad bitch. A nauseous, possibly sunburnt and very sweaty bad bitch but still, a winner at life. No big deal.
Soooo yeah, that was my Sevierville, Pigeon Forge + Gatlinburg adventure. K, bye.
Love ya lots,
Lindsey
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