The Bowen's Go To Gatlinburg 2019

Last month, Dylan, our cat Flynn( you read that right!), his family and I all went to Gatlinburg on a family vacation! I had never been before and was super excited to hike some mountains and hang out in nature. We rented this amazing cabin with an indoor swimming pool and an arcade room and lots of other amazing amenities! It was basically glamping! We did not rough it at all! ;)

I’ve included some pictures (duh, it’s me), but I did want to say not all of them are “from my nice camera”. A handful are from our iPhones. The way I see it, the best camera is the one you have. I would rather have iPhone quality photos than none at all if the moment occurred when I didn’t bring my Nikon. So, without further ado, here are the highlights from our trip!

So day one we just hung out at our cabin. We didn’t get in until later, so we got dinner and just chilled. We swam in the pool, went into the Jacuzzi and played in the arcade! We basically lived like kings.

Our second day was very rainy, so we decided to let this day be our shopping and exploring day. We went into lots of cute shops on the main stretch of Gatlinburg, and let me tell you it was huge! I was expecting a little quaint town- nope! HUGE!

Dylan and I like wine, so we went to a bunch of wineries and bought some bottles of wine. We also tried Moonshine, which I never had done before. It was okay. After that we headed back home, played some games and swam again!

Day 3 was hiking day! We went up to the Smoky National Park and hiked up Clingman’s Dome. It was too beautiful to describe. We were so high up I felt like we were on top of the world.

Next we went exploring. I couldn’t tell you where we wound up, but we found this creek in the forest. I was determined to go swimming. There was a very strong current, so I carefully waded and had a blast. But everyone else just stuck their toes it. Dylan followed me down a hill towards the river and he almost stepped on a snake! Kuddos to him for carrying on with the hike because he hates creepy crawly things!!

Last we went back downtown and went up a sky lift and walked across The Skybridge, which was a hanging bridge in-between two mountain peaks. It was so high up and the middle section of the bridge had see through glass, which was super freaky. I’m scared of heights but wound up doing okay. Dylan was super freaked out and only crossed the bridge the second time because it was the only way to get down.

The last day was a lot more shopping. We also rode a roller coasted down the mountain which was a blast! Then we each kinda did our own thing for the evening. Then, when we all came back together, I, of course, set up a family photo shoot in our cabin and in the woods. It was fun and now we have nice family pictures, which of course I love!

The last day was a departure day, so we packed up and drove down the mountain. As we went out we stopped and looked that the scenic views. It was a fun trip and I would totally go back! The best part was getting to spend time with people we love!