OBER GATLINBURG | PHOTO DIARY

Gatlinburg is one of my favorite places in Tennessee. The mountains are beautiful, there's roller coasters through the mountains, good food, wide range of activities, gnarly shops, and more, but instead of doing the same old stuff we normally do, we wanted to try something different. Earlier in September, my mom and I went to Ober Gatlinburg, a small amusement park and ski resort. When we were in Pigeon Forge, the city we hit before entering Gatlinburg, my mom and I went to Mellow Mushroom to get pizza for breakfast. I got the gluten-free veggie pizza, which was so good. I love how more restaurants are incorporating vegan and gluten free options into their menus.

Once in Gatlinburg, my mom and I took an aerial tram up higher into the mountains to get to Ober Gatlinburg. There really wasn't much to do there, which was disappointing, but it was still fun this one time as we had never been before. We rode a sky lift to go, yes, even further up the mountain, to get to ride an alpine coaster back down to where we started. It went so fast I almost went off the track (which apparently you have to watch out for since this has happened before). We rode the sky lift again to go past the alpine coaster stop and all the way up to as high as the mountains will go. There, there was a bluegrass band and an amazing view waiting for us. I do miss Southern California, but I do love all the sights and greenery here. We rode the sky lift back down to ride two water slides. One was okay but the other one, a tall windy blue tunnel, was mine and my mom's favorite thing to do there. We laughed so hard we were crying and couldn't get out of the float, and had such a great time that we went on it again and again. There was other things there, such as a petting zoo and an ice skating rink, but we wanted to leave as it was so humid and getting late. After that we left and rode the aerial tram back to Gatlinburg to look around in shops and go wine and moonshine tasting. After having 25 different flavors for the first time, I can safely say I don't like moonshine! My mom and I had so much fun that day, and you can see the day in action in my vlog on my YouTube channel and in the pictures below!

GATLINBURG

Hello Hello! It's been a while. In the week or so that I have been absent, something very terrible has happened...MY CAMERA STOPPED WORKING!!! Actually, it works, as in it can turn on and off and change settings and whatnot, but the screen is black and when I take a picture, it comes out black as well. Does anyone know what would be wrong with it or how I can get it to work? Unfortunately I can't just go and buy a new one as I do not have a job, therefore little money. Lame. I have no idea what is wrong with it, but all I know is that I won't be able to take pictures regularly now. But the good news is that I am back with some pictures from Gatlinburg - from before my camera stopped working.

My sisters and I went with our mother on a drive to Cades Cove (post on that here) and afterwards headed to Gatlinburg for dinner and a late night stroll. We ate dinner at two places. My sisters and mom ate at Johnny Rocket's while I went upstairs to grab some food to-go at the Loco Burro. Sometimes I don't much care for Johnny Rockets. I don't have anything against it, especially since there are a few vegan options. It's just that I don't like packaged/pre-made veggie burgers and sometimes I'm hungry for more than just a little salad (however, their sweet potato fries are divine!). So at the Loco Burro, I got three side dishes of black beans, mexican rice, and pico de gallo. Chips and salsa were complimentary with the meal. 

Once I was together with my sisters and mom, we had a blast! Our waiter, Carmine, was a real treat as well. He played the claw machines until he got each of us a stuffed toy, took turns drawing pictures with ketchup, he gave our mom his number so he can send us discounts for Twin Peaks (a restaurant that his girlfriend works at), gave us free milkshakes (in which Kuyuki and I couldn't have), and we even got up to dance with him twice. That experience at Johnny Rockets really was something else!

  

After our dinner, we hugged our waiter goodbye (we really did), and went across the street to the Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen. It's a must every time we go to Gatlinburg. We always get candy apples, multiple boxes of taffy, and other candies (all of which I cannot have now that I am vegan). But that's okay. It's still fun to look inside and watch the taffy being made!

The rest of the night we looked in various shops, sampled some of the hottest pepper sauces ever, and took pictures with and of some of the random things we thought looked cool (like the Claire's building and the statue of the world's tallest man). This was also the last day I could really take pictures because this was the day that my camera started acting up (hence some of the pixely and orangeish photos towards the end). From that day on I had to either use my webcam, sister's phone, or dad's camera if I wanted to take a picture. It's a burden to always have to ask someone to use their camera, whereas I used to be able to just whip out my own camera anytime I wanted. It sucks, but oh well. I know what's on my Christmas list now!