Gatlinburg TN
I was feeling pretty miserable today, so we decided to do something fun. My broken tooth was still throbbing, so hiking has been put on the back burner for awhile.
The campground manager kindly drove us into town and we visited Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies (http://gatlinburg.ripleyaquariums.com). We had a great time! Along with skeletons of creatures, such as giant turtles and whales that once called this region home, we saw all manner of fish, frogs, crabs, sharks, and penguins. They have a moving walk-way that goes underneath a very large tank. Some sharks were just draped over the top of the tunnel – it was cool to see their undersides. There were lots of observation tubes built into the other tanks so you could crawl in and pop up in an enclosed space within a tank, too. The gift shop was a bit disappointing – probably because we’ve been so spoiled by the National Park shops.
We walked up to the other end of Gatlinburg to visit our favorite outfitter. We saw a kayak that was used in the Olympic trials back in the 1970s. Technology sure has come a long way! The boat was fiberglass and wood. Kelly bought a new fanny pack that would hold two water bottles, plus a couple stuff sacks to protect our new camp chairs.
Our last stop was the chair lift up the mountain. It was fun to dangle our feet in the air, but not so fun to clutch all our packages. There was, of course, a gift shop at the top of the mountain. It was very disappointing, so we rode back down with no new purchases.
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