VacationMama

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies

•  Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies - Adults: $24.99, Kids 6-11:$11.99, Kids 2-5:$5.99
• Ober Gatlinburg (which I would totally put on the 'to do' list) Looks like a lot of fun these to do at this place. For rates check out this site, they also have a few coupons on there.
• Fun Mountain Amusement Park - rides look to be $3-3.50 a piece but you can buy a 2 hour bracelet as well.
• Ripley's Believe it or Not - I've never been to one but it sounds cool. Adults: $14.99, Kids: $7.99, Under 5: FREE
• Hillbilly Golf - mini golf course
• Hollywood Star Car Museum - Adults: $12.99, Kids: $6.99, Kids under 6: FREE - If you buy tickets online you save a little too.

Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum

I'm sure these are some pretty basic stops for most people to Garlinburg but they looked fun to me.  I know there are sooo many other things to do there as well.  You could easily stay a week there and never get board and be doing new things everyday.

A little more about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Entrance to the park is FREE.  They do charge fees for some activities such as camping ($14-$23 a night) and pavilion rentals at picnic areas.  If you are really adventurous you can go backcountry camping (backpacking) in the park as well.  If you are bringing the kiddos (ages 5-12) along they do have a Junior Park Ranger Program there where you do some activities and they get a Jr. Park Ranger badge when they are done.  The booklet does cost $2.50, but that's not a whole lot of money to spend on them and keep them engaged in the park while you are there.  And I just learned that the National Parks Service has a program called the Webrangers.  Basically you can learn and 'explore' the national parks online through games and other activities.  This sounds fun to get your kids revved up for the trip.  There are a lot of outdoor activities to do in the park so make sure you check out the sites linked here to see what they all are before you go.  One last thing about the park, don't forget the Appalachian Trail goes right through it!  How cool would that be to check out?  From my understanding you can drive most of the way up the mountain and then just hike a little bit to get to the trail.

One last tip, if you know you are going to plan a trip to this area, keep an eye out on the Groupon Getaways, you might be able to find one for Gatlinburg.

So that's it for now, but don't forget to look things up yourself too, because there is just way too much out there for me to get it all in one blog post.  :)

Feel free to post comments about your trip to Gatlinburg, TN and give your tips for where to go and what to see.

Happy traveling. 

I'm a girl that loves maps and planning vacations.  I love the thrill of finding new and exciting things to do, on and off the beaten path.  While we may not have money to do everything that I would like to do with vacations, I thought it would still be fun to make a blog that is filled with tips for traveling with kids as well as some itinerary ideas. I hope that you get use out of this blog and feel free to suggest your own tips and trip ideas.

So on we go.  My first vacation idea comes from a trip I actually did take.  In 2007 my sister's family, mom, and I took a trip which we have named the "Utah Trip of 2007".  The main reason for this trip was to visit family in Utah but why not make it fun and stop at new places.  So to the planning draw board my B.I.L. (brother-in-law) and I went.  Here is the basic itinerary from the trip:

• Badlands - South Dakota
• Wind Caves - South Dakota
• Mount Rushmore - South Dakota
• Yellowstone - Wyoming
• Grand Tetons - Idaho/Wyoming
• Ogden (to visit family) and Salt Lake - Utah
• Garden of the Gods - Colorado
• Fort Knox (again to visit family) - Kentucky 

All this in about  10 days.  So here are some things I learned along the way.

Southwest Corner of South Dakota
This is an amazing part of the United States!  There is so much to do there.  And if you are traveling from east to west you get to drive through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, boy is that a fun first hill to go up. You have the Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug (it's not a stop to South Dakota without a trip to Wall Drug!) and Wind Cave.  These were the things that we did but there is so much more to do there! I could make a whole trip out of this one little corner of South Dakota, but that's another post maybe.

Yellowstone National Park
Let me tell you....I LOVE this park!!  It's an amazing place to be.  Yellowstone has so many different natural wonders to look at.  Not only animals in the wild but also all the wonderful colors of the springs, pots, and other such water attractions.  We camped while we were there and had so much fun.  Well, my mom and little H. stayed in a cabin, which are also very nice.  We didn't have to cook while we were there either because right by the campgrounds we were staying at there was a cafeteria where we could get breakfast.  You can also get other meals there but we were elsewhere around the park so we ate a different locations.  The park also has a few different hotels to stay at as well.  Since we were only there a few days we took a bus tour of the park.  They have one that is the southern half, one that is the northern half (both of which are half day tours), and one that is the northern and southern park (a full day tour).  This was an awesome tour!!  The bus driver stopped whenever there was an attraction or an animal to see.  He also got off the bus with us at different locations and told us all about the park.  I could stay there for a week and never get board!!  Hmmm...maybe an idea for another post...lol.

Grand Tetons
We only really passed through and made a quick stop to see the Tetons but they are amazing!  I would really love to go back some say and explore them more...maybe when the kiddos are a little older.  I don't have much to say about them, only because we didn't do much there but they are worth a stop and see at the very least!

Ogden, UT
My mom is from Ogden, UT so we always stay there with Grandma.  But there are some fun things to do there.  We always have to go to George S Eccles Dinosaur Museum and then Rainbow Gardens for lunch.  They are right by each other so it makes for a great day.  I'm sure there are other great things to do in Ogden but we normally do those two things and then hang with family.

Garden of the Gods
This is an amazing place in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Garden of the Gods are natural red rock formations that are really fun to look at AND climb.  There are so many different places to climb on low rocks, and if you are a rock climber then you can also do that too (I'm sure you have to arrange that ahead of time though).  We got several great pictures of my sister's twins climbing all over the place.  Though it is best to stick to the trail here...we may, or may not have gotten a little off the beaten path, but we found a normal trail. :)

Fort Knox
This is a really fun place to go.  In Fort Knox there is Patton Museum and of course the gold vault to see.  No, they don't let you anywhere near it but you can see it from the road.  And if those don't sound interesting to you then Fort Knox is not that far away from Louisville, KY and Mammoth Cave (I'll do a later post about both though). 

So, in a nut shell that was our vacation.  We had so much fun and I would LOVE to do this trip over again taking my own kids (and husband) along.