Category Archives: Gatlinburg

Great Smoky Easter Craft Show

Great Smoky Thanksgiving Craft Fair in Gatlinburg

Once more, it’s Craft Fair time in Gatlinburg!  The Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community begins the annual Easter Show this week (Thursday April 5th) in the Gatlinburg Convention Center. The show will run through Saturday, April 7th, and we will be open from 10 to 6. To find the fair, turn up the hill…

Dreaming of a White Smoky Mountain Christmas

Dreaming of a White Christmas © William Britten use with permission only

What a cozy scene! Snuggled in a winter wonderland, a fire warming the cabin, family or friends gathered for the holidays. No need for White Christmas on TV! Christmas in Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains is an enchanting time of year. I hope you and your family are enjoying the season, wherever you are, whatever…

Rod Run Returns!

Classic Cars © William Britten use with permission only

It’s that time of year again. The classic cars strut their stuff on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for the Fall Smoky Mountains Rod Run, September 15-19. The cars look their best early in the morning with the sun coming up and the dew still clinging to all that fresh wax. Wow, can’t…

Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair!

Gatlinburg Craftsmen's Fair

It’s that time of year again. The Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair begins this Friday at the Convention Center in downtown Gatlinburg. The Fair will run from July 15th through July 24th, from 10 to 6:00 each day except 10-5:00 on Sundays. Look for William Britten Photography in our usual spot at the bottom of the escalator…

Happy 4th of July!

Flag and watermelons on 4th of July

  Happy 4th of July everyone! Eat a burger, have a picnic! Enjoy the day.   The William Britten Gallery on Glades Rd in Gatlinburg will be open from 10am to 5pm. Bring me a burger if you’re in the area!

Try the Sky Lift for Great Smoky Mountains Photos!

Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains

The Sky Lift in downtown Gatlinburg (near stoplight #8) offers great opportunities for dramatic Smoky Mountains photos. The ride itself is a fun activity, but the vistas of the mountains and the town of Gatlinburg are fabulous! The photos above and below are examples of what you can see from a chair on the Sky…

Craft Fair Time!

Gatlinburg Easter Craft Fair © William Britten use with permission only

Excitement builds for the first craft fair of the season at the Convention Center here in Gatlinburg.  The Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community puts on this show every year during Easter week. This year the fair starts Wednesday, April 20 and goes through Saturday, April 23rd, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm daily. For…

Mr. Ed?

Talking Horse © William Britten use with permission only

We had another dusting of snow not too long ago, and I was out roaming around, looking for winter scenics. Just across from the Greenbrier entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the road leading to Emerts Cove Bridge, and along that road there is a pasture for some riding horses. This guy…

Chapels of Love

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What to write about on Valentine’s Day?  Smoky Mountain weddings! Gatlinburg is second only to Las Vegas in the number of wedding ceremonies each year … around 10,000 for this small village near the Smoky Mountains. To accommodate all those weddings, Gatlinburg has quite a few chapels.  Many are located on Glades Rd, which is…

Gatlinburg on a Saturday Night

newrain

These are our friends Gary Wayne and Jane Morris, aka New Rain, down at The Ship on Glades Rd in Gatlinburg last Saturday night. It was a reunion of sorts, with Jane and Gary returning to our neighborhood bar after an absence of a few months. We all had a great night. This is also…

More Cold Water Under the Bridge

Covered Bridge in Winter © William Britten use with permission only

Emerts Cove Bridge is one of only two covered bridges near the Smoky Mountains in Sevier County (the other being Harrisburg Bridge off Rt. 339).  Emerts Cove bridge is just north of Rt 321, just off Rt. 416 north of Pittman Center. The simplist way to see it is to follow the road directly across…

Chalet Village after Snow

Chalet Village in Winter © William Britten use with permission only

Continuing this week’s snow theme. Dozens of cabins perch on the mountainsides surrounding Gatlinburg. The area just to the west is known as Chalet Village. From my frozen perch atop the Space Needle, I was able to zoom in on some of the cabins, looking very Alpine with their fresh winter coats. The roads should…

Looming LeConte

Mt. LeConte from downtown Gatlinburg © William Britten use with permission only

The picture above is Mt. LeConte and the Smoky Mountains looming over downtown Gatlinburg. Taken from the observation deck of the Space Needle two weeks ago after our big Christmas snowstorm. The Space Needle offers a great vantage point to view the Smokies up close and also get a panoramic view of Gatlinburg and the…

New Year’s Eve in Gatlinburg

Mt. LeConte Looms over Gatlinburg © William Britten use with permission only

It’s New Year’s Eve!  Last weekend’s big snow has melted a bit, but it’s still very festive here in Gatlinburg, and the Smoky Mountains still have plenty of snow in the higher elevations.  The picture above was taken from the observation deck of the Space Needle, looking out over the Park Vista Hotel towards Mt….

Wordless Wednesday: Snowy Gatlinburg

Snowy Gatlinburg © William Britten use with permission only

White Christmas in Gatlinburg!

White Christmas 2010 © William Britten use with permission only

The folks who rented this cabin Christmas Eve got their money’s worth!  It’s been snowing ever since … all through Christmas Day, and now still some light snow on the 26th. About 8 inches on the ground now. Of course the wonderful view of the Smoky Mountains and Mt. LeConte from this cabin has vanished…

Cold Mountain

Cold Mt. LeConte © William Britten use with permission only

It has been frigid cold here in Gatlinburg! Temperatures in the teens for several days. The morning light has a watery winter translucent quality. Our little cabin stares into the face of a stern and slumbering Mt. LeConte. But it’s also a warm time of year. A fire in the stove, bread in the oven,…

Festival of Trees

The World Within the Ornament © William Britten use with permission only

Happy Friday everyone!  I recently took a break from our craft fair and stopped in at the Gatlinburg Festival of Trees, at the Mills Center just after Thanksgiving. In the picture above you might be able to see my reflection in the ornament, with the trees all around me. Very M.C. Escher, isn’t it? In…

Along the Roaring Fork: Ely’s Mill

Smoky Mountain Honey © William Britten use with permission only

When you come down the hill at the end of the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, stop in at Ely’s Mill. It’s a neat little gift shop that dates from the 1920s with local crafts, and honey taken from the hives that stand in the field outside. You can…

Over the River and Through the Woods

Roaring Fork Motor Trail © William Britten use with permission only

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!  I’ll be spending the day down at the Gatlinburg Convention Center in the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Fair. Come on down and visit if you are in town.  The William Britten Gallery will be closed today, but will re-open tomorrow.

First Winter Storm for 2010-11

Little ice pellets © William Britten use with permission only

First storm of the season!  Little ice pellets raining down. Mt. LeConte shrouded in a snowstorm. Travel over Newfound Gap in the Smoky Mountains not advisable. Bring it on!  Snow us in! Heat up the chocolate.

Smoky Mountains History: Mountain View Hotel

Mountain View Hotel 1926 © University of Tennessee Libraries

These pictures were taken by Dutch Roth. The text from his journal below describes the fascinating history in the early days of Smoky Mountains tourism, when Gatlinburg was barely a destination on the edge of the mountains. “So many of our hikes used to begin and end at Gatlinburg. Back in 1929 the only thing…

Appalachian Trail Hiker

Appalachian Trail Hiker

Say hello to Ulli. I gave him a ride from Gatlinburg up to the Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap early this morning. Ulli is a television producer from Berlin. His plan is to hike for 10 days, then come out of the woods and make it somehow up to New York City where one of…

Morning Mist Village

Morning Mist Village

Along Glades Road, in the heart of Gatlinburg’s historic Arts and Crafts Loop, you will find Morning Mist Village.  Take a break from your Smoky Mountain exploring, and head out Rt. 321 at stoplight number 3 in Gatlinburg. Just past Food City, and then McDonalds, turn left onto Glades Rd.  Morning Mist Village is about…

The Day Elvis Died

Elvis Memories Theater

This day in 1977 Elvis Presely died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, TN. Just down the road from Gatlinburg, in Pigeon Forge, the memories live on.  It’s a good show there, and never ceases to amaze me how Elvis had so much charisma that over 30 years after  his death a man pretending to…

Artfair Time: Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair!

Gatlinburg Craftsmen's Fair Booth

Set-up today for the July 2010 version of the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair at the Gatlinburg Convention Center. Running from July 16th through the 24th, look for me at the bottom of the escalator just as you enter. Today was the usual job of starting with a blank slate … just a bunch of boxes and…

Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community

Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community in Gatlinburg

If you are in Gatlinburg on a Smoky Mountain vacation, don’t forget about one of the most fun and unique activities … a leisurely shopping trip along the loop of arts and crafts shops that make up the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community. Head out of Gatlinburg on Route 321 and watch for the…

Bear Tracks!

Bear Tracks

This morning, out walking the usual loop through the deserted development behind my cabin, suddenly there are big, muddy bear tracks crossing the road! There is a mud-hole from recent rains beside the road that he plowed through to get his muddy feet. The boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is less than…

Gatlinburg Farmers Market

Gatlinburg Farmers Market © William Britten use with permission only

Gatlinburg kicked off the fabulous Farmer’s Market this past Saturday. The inaugural season will run through the weekend before Thanksgiving, every Saturday from 8-11:00 am. A good crowd turned out for the first morning. There was music, and some intriguing booths.

Down at the Gatlinburg Aquarium

Gatlinburg Aquarium © William Britten use with permission only

Ok, I know it’s a tourist attraction, but it’s really very good. My four grandsons can tour me through this place and identify every single fish. They know every display and all the facts related to those displays. Very impressive, educational. Now I couldn’t begin to tell you much about the picture below, except that…

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