Tag Archive: Gatlinburg

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…

Featured Photo: Place of 1000 Drips

Waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains

Place of 1000 Drips is one of my oldest and most enduring Smoky Mountains photos. This is a popular roadside waterfall along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. Turn at stoplight #8 in Gatlinburg, bearing to the right at the top of the hill, you will enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and begin a 6-mile…

Great Smoky Thanksgiving 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 Thanksgiving Show tomorrow (Tuesday November 22) in the Gatlinburg Convention Center. The show will run through Sunday, November 27th, and we will be open from 10 to 6 on Thanksgiving Day. To find the fair, turn up…

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…

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…

Miles Away on Monday: Last of the Snow?

Winter 2011 in the Smokies © William Britten use with permission only

The Smoky Mountains are starting to look Spring-like on this last day of February, and our heavy winter snows may be over for the season. I really enjoyed them … the big Christmas Eve storm that gave us a White Christmas for the first time since we have lived in Gatlinburg. Then some more good…

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…

The World Within the World

Where is the World Within?

Friday philosophy time combined with a photo tip … a two-fer-one! For me, so much of photography is about seeing the world within the world. Most photographs don’t jump out of the jumble in front of our eyes and say “here I am, take me!” Some do, but mostly not. Instead, I think of them…

Miles Away on Monday: Luminescent Landscape

Smoky Mountains Rise Above Gatlinburg © William Britten use with permission only

You could get lost in the layers of this scene. Late afternoon, sun setting on the Smoky Mountains, the shadows enhancing the definition of the landscape. Taken from my newly-favored perch on top of the Space Needle in downtown Gatlinburg. I spent an hour up there last week all by myself, getting lost in the…

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

Miles Away on Monday: Christmas Tree Daydreams

Christmas Tree Daydreams © William Britten use with permission only

Gatlinburg this time of year is festooned with Christmas lights from one end to the other. It’s hard not to get excited about it all. I love to play around with light effects. For example, the picture above was blended from a tree in Pigeon Forge, another from Dollywood, plus some random out-of-focus colored lights….

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…

Miles Away on Monday: Those Carefree Summer Days

Smoky Mountain Riding Horses © William Britten use with permission only

The final art fair of the season is a wrap. We packed out of the Convention Center in Gatlinburg last night amid a snowstorm and the chaos of the annual cheerleader convention. The five fairs that we do in Gatlinburg were all a success, and I thank everyone reading this who might have stopped by…

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.

Wordless Wednesday: Rainy Day Bliss

Rainy Day Bliss © William Britten use with permission only

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…

Wordless Wednesday: Best Burger

Best Burger © William Britten use with permission only

Wordless Wednesday: Dog Tourism

Dog tourism © William Britten use with permission only

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…

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…

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…

Night Work

Sunrise behind a Smoky Mountains resort cabin

One of the ways that I survive here in the paradise of Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains is by taking photographs of the many resort rental properties in the area.  I love to get up before daybreak, get a log cabin all lit up and wait for those rosy fingers of dawn to just…

Still Winter in Gatlinburg

Snowplow in Gatlinburg

Usually by the end of February, winter is losing its grip in our quiet little village on the edge of the Smoky Mountains. But this year we’ve still got the twice-weekly snowstorms, still wearing the triple layers, still the hot chocolate and tea, the howling wind at night, the cats that refuse to venture outdoors…

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