Mini Vacation on the Cheap: Our Long Weekend in Pigeon Forge

Let me just start out saying…I love to travel! I love the planning, the preparation. And the LISTS! Oh, how I adore the lists! So, in that spirit, I thought it would be fun to use FUN FRIDAY to talk about some of the trips we’ve taken or plan to take, and some little tips I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve been to foreign countries and across this country during my travels, but one of my favorite things to do is go off for a long weekend (aka mini vacation) with my family.  Another thing I love is to save money while doing so.

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A few years ago, we didn’t have a lot of money for a long vacation, so we decide to do a mini vacation to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN. It’s within a few hours’ drive from where we live and is one my favorite places for a shorter getaway. I highly recommend it if you live within driving distance because there is so much to do for the entire family. (Actually, there is enough to do for a full vacation.) Plus, the drive there is breathtakingly beautiful. We decided to leave Thursday morning, stay three nights, and come back sometime Sunday.

HOTEL:

My planning started with booking a hotel. We wanted to save money in this category for sure, and I found a great deal at the Shular Inn, just one street over from  the main strip in Pigeon Forge, on Hotels.com, which I almost exclusively use for booking travel. (The thing I love most about Hotels.com is that after 10 nights of stays completed, you get a free night!)  When we are trying to save money, I always look for a hotel that has free hot breakfast (not continental), which I found at Shular Inn. They also have an indoor AND outdoor pool (one of the favorite activities of my little guy), so it was a total score for us.

TIP: You can usually find some great hotel deals if you travel the weekend after a major holiday or holiday weekend. I’ve done this twice, once the weekend after New Year’s Day and this time the weekend after Memorial Day. It’s a great way to save money on lodging!

ACTIVITIES:

Because our budget was tight, most of the activities we did were free. We did some souvenir shopping in Pigeon Forge, and you’ll find that a lot of the shops there are entertaining even if you don’t buy anything. Some of the bigger places can accommodate an hour or more in your schedule and there are a lot of things to keep the kids’ attention as they browse (which could be a good or bad thing). Fortunately, our guy was only about 19 months old at the time and spent most of the time in his stroller.  If you are an outlet store fan, there are a lot of those as well. They just aren’t our thing for the most part.

Another activity we really enjoyed was walking around at the Old Mill and browsing the shops there. They have two restaurants, one of which I’ll discuss below, and plenty of other things to see and do, including touring the Old Mill, which was built in 1830. You can also see pottery being spun and candy being made (which, again, could be a good or bad thing).

Adjacent to the Old Mill is Patriot Park, which is dedicated to wartime veterans from Sevier County. There is a big walking track around the park that takes you past the flags of all 50 states and the branches of the military and by such artifacts as a Patriot Missile used in the first Gulf War. The nice walk also takes you by the serene Little Pigeon River, where there are places to sit and relax.

One evening, we went to The Island, which was a fairly new venture at the time and did not have everything it has now. We still enjoyed browsing the few shops there and watching the dancing fountains, which are a must see! The big ferris wheel was there when we went, but my fear of heights kept me off of it. Now there are even more shops, rides, games and restaurants there, so I’m excited to go back and see how it has grown. Even then, it was great free entertainment for our family.

One of my very favorite things to do when I’m in the area is to go to Gatlinburg and walk around downtown. Now, Gatlinburg is a destination in and of itself and I’ve actually lodged there several times, but this trip we stayed in Pigeon Forge and hopped over to Gatlinburg to spend a few hours. It’s great that the two places are so close because they really couldn’t be more different. Pigeon Forge is more spread out and has the big, “main strip” feel to it (if that makes any sense). Gatlinburg is much cozier, with a mountain cabin feel.

The trolleys are a fabulous way to get around. They run between and within the two places. We love driving to the main trolley station in Pigeon Forge and catching a trolley down to Gatlinburg for 50 cents per person rather than paying upwards of $10 to park in Gatlinburg. Plus, the trolley is fun and can be added entertainment for the littles for not much money.

TIP: Quite possibly the best free activity we did was hang out at the hotel’s outdoor pool, which also had a nice heated whirlpool. This part may have been my son’s favorite, so don’t discount pool time at the hotel as a way to pass the time and have fun together. You’ve paid for your room, you might as well enjoy the amenities!

RESTAURANTS:

We tried to keep our food cost low as well, and being able to have breakfast at the hotel was a major saver. I mentioned that I always look for hotels that have a hot breakfast, just because I know that a continental breakfast will most likely get old after the first day. This tip is something I highly recommend, because even if we can afford to go out for breakfast, we know we’ve got a fall back to save money and time. This trip, we ate at the hotel every day and it was quite good. (Biscuits and gravy? Yes, please!) We found plenty for our toddler to eat as well. I will say that Pigeon Forge has some fabulous places to eat breakfast (such as the Apple Barn/Applewood Farmhouse) if you do want to go out.

The first night we decided to keep it simple and go out for pizza. We are a pizza-loving family for sure and it is still one of our son’s favorite things to eat. We try to eat at local places any time we are out of town (and really even at home), so we tried out Big Daddy’s Pizzeria. It had a neat game room, which our son was still too small to enjoy, but it would delight most youngsters. The pizza was also very good, and it was just a fun place to eat.

Mel’s Diner was just down the street from our hotel, so we decided to eat there another evening. The decor was ’50s themed and reminded me a little of Arnold’s from Happy Days. The food was good as well (pretty typical diner fare), and we got out for not a lot of money. Our son was entertained, and this is where we discovered he liked to dip his fries in applesauce. (Cue disgusted emoji…but hey, it’s his vacation, too.)

The day we went to Gatlinburg, we absolutely had to get our lunch from Fannie Farkle’s. My hubby loves their polish sausage with peppers and onions and I am a fan of the homemade corndogs. They also have pretty good fries if you need more to fill you up. (They do not have a dining area, however, if that’s important to you. We can usually find a place to sit on the street, but there aren’t any tables.) You might find it a little pricey for corndogs, but they are very filling and it’s a much lower cost than many of the other places to dine. Also, if you don’t mind fast food chains, there is a Wendy’s right downtown that can save some money. (UPDATE: Apparently, as we noticed this last time we were in Gatlinburg, the Wendy’s downtown has been replaced by a Zaxby’s, so you have that option, as well as a McDonald’s downtown.)

There were a couple of restaurants we ate at that were a little bit of a splurge, although not super expensive. While we were at the Old Mill, we ate at The Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille. It was a pretty neat restaurant with a lot of the handmade pottery sitting around. Fortunately, our little guy was asleep in his stroller, so we didn’t worry about him breaking anything, but this is something you would want to keep in mind if you have curious little ones. The food there was very good with a lot of variety on the menu, and you could probably get out of there for less than $10 per person. We just ordered a plate of fruit for our son and took it with us since he was sacked out the entire meal.

Another place that was a little bit of a splurge was J.T. Hannah’s. We had been there on our previous trip and really enjoyed it so we decided it was worth spending a little more money to go back. The prices are somewhere along the lines of a Texas Roadhouse, just for comparison, and it actually has a similar atmosphere, but we like the food better and it’s local! The ribs are especially good…yum! It also has a wide variety of menu items so it should please everybody in the family.

Obviously, we also had some special snacks on our trip…who doesn’t snack on vacation? We did take our own snacks to have in the car and in the hotel room, but we are a family that loves to go out for ice cream! We had some at The Old Mill Creamery when we were in that area, and we also ventured down to The Chocolate Monkey, which was another place we had been to on a previous trip. They have yummy flavors, but it gets a little crowded in the evenings after dinner, so seating might be an issue. It’s been a few years, so my memory may be failing me, but I’m pretty sure we went there multiple times on this trip. (Not ashamed. I was on vacation.)

If you want a good, small, free snack, there are a couple of ways to get one. Any place that is selling fudge (and there are a lot of those places) will give you a sample or two for free. The big joke between my husband and me was that he tried to find every fudge place in the entire two-city area to get samples. Fair warning, though – the fudge is good, you will want to buy some, and it is not cheap. I think we did get some at some point to bring home, however.

The second way to snack for free is to hit one of the places that sells hot sauce and dip mixes. There are a few of these in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. They always have samples of their dips out and there is usually a pretty wide assortment. They will, however, make you want to purchase, but you can usually do this pretty cheaply if you don’t buy one of everything you try. And make sure you have something to drink because you will be thirsty.

TIP: One thing we didn’t do that I had hoped we would was to pick up some chicken or something “picnicky” (or, if possible, make sandwiches) and go for a picnic one day. There are many places to take a picnic lunch and enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful sights. It’s a great way to save some money on food AND activities. 

There are many other things to do and see in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Depending on your budget, you may want to hit the go-carts or mini golf, see a dinner show, go to a museum, or even spend time at Dollywood. You can find some great deals online for these activities. (On another visit, we went to Dollywood and were able to get the military discount for both of us with my husband’s veteran ID.)

BONUS TIP: Check out Groupon and Restaurant.com for the area before you go to see if you can score deals on activities and restaurants that way. Definitely do some research to see what discounts are available. 

If you’ve never been to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and live close enough to drive, go check it out sometime! It’s really a great place to visit year-round (the fall and around Christmas are especially wonderful). Even if you don’t live close enough, check out places near you for a low-cost mini vacation when the budget won’t allow a long one. The memories we made will be remembered long after the money is (or isn’t) spent!

What about you? What are your tips for saving on a mini vacation?