We spent the past few days in a cute little cabin. The purpose was to chill. That's it. We needed a change of scenery and a space to not worry about literally anything. It was glorious. When we left, I couldn't help but think that not only should people go stay in the cabin we stayed in, but also that we all need more trips/time like this.
We found our perfect little cabin on Airbnb. If you don't know already, we are huge fans. We've stayed in Airbnbs all over the world! You can always find something cute, in your price range, and probably exactly where you want to go.
For this trip, we weren't looking at one particular area. We just knew we wanted to go outside of Nashville, possibly be able to hike nearby, and we wanted that cozy cabin feeling. Isn't that you want in the dead of winter? Coziness? Well we found TONS of great spots. And we figured since we did the research, we might as well share them with you! So when you need a cozy place to embrace those winter blues, these 10 spots will surely do the trick.
If you book a stay at Creekside Cabin like we did, you will have plenty of nature-y things to do! We went on a hike at Frozen Head State Park. It was literally FROZEN. When we headed out on our hike it was in the low 20s. We were a bit cold, but it was still beautiful. We hiked to the falls via the Panther Branch Trailhead and then Emory Gap Trail. The falls were still flowing but there were massive icicles and ice creations everywhere along the water. It was awesome to see the falls in this state.
We also went to the Lily Bluff Overlook which was beautiful even though it's the dead of winter. We were the ONLY people there. The color of the water is almost unreal!
Another benefit of Airbnb is that you can find houses that allow your dogs to come with you! That is always a plus for us when we are traveling in driving distance. Just put on the "pets allowed filter" when searching.
And for the rest of our trip, we just hung out and read, watched a couple movies, cuddled with the dogs, and ate food that we cooked. It was calm and just what we needed. If you are looking for a trip like this, I hope this post helps! We have included listings at all prices in many different areas. Don't forget to sign up through our link to get $55 off your first stay with Airbnb! Happy travels!
Guys, Chattanooga is awesome. Casey and I have both been to Chattanooga, but mostly times when we were just passing through for an evening. So we finally went for a weekend and it was lovely! My mom flew in from Texas and we three had a pretty adventurous 2 days there. Chattanooga is a place I never knew I'd love so much, but we just couldn't stop talking about it when we left. It is a perfect weekend trip from Nashville or Atlanta (and many more places I'm sure), and now we want to tell you why you should spend some time there too!
We recorded a vlog while we were there of all of our adventures! You can see more details about the places we were in this footage.
First of all, let's talk about this Airbnb. This is where we stayed for our weekend in Chattanooga.
The space was insanely spacious and had a full kitchen, which we love to have when traveling! Plus there was a gas fireplace which was nice in the evenings as is was still a little cooler (as it was Spring.... yes this blog has taken a very long time to write).
If you are interested in using Airbnb for the first time, you can CLICK HERE to get 15% off your first booking!
Okay and onto the things we loved in Chattanooga that you should definitely check out!
1. The Pedestrian Bridge / If you are from Nashville you may think "why would I want to go here?" Because yes we do have one here in Nashville. But this one is different. It's one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world and the view is especially beautiful for sunset. One end is downtown and one is The North Shore, which we will talk about later.
2. Sunset Rock / Okay so I don't think pictures do this place justice... It's a short walk from the parking lot, although you'll want to wear closed toe shoes as it's a very rocky walk down a bunch of stairs.
You drive up for a while, following directions from your phone or GPS....
And then park at the tiny lot across from this cute house. The parking lot only has 7 or 8 spots so that is something to keep in mind! We were lucky and snagged a spot right before sunset. I know there's another way to get to the rock because people were coming off a different trail than we were on, so if the parking lot is full, you have options. I just don't know those exact details! It's silent up there, except for whoever may be up there with you. But it's serene and beautiful at sunset.
3. Foster Falls / Okay this hike is kind of insane at first. I guess it depends on which way you start the loop, but the first part we did went straight down on rocks the whole time until you reach the waterfall. If you go to the waterfall overlook and head to your left, that's the route we took.
But if you aren't into hiking, you can just go to the overlook and see the falls from afar. It is far away... But if you are into doing the hike, it's really cool to see the waterfall up close and then keep walking and see all the rock climbers along the rest of the hike. There were so many of them! And we are not rock climbers, so it was really cool to watch. The hike is rocky the whole way through, so make sure you are prepared!
4. Denny Cove / So you have to hike to see this waterfall, but I think I liked this one more. The hike was harder, by far. Sometimes you don't even understand where the trail is because there are so many fallen rocks. But I don't think we saw a single soul on this trail, so at the end we had the waterfall all to ourselves.
5. The North Shore / Okay I sort of mentioned this earlier, but at one end of the Pedestrian bridge you will find The North Shore. Here, there are a ton of local shops and restaurants in one small area. It's a great place to park and walk around. We went to a lot of the shops (went 2 different times) and drank bubble tea after our walk. It is so interesting what you can learn about a place when you visit it's local shops. Even if you aren't in the market to make purchases, it's still a cool way to see a town!
Though our trip was short, we managed to squeeze in a lot of adventures and good food. It ended too fast, but I know one thing- we need to go back to explore more. These 5 things are just the baseline of things to do in Chattanooga!
Fall Creek Falls State Park is, by far, my favorite state park we've ever visited. Maybe it was the colors of the leaves and the time of year... but it was phenomenal. It is sort of like a tiny national park with it's lookouts and drivable loops. Why had I not heard of it's awesome-ness before? I've seen photos of the waterfall but in all honesty, that was my least favorite part of the park.
Now I'm not gonna lie, our time at Fall Creek Falls State Park was cold. The days were lovely, but the nights were almost unbearable for us tent campers. If you go to the park this time of year (beginning of November) you'd probably be more comfortable in a cabin or camper than a tent. And trust me, this is the time of year you want to be there. Now let's talk about some things you should do while you are there!
1. Drive around at sunrise. The first thing you should do is wake up early. If you are camping in a tent, you may be like us and be freezing so much that you have to move to your car in the wee hours of the morning and by default you'll be awake before the sun rises! But if that is not the case for you, set your alarm. You won't want to miss the gorgeous views and the stunning sunlight shining through the fog. There's a scenic loop you can drive and there are plenty of places to pull look over. But even just driving the roads in the park (it's pretty big) we found the most gorgeous views, like this road above.
2. Stop at Millikan's Overlook. In the early morning you'll probably only see a person or two out. Fall colored leaves, sunrise, and fog- it's all there for you in the first part of the day. This is probably the coolest view in the park. It makes you feel very small.
3. Look out for wildlife. We saw plenty of deer (and raccoons) while staying at the park, and I know that seeing deer is very common, but it's still exciting every time I do.
4. Hike one of the many trails. The amount of trails here are endless. You mostly just have to figure out what length of hike you'd like to do and go from there. We only hiked the Woodland Trail from Fall Creek Falls to the nature center. This hike is short, but you get to see a lot! Unfortunately the nature center was closed for remodeling when we were there so the trail stopped there. Normally you can add on another trail from if you wanted a longer hike.
**It was not anywhere near Christmas time when we were on this trip, but Whitt only has one sweater and it was stinkin' cold, so he had to wear it.
This is the view over Cane Creek.
5. Walk the suspension bridge over Cane creek. We came across this on our hike from Fall Creek Falls itself, but you can also park really close to the bridge and hike down to it in about 5 minutes. The bridge is right by the nature center, so just find your way to that and you'll find the bridge!
This bridge is really swingy/bouncy. Which our dogs HATED. And honestly, if I hadn't been on one of these just a week before, I would've also not loved it. I guess you could say I got my "bridge legs" while we were in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But walking across was still a little unsettling. Especially since this water ends in a waterfall right near the bridge. But the view is breathtaking, so it's okay.
6. Check out Fall Creek Falls. I'm assuming this is the whole reason you want to go to the park! And while it is pretty cool, it surprisingly wasn't my favorite part of the park. I still loved it though! We actually ended up being at the waterfall when the sun was rising and also when it was setting. In the morning we saw two people during our whole gallivant. In the late afternoon is was really crowded. Also, for the dog owners out there, the trails around here are full with other people and their dogs. It made for an interesting hike since we too had our dogs. Let's just say there was a lot of barking happening, pretty often. This was fine with us, but something to keep in mind if you or your dog isn't a fan of other dogs.
7. Watch the sunset over Fall Creek Lake. This lake is small an not anything to write home about, except when the sun is setting. It was covered in fog in the morning so you couldn't even see what was going on. But go ahead and stop here in the evening.
If you've been to Fall Creek Falls State Park or are planning to go, we'd love to hear what you favorite parts were in the comments!
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A few hours east of Nashville is a town called Gatlinburg. If you've lived in Nashville long enough, you've probably been there. We recently spent a weekend there celebrating Casey's birthday with her mom. We made fudge, watched movies, explored the mountains and ate a LOT of food. We did a lot of research before our trip and really didn't know what we wanted to do, except relax. We couldn't find any guides that fit our interests, so we wanted to create one to give you some tips for your next trip to the mountains! Let's get started...
1. Make sure your timing is right. What time of year will be best for your trip? You will really want to keep the weather in mind. Fall would be a beautiful time to go and see all the leaves changing colors, but keep in mind that everyone will also have that thought and it will be crowded. Maybe crowds don't bother you- I definitely would like to go back at this time. If it's going to snow, you'll want to make sure you are staying in a place where you can easily get to it. We stayed in a place with a wicked climb. I mean you can't expect much different- it's the mountains! But some drive ups are better than others. Do you have snow tires? We don't. Just use common sense and do a little research and you will be fine!
2. Stay outside of town. Part of the reason we stayed in this Airbnb was for this view right here. This is the exact Airbnb we stayed in. If you use this link you can get $40 off your first stay! At first we were a little bummed that we were 25-30 minutes away from Gatlinburg, but it turns out that it was a blessing in disguise. We were in Townsend which is right by a park entrance and away from all the crowds of Gatlinburg. There were plenty of restaurants and even shops just 5 minutes from our Airbnb and we didn't have to wait to get in. The pace was slow which was exactly what we were going for the trip.
3. Know before you go. This is a little nugget my mom told us growing up and it's a brilliant thing to live by. It was usually in reference to my brothers heading out to a dirt bike track, but it can be applied to any place you are going. We wanted to go to Clingman's Dome, but when we got to it it was closed! It closes every year on December 1. It was December 2! Missed it by a day. There's a really cool lookout right there so we went there instead. We had a few hikes and places in mind, but we kind of just played it by ear. This was totally okay as our group of 3 was pretty easy-going. But if you don't have a lot of time or want to see very specific things, make sure those places are open. Also, make sure weather hasn't changed anything. And make sure you have enough time to get there and back in the daytime. Really, just make a plan. It's always good to see what everyone's expectations are.. and then lower them. Sounds a little depressing, but it's true!
4. Give yourself enough time. We were lucky enough to be able to head out Friday morning and get to Townsend in the early afternoon. We left Sunday so this gave us just enough time to see what we wanted. I still found myself wishing we had one more day just to hang out in our cozy cabin. Since you are in the mountains, it takes twice as long to get everywhere. So many things we did were 30 and 40 minutes away from each other. That really starts to add up when you are only there for a couple days. Also, make sure you give yourself enough time to get home before dark. These are the mountains. The roads wind for days. Safety first!
5. Relax. This was our main reason for heading out to Gatlinburg. I had never been and was excited to see what all the hoopla was about. Turns out, it just really isn't my flavor. Or Casey's. Or her moms. I could forego the whole strip and stay by the park just for scenery and time away. Make sure you take time to relax and enjoy the beauty of your surroundings. If you don't think you like Gatlinburg, maybe give it a try by staying in Townsend and not even going to fight the crowds. The Great Smoky Mountains are the real reason to go anyway!
Places we ate: Log Cabin Pancake House, Greenbrier Restaurant, and Elvira's Cafe. We would definitely recommend Greenbrier and Elvira's! Greenbrier is tucked away on a hill and it overlooks the mountain. Elvira's was fast and easy for breakfast and right by our Airbnb! We had to wait in line at Log Cabin and the food was good enough, but it was just breakfast and they were not accommodating at all with Casey and her celiac. I have zero tolerance for people who refuse to take celiac seriously, so we wouldn't go here again. Places we wished we had eaten at: Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant. Due to time, we didn't make it here, but it was on our list! Casey and her mom have eaten there before and loved it, but this was pre-celiac Casey. Maybe next time we will make it there!
Oh we also rode the Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster! I really just wanted to see what this was about, and it was fun, but not worth the $16/person it costs. It was just over so fast. Casey made a good point that you could almost buy a ticket to Dollywood for the price and ride many more coasters. Not that we wanted to go to Dollywood. I'm glad I experienced the mountain coaster, but I would not necessarily urge you to ride it.
All in all, the things I thought I was going to like about Gatlinburg were underwhelming at best. BUT the good news is that the things I didn't even really think about- being in a small town in the mountains with a great view and a hot tub and gas fireplace- were the best parts! So if you are headed to see The Great Smoky Mountains, our suggestion is to try out Townsend. Definitely try to go when Clingman's Dome is open- I WILL be going back to that one day when it is open. Bring some food with you because the grocery stores are few and far between and they have very limited selections. Casey's mom made us a taco soup for dinner one night and I made a white chocolate fudge (recipe coming soon.) Jump in the hot tub, watch some movies and sit by the fire. Stare at the mountains because they are magnificent. Most importantly, go to slow down for a few moments. It'll be worth it!
xo, Savannah
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