A Gas Tank Away Get Away

The Gatlinburg drive is about 130 to 140 miles away so it took us a bit over 2 hours to arrive. The drive is an easy flat drive and picks up as you get closer to Pigeon Forge. It gets a bit stressful because it’s comparable to Johnson City rush hour. The first initial notice entering Pigeon Forge is the many attractions, shows, restaurants, and hotels available. And we noticed that gas prices were cheaper here than in the Tri-Cities.

The main focus of this “gas tank away get away” was to spotlight the Ripley’s attractions. We managed to get to one other event.

First we went to Ripley’s Aquarium with Shark Lagoon. This had an awesome slow ride under the sea. We saw the different types of sharks, fish, sawfish, sea turtle, and many other sea creatures swimming with ease. By the time we got out of the Shark Lagoon we were just in time for the dive show. The diver Greg was swarmed by the fish as he fed them. This was a very informative, educational, and entertaining event. For this attraction you will need about 2 hours to enjoy it.

Next we walked to Ripley’s Mirror Maze. There you will find many kids and adults getting lost and running into themselves. When you exit you are surrounded by super sweet candy at very good prices. This took about 20 minutes, unless you get really lost!

Cooter’s Place is where you take yourself back in time to the Dukes of Hazzard. Get some cool souvenirs and check out their museum.

Guinness World Records Museum was interesting for us adults or for the knowledge buff kids. The top few floors had more eye catching items.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum was pretty cool. The funniest part for us adults was the swinging bridge. I think we went on it a few times! This was full of eye illusions and hidden entertainment. My husband went on the dropping bridge and was not prepared for it to drop so that was funny. This was very kid friendly. This event took us approximately 30 minutes but it can take longer depending on how long you choose to go on the swinging bridge and watch people make a fool of themselves.

Ripley’s Haunted Adventure was not for me or for the easily scared. I can personally just laugh when I go through haunted houses just to calm myself down but not at this one. I do not recommend young children to enter this house. I got scared to death in the beginning and from that time on my husband would not hold my hand. The back of his shirt was a wrinkle ball from me holding onto it. At the end of any haunted house there is always a scare and this scare is one that always gets me. On the wall it says “DO NOT RUN” and sorry, but I ran! If you want to be scared….this is the place to be!

Ripley’s Motion Ride Movie 3D Theater had 2 shows. The first show was the snow ride. It was fun and we enjoyed getting a little wet with snow. The second show was a skate race and while it was exciting to race, it was a little jerky.

One of our last ventures was to The Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge. If you want to fall out of your seat at a family event, this is the place to be. It’s laid back so everyone can dress casual. If you didn’t have time to eat dinner before you got to the show, don’t worry, there is plenty of food available at very reasonable prices. The tickets to get in are very well priced for 2 hours of laughter. When you first walk in they take your picture for a picture key chain that you can buy anytime during the show. The intro at the Comedy Barn was excellent with great intro music. They really know how to get the kids involved. The first act was with rescue dogs and amazing to see how well trained they are. Slim the Juggler had a great mix of juggling and comedy that involved the audience. L. Wood came out and told us about a funny day he had fishing in Gatlinburg. Steven the tranviloquist had many jokes up his sleeve and couldn’t even notice that he was speaking for the puppet! The second act was hysterical with audiences involvement with improve done by Eric Lambert. So be prepared when you go there, you may get picked to be on stage and laugh at yourself! Eric had us laughing so hard that we almost fell out of our chair. This is a very well organized with a 20 minute intermission three quarters of the way thru. If you like to buy souvenirs make sure you bring some extra money because they will remind you that there is tons of them to buy! This is one of the best places to be in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. Check out www.comedybarn.com for more info on prices and upcoming events.

This is only a small portion of events to do and see in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. So don’t let the high gas prices scare you, this is a great get-a –way!

Review by: Stacie Kaldy

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