39th Anniversary...Up, Up, & Away

After our great helicopter tour, we drove to Gatlinburg and found a parking spot. Then walked to the Ober Gatlinburg Tram. Ober Gatlinburg is the ski spot for the area. You can drive up a little road but it is very steep and hard on the brakes coming down. We wanted to experience the tram ride version so we located the ticket office and quickly boarded the tram. It is a nice leisurely ride up the mountain, over the really expensive real estate, over the beautiful really tall trees, and to Ober Gatlinburg's main complex. They have an outdoor exhibit area that reminds one of a mini-zoo where they keep live black bears. However, there were none on display that we could see. They must have escaped to the woods. We wondered through the complex, past the ice skating rink, to the outside where the ski lifts and ski slopes are located. There was another ski lift that could take you to the top of Mt. Harrison so we bought tickets and again took to the air. Ober Gatlinburg has several ski slopes in varying degrees of difficulty. They make man-made snow to suppliment the real snow so we were able to watch people enjoying the final ski for this season. They have a play ground for the little ones, 2 slides that you come down in carts and get on by riding the blue ski lifts you see in the pictures I'll post next. There are 2 water slides for the summer. There was a tall tower with things coming out 2 sides at the top. Claude guessed correctly that they were originally bungy jumping platforms. Our lift helper told us they determined that was not a good idea and don't use them for that any more. Since they are very, very close to the other stuff, we felt they made a grand decision. At the top of the ski lift we had a beautiful view of Gatlinburg, Ober Gatlinburg and the Great Smokey Mountains. On the way down the sky lift, Claude got a call for Sadieville business. We just laughed at the timing. When we got back to the Ober Gatlinburg complex we went to the restaurant and had a nice lunch of chili and salads. Then we took the tram back down to Gatlinburg.