{"id":66,"date":"2016-12-24T18:40:47","date_gmt":"2016-12-24T18:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/?p=66"},"modified":"2020-01-20T00:23:43","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T00:23:43","slug":"great-finds-in-gatlinburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/24\/great-finds-in-gatlinburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Great finds in Gatlinburg"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lose<\/a>

Lose yourself in the haze of the Smoky Mountains. (Cheryl Welch | Travel Beat Magazine)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h3>\n

Roaring Fork Motor Trail:<\/h3>\n

Driving around the Smoky Mountains can get a bit tedious\u2014like the western route through S-curves best suited for motorcycle madness and Indy enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

But nestled near downtown Gatlinburg is a short but scenic loop with historic buildings and spectacular flora and fauna. The 5.5-mile jaunt\u2019s star attraction is the Roaring Fork mountain stream.<\/p>\n

Up for a hike? Try Rainbow Falls trail, a 5.4-mile roundtrip trek. The trailhead is just past the Ogle farm house.<\/p>\n

Ripley\u2019s Aquarium<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s miles to any ocean from here, but step into Ripley\u2019s Aquarium in downtown Gatlinburg and you\u2019ll almost feel the swells.<\/p>\n

Walk through the clear tunnel and you\u2019ll become one with the ocean as sharks, sea turtles and colorful tropicals glide above and around you.<\/p>\n

Watch your clock\u2014stingray, fish and penguin feedings are scheduled throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Ober Gatlinburg<\/h3>\n

Ride an enclosed 110-passenger aerial tram from downtown Gatlinburg to new heights.<\/p>\n

Once at the top of the mountain, frolic in the amusement park that features kiddie rides, a zoo, mini golf and indoor ice skating.<\/p>\n

A traditional chair lift will up you even further. Ride it to its 3,600-foot pinnacle or unload part way up and take a bobsled-type ride down. A mountain coaster ride is slated to open soon.<\/p>\n

Dollywood<\/h3>\n

Named after country megastar Dolly Parton, Dollywood is on the smallish size as far as amusement parks go, but big on variety.<\/p>\n

With animal, musical and magic shows, there are plenty of entertainment options for those who don\u2019t cherish careening on coasters. An on-site museum details Parton\u2019s life and includes a realistic talking hologram of the country music star.<\/p>\n

Rides are standard fare\u2014roller coasters, water rides and kiddie carnival. Nothing too high-tech or Universal-like here, but there\u2019s enough to do to fill up a vacation day.<\/p>\n

Magic Beyond Belief with Darren Romeo<\/h3>\n

If you think David Copperfield is amazing, catch Darren Romeo\u2019s rendition of magic. Not only is Romeo a supremely talented magician, he\u2019s also a master vocalist, singing as he performs creative illusions that he perfected in Vegas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fresh and fun approach to the canned music that so many magicians pull out of the hat. Seriously, Travel Beat fans\u2014wave your itinerary wand over this one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Millions of people flock to this gateway to the Smoky Mountains each year. Find out why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,111],"tags":[263,13,5,204,11,201,12,10,6,9,7,262,8,4],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-south","category-destinations","tag-aquarium","tag-dollywood","tag-gatlinburg","tag-hiking-1","tag-national-park","tag-national-park-service","tag-ober-gatlinburg","tag-ogle-farm","tag-pigeon-forge","tag-rainbow-falls","tag-ripleys-aquarium","tag-ripleys-believe-it-or-not","tag-roaring-fork-motor-trail","tag-smoky-mountains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeatmagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}