Great Smoky Mountains Travel Diary 🏞️｜Bear Encounter 🐻｜Gatlinburg

Headed straight to the Great Smoky Mountains after the academic conference! Who can relate, fam? 😂 Spent 2 hours at Cades Cove — no bears in sight 😔 But then… we met a little bear on a trail at dusk! 🐻✨ Shoutout to the kind Indian dude who took our group photo! 📸 The views were spectacular 👌 (though you might need a magnifying glass to spot the people in them 😆) BTW, the food in tourist areas is so underwhelming… Gatlinburg has a few spots still worth trying, though! ⚠️ Parking in Gatlinburg: Cheapest main street parking: $10 flat rate 🅿️ Almost no hourly options around Recommended places to check out 🤠： 📍 Tennessee Jed’s – Their Reuben sandwich 🥪 is TOP-TIER! The best thing I ate in the Smokies! 📍 Ole Smoky Distillery "The Holler" 🥃 $8 gets you a tasting of all their creamy moonshines – super tasty! #USNationalParks #GreatSmokyMountainsGuide #SmokyMountainAdventure #GreatSmokyMountains #Tennessee #PhDlife #NorthAmericanLiving #NatureEscape