Day 28 of our 2025 RVing Adventure with Historical & Musical Interludes

It's Thursday May 29th, day 28 of our 2025 summer adventure and we took to the mountains of Gatlinburg this morning for a spirited round of Hillbilly Golf! Yes, you read that right... Hillbilly Golf.

There were eight of us that went and played a round! Let me start out by saying, whomever owned this property and thought about putting a putt-putt golf on it, was a real visionary!

 

It took Milt a while to find "just the right" putter. LOL

You pay at the bottom for your round of golf.

Then you ride an incline rail, to the top of the mountain, to start your round of play.

There were 2 courses to choose from at the top. We picked B, because it was more expansive, if anything on a mountainside can be expansive! Course A was more compact and had more steps. We decide to give Milt's knee a break!

To say the course was challenging, might be a stretch, but it was unique, fun and interesting! Being semi-competitive, we played the guys verses the gals!

There were a full 18-holes on each of the mountainside courses!

The most exciting part of the game, was when a bear tried to play through ... 

Yes, you heard that right... a black bear wanted to get in on the putt-putt action!

During our safety briefing at the bottom, the lady mentioned the telephone numbers that were posted at every hole to call them, if you lost a ball off the course or you saw a bear. I was thinking she was being funny, but... no, little did we know she was serious!

The staff uses an air-horn to scare him away, but this bear almost seemed unfazed by it, he kept lumbering around. The staff was talking to him like he was a dog!

There was some unusual holes too! Are we playing putt-putt or billiards?

I have to say, I was impressed that they tried to keep as much "history" of the forest incorporated into the course. Here is a 160+ year old Hemlock! It survived the Civil War, but only a portion of it could survive the wildfires of 2016.

Back to the question, putt-putt or billiards? When the sign says putt or shoot, which do you think most choose?

The ball came down the shoot like an old fashion pin ball machine!

The last hole was a shot into the outhouse. No need to retrieve that ball! It makes its way down the mountain through a series of tubes!

Then it was back down the mountain on the incline rail. At the bottom there was some photo ops! 

Debbie was the "Hole in One" Queen, so "here's your sign!"

We tried to tell the guys, it was a tie... but they wanted the "true" results.... Sorry guys, you lost. 199 strokes to 204 strokes! The individual results: #1 Tim - 46; #2 Gary, Sheryl and Debbie - 49; #3 Wendy - 50; #4 Gaby & Milt - 51; and #5 Charlie - 58.

Some of us went to the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant for an early dinner. This restaurant proudly holds the rank of Sevierville’s Oldest Restaurant. The family history of this farm goes back to 1776, when a member of the Stokely family is bestowed a piece of land as a reward for serving in The Revolutionary War.

They are know for their apple julep and apple fritters. There are no salads here. Your starter, after the julep and apple fritters is a soup. Homemade vegetable or broccoli cheddar.

We ate in the original Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant, but in 1995 due to growing popularity of original restaurant, Stokely Hospitality Enterprises decided to build another restaurant to help manage the overflow of guests and the long wait to be seated at The Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant. The Applewood Grill was born. Our server Jennifer was a peach... or maybe I should say an apple?!

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures.