Date: 2017-04-25
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 28 on the Appalachian TrailApril 25Miles Today: 0Total Miles: 199.1Everyone was up by 7 this morning and ready to get started on the days chores. Of course, the faster chores get done, the sooner we can get to lazing around and relaxing. We all headed to the general store again to get coffee and first breakfast. We sat there a while, ate and then headed back to the room. After about an hour, Bon Appetite, Parakeet, and I headed to a restaurant called Breakfast Camp for second breakfasts. This place was awesome! It was rustic and old timey with a old western theme. The menus were made out of newspaper and listed endless amounts of dishes that all sounded delicious. I decided to go with a 3 egg omelette with bacon, sausage, ham, cheese, peppers, onions, jalape±os and hot sauce with a side of toast and "camp fries." Talk about amazing and I don't even like eggs. Maybe that'll change by the end of the trip. After everyone ate we headed back to the room and got laundry together. We had to get across town to the laundromat and grocery store so we took the trolley which served as a mini tour of Gatlinburg as well. This place was a tourist trap. A town setup solely on the ability to profit off of the Smokey Mountains. There had to be at least 20 hotels along with an aquarium, arcade, museum, and tons of different restaurants. Eventually we made it to the laundromat and threw all our clothes in. While the laundry was washing we went to the dollar store next to us and we're able to do most of our resupplying there. By the time that was over we were able to put our laundry in the dryer. We sat around outside while everything was drying and we're able to play with a puppy which kept us entertained until our clothes were done.After the laundromat we walked a half mile down to the real grocery store and we're able to finish up resupplying. 30 minutes later and we were set to be back on the trail. We hopped back on the trolley, headed back to the room, and began prepping our food. The rest of the afternoon was spent laying out gear to dry, making some repairs and checking out the outfitter across the street. Bon Appetite had to pick up some replacement trekking poles as well as get a new sleeping pad so we all went to look around. We hung around the room until 8 and then went to get dinner at a nearby restaurant called Calhouns. For a chain restaurant it was absolutely incredible and the food I got was to die for. My plate consisted of BBQ pulled pork, ribs, chicken fingers, french fries, and mac n cheese. Bon Appetite, Parakeet, and Kinsman's dinners looked just as good as mine. We all enjoyed our food, had some great conversations and came to the conclusion that today had been the best town day yet. At the end of dinner, Bon Appetite snuck his card to the waitress and took care of the bill. When we realized what had happened we all thanked him greatly. A little bit of trail magic from one of our own. I couldn't be happier with the group of people that I have ended up hiking with and meeting. People told me ahead of time that I would make some of the best friends that I'd have for the rest of my life while on the trail and it's absolutely true.