Bear runs through downtown Gatlinburg

 

 

Young bear running through downtown Gatlinburg was caught on video by Tricia Alexander.  The video made our local news and has had many hits on youtube.com.  We wanted to share the link so that you could see this too!

Click this link to see the news story:
http://youtu.be/Tdrx5Czo-og

Click this link to see the full video as shot from her cell phone:
http://youtu.be/GaMJNYIq0Yo  

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Summer Craftsmen Fair 2013

For those who may have been to the Craftsmen's Fair for a while, the one in July, and likely more to come, would have surprised you. You would've arrived to find so many booths (more than 160 as listed by the Craftsmen's information sheet) that many of them had to spread out into the hallways and even outside the W.L. Mills Convention Center in downtown Gatlinburg.

With 160+ booths and artists both local and from Virginia, Ohio, Georgia and way beyond, there was, of course, a wide berth of arts and crafts from candles, baskets, wood works, rock works, paintings, clothes and music to Christmas trees, sports-based fan pulls, old fashioned rifles, shields, interesting lights, and much more than any human being could hope to absorb in a few hours.

If you're coming to the Autumn Craftsmen's Fair and you just can't get enough of hand-made arts the likes of which you've seen and haven't seen before, the $6.00 admission fee is well worth it. Unfortunately, we were not able to get pictures, but we can guarantee you you've probably never seen a convention center this packed with amazing arts and crafts from nearly the entire Eastern half of the country.

Dates are July 19th to the 28th for 2013. See more on this at www.craftsmenfair.com.

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Gaines Family Brings Sunshine to a Rainy 4th of July Week

We were pleased to once again host the Gaines family for their annual reunion.  The Gaines have stayed with us before on several occasions and it was a pleasure to have them return to Deer Ridge!

 

Dearest Deer Ridge,
We are from Portage, IN about 600 miles away a 9-10 hour drive. We too have
relatives come from different parts of Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina,
Missouri, California & Tennessee. This was our 4th time (2005, 2008, 2009
& now 2013) staying here July 4th to July 8th and each time was for our
"Gaines family reunion" this year we had 70 people. My husband, Dave,
being from a family of 10 each year 2 kids take charge of the reunion so we go
different places but we are always excited to come back here to Deer Ridge. My
biggest enjoyment is having my own family here our 3 kids with their spouses
and our 7 grandchildren ages 14, 13, 11, 10, 5, 4,& 1 1/2 yrs. 4 girls &
3 boys. Its great seeing them every day while we are here. Just having them run
in and out of our condo wanting cookies and seeing if I, their grammie, am
cooking pancakes for breakfast or have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We
love spending time in the pool and doing things as a family (the 15 of us) down
in Pigeon Ford or Gatlinburg. This year we did the Ripley's Believe It or Not
and Ober over Gatlinburg, wow! that was an experience going up in the tram 2800
ft. above the ground. We in the past did the aquarium & Dollywood which was
cool. We as a group of 70 did a baseball game on Fri. night Tennessee Cubs they
won (being from the Chicago area we are all Chicago Cubs fans)the fireworks
were spectacular, and we had breakfast at Carver Apple restaurant Sat. morning
they were very nice to us and food was good. We enjoyed the use of your deck
and the shelter for our big picnic we had on Sunday the kids enjoyed the
playground. We always do our annual horse shoe tournament it was a bit muddy
due to the rain which made it quite interesting and funny, the screened in
porch was idea for us all to gather and to eat in. Your resort as a whole is
absolutely breathe taking. I loved waking up seeing the fog rising over the
mountains which we now know why its called the Smokey mountains. Early Sat. morning
I saw the most fantastic rainbow it was so huge made you almost wonder if there
was a pot of gold at the bottom of it, ha!. I took a picture of it. I love the
condos having a journal in them for us to write only my did not c-207 so I used
the one in my son Adam's condo. I love reading other visitors experiences.
Anyways as much as I love our family reunions and seeing the cousins and sister
and brother in laws my most important enjoyment is having our own family around
24/7. Our 2 daughters and their families live close by us and our son and
family lives 2hours away so we do see each other but this is just different and
so special. I am hoping we will come back here for more reunions. Sorry to go
on and on I do love to write and there is so much to say about Deer Ridge. Once
again we do thank you for making our mini vacation another "Kodak"
moment. So until we meet again we wish you and yours good health and the best
of everything. Sincerely, Candy Gaines from Portage, IN

 

We would like to thank Candy for her kind comments and

Ms. La Donna Gaines for the fine picture below:

 

 

 

 

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Independence Day 2013

The 4th of July is coming up very soon and we wanted to keep you up to date on the events going on here in the Smokies.

In Gatlinburg, the events start as soon as the 3rd of July ends with the 4th of July Midnight Parade on the main downtown street where you and your whole family can see some of the best, brightest and most patriotic floats in the country for over an hour of fun.

Then, the morning after, The River Raft Regatta starts at 10:00AM and is another fun activity for the whole family, particularly younger kids, as you can watch all manners of small objects race down the river to cross the finish line first at Ripley's Aquarium. You can see more information on that at http://www.gatlinburg.com/events/details.aspx?id=33.

Finally, the big show begins at 10:00PM with the "Stand Here" fireworks where you don't have to go anywhere but the main sidewalk in downtown Gatlinburg to see the fireworks overhead. Gatlinburg has been celebrating the 4th of July this way for years and it just gets better each time it comes around.

We hope to see you this Independence Day and we'd like you to see our specials and packages at www.deerridge.com to save on your Smoky Mountain vacation while adding even more to it. Hope to see you soon! Read More!

Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence Award 2013

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is proud to announce that we have once again received the "Certificate of Excellence" Award from Trip Advisor for 2013.  This award is earned by businesses that rank in the top 10% worldwide for traveler feedback.

 

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2013 Family Reunions in Full Swing at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort

The Meadows Family and the Calabro Clan just finished up reunions here at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort this past week and we really enjoyed getting to meet both families!  Mary Meadows, leader of the Meadows group sent along this nice email:

     "We have had our Family Reunion at Deer Ridge on three different occasions through the years. Each time we have been pleased with everything, but this past trip was the best yet. We found the staff so helpful and pleasant to work with from the reservation process to the final check-out. You have the best view in the entire state of Tennessee! The condos were clean and inviting. Your resort is an excellent value! Our only regret was that the week went by too fast. Thanks to all the staff for making us so welcome and for going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we had a great time at Deer Ridge."

 

In the next couple of weeks we are looking forward to hosting our long time friends, The Gaines Family Reunion and meeting two new groups, the Hudson Family Reunion and the Norman Family Reunion.

 

It is time to start making plans for your 2014 reunions and Deer Ridge Mountain Resort would love to be a part of this process.  Let us handle the details of accommodations, arranging catering, and suggesting activities.  Contact our group sales manager, Jamie, at 1-877-333-7743 ext. 1018 or email him at groupsales@deerridge.com. 

 

 

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And a good review from June too:

The Management and Staff of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort are very interested in your opinion and comments.
Please make the following choices that best describe your impression of your stay.

Number: 211899
Name: JENNIFER BELL
Unit: A302
Stay: 6-13-2013 dpt 6-15-2013

1. Our reservation process?
    Excellent
2. Our website?
    Excellent
3. Our check-in/check-out process?
    Excellent
4. First impresson of our property?
    Excellent
5. The appearance of the lobby area?
    Excellent
6. The cleanliness of your condo or cabin?
    Excellent
7. The comfort of your condo or cabin?
    Excellent
8. The helpfulness of the staff?
    Excellent
9. Condition of the swimming pool and game room area?
    Excellent
10. Price/Value of your stay with us?
    Excellent
11. Your overall stay at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort?
    Excellent
12. Would you return to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort?
    Excellent

Comments:
It was quite a great find! I would recommend Deer Ridge for a nice relaxing stay away from the crowds of Gatlinburg. It's the perfect location to be away and enjoy peace and quiet. The view from our condo balcony was truly breathtaking. Staff was friendly and helpful. The condo was spotless and had everything we needed. We hope to return soon! Thank you for a wonderful stay :-) Read More!