Monday, March 29, 2010

Gatlinburg Wildflower Pilgrimage celebrates spring in the Great Smoky Mountains!


Forsythia herald spring in Great Smoky Mountains! Combine a bed and breakfast pilgrimage with your wildflower pilgrimage this spring!

Gatlinburg Wildflower Pilgrimage. If you are looking for adventure, spring in the Smokies is about the best I know. Storms of cascading clouds, rainbows, bright greens in every shade that startle your eyes--rushing creeks and waterfalls, always the unexpected. It seems so amazing to me as the little leaves of the trillium peep up above their forest cover, all the forsythia in the whole area bloom all at once to herald their coming. The daffodils add their trumpet notes, clear, marking the old homesteads and stone walls littering the park and surrounding counties with memories of family homesteads. The quince bushes must join in with their flush of contrasting peach playing with pink. Buds are everywhere and the sky threatens sleet and hail and bounces rainbows through the hills.

The Gatlinburg Wildflower Pilgrimage celebrates April 21 to 25 with lots of hikes, botanical experts leading the way. Join the fun or find your own mysterious connection with nature here with 800 miles of hiking trails in the most accessible wilderness in the southeaster United States. Our inn is just 19 miles from Gatlinburg, closer to the hiking trails at Greenbrier and Cosby and Big Creek. I love being 20 minutes from 3 of the best trail heads in the park! No need to wait for the pilgrimage, as everything is splendidly spring here right now! Wildflower seekers get 20% discount on a stay of at least 3 days in our log cabin bed and breakfast on the creek with hot tub suites and casual gourmet dining.

Yesterday was the first mowing of the lawns at our Gatlinburg Smoky Mountain bed and breakfast. I recommend a bed and breakfast visit if you are touring the area for wildflowers. Our innkeepers meet once a month at different inns, and you might not know there are 23 inns in the Smokies with welcoming innkeepers who know the area well, walk trails, love nature, and offer the best cuisine in the mountains over fine coffee or tea. Creekwalk Inn offers free trail maps, great advice on the best wildflower finding trails, guidebooks for wildflowers, and breakfast any time you choose so you can get to a trailhead as early as you like. Ask for a free almond butter or peanut butter and Smoky Mountain jam sandwich to keep body and soul together! Ask the night before and I'll bake homemade bread--one of my passions! It will be one of a kind, no recipe, just lots of organic wholesome ingredients, local honey, and organic herbs from the garden.

Tifton cultivated the garden with lots of organic materials, so we will plant soon! Anyone who wants to lend a hand to our organic garden is welcome!




Janice Haynes, innkeeper
Creekwalk Inn Bed and Breakfast and Cabins at Whisperwood Farm, Great Smoky Mountains, Cosby, TN 37722 800-962-2246
www.creekwalkinn.com