Swell happenings at The Swag and Cataloochee Ranch!

Yep, we saw a bear! It was a juvenile, some said, and it came onto actual Swag property. Operators detonate a loud warning horn, called “the bear horn,” when one of the creatures comes near the property.

The Swag literally abuts the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, as this sign indicates.

Alan, left, with Jonathan and Kristin Miller, two other Knoxvillians whose visit overlapped with ours.

If you go to The Swag, try to include a Saturday or Wednesday in your visit. That’s when there’s a picnic at beautiful Gooseberry Knob. That’s where this gazebo is.

Lots of things were in bloom, of course.

Daylily at Gooseberry.

Steven Reinhold, one of the “experts in residence” while we were there, welcoming folks to the picnic at Gooseberry Knob.

I had a seafood burger. Other options were hamburgers, bison burgers, hot dogs and sausages. With lots of salads and other accompaniments.

It’s only a quarter-mile hike from The Swag proper to Gooseberry Knob. Here’s Alan on the return. You also can catch a lift in one of the branded SUVs.

New this year, a Swag cat! This is Birdie. David Colquitt describes her as part of the “mice elimination program!” Ha. She’s very sweet. (If you aren’t a mouse!)

We always visit the garden to see what’s new.

In this case, the gardener was new! This is Abigail Anzelmo, the garden manager. She’s committed to organic and sustainable gardening at The Swag and Cataloochee Ranch.

This bee hive is relatively new — in that it had to be started all over again after a bear broke in and ate all the honey and larvae from the first attempt. Now, it is protected by an electric fence.

Dahlias are kind of the signature flower of The Swag, Abigail said.

Snapdragons appear in many table arrangements.

As do zinnias.

Another popular posy.

Abigail said the intention is to cultivate plants that are attractive to pollinators.

Another fan of the garden.

Signature garden sculpture.

Outside the garden are some inviting places to perhaps bring a lunch and relax.

Love this swing.

On this visit, we stayed for the first time in a room called “Annie’s Room.”

It was our anniversary and Alan surprised me with flowers!

He loves to make use of the fireplaces in the rooms. And, since it generally is 10 degrees cooler there than it is in Knoxville, that’s not a bad idea — especially at night!

View from the porch of Annie’s Room.

They have the best charcuterie boards! Other offerings on this day were Caprese salads on sticks and smoked curry cauliflower hummus.

Yep.

Roderick Nieves runs the bar. Here he’s pouring (guess what!) Pinot Grigio!

The guy also knows his way around a martini!

Outside dining porch ready for dinner service.

Here’s one night’s dinner. Clockwise from top left: an amuse bouche of fried green tomatoes with Fresno chili aioli; roasted onion and cheese bread; coal roasted sweet potato soup with curry oil and pepitas; my entree, which was summer squash risotto with herbs, tomato jam and grana padano cheese; local heirloom tomatoes with field peas, buttermilk dressing, and garden herbs; Alan’s sunburst trout with Swag pole beans, crispy potatoes, nori brown butter, and almonds; Alan’s fruit for dessert. Wow!

In addition to Roderick, Elycia Jones is a wonderful bartender and wine server. And I do enjoy some Sancerre from time to time!

Here’s a view from the porch when we arrived. As you can see, it was hazy so we missed the famous views from there.

Here’s the main dining room at Cataloochee. It’s called The Switchback.

Clockwise from top left, Alan’s prime filet; my wood fired pizza Margherita; leafy greens with grilled Carolina peaches; brown butter potatoes; and seasonal mushrooms that we split.

We had after dinner drinks in front of the fireplace in the bar, called the Tack Room.

Those are just the highlights of a wonderful four-night visit. We also had a wine tasting, a cocktail class, and Alan had two massages! When we left, we noticed these leaves were starting to change colors!