Gatlinburg for Thanksgiving? (rental, condo, hotel)

[mountaingirl75]

is this a good idea or am i crazy for thinking i can pull this off?
here's the deal- a few days ago my husbands mother passed away and as expected; my husband is grieving. thanksgiving has pretty much been cancelled in his family and my relatives live on the west coast. soooo, i thought i could take my husband up to gatlinburg (he loves it there) for some relaxing and much needed distraction.
this is so last minute that it seems like a joke trying to find lodging. i put a "wanted" ad on craigslist for a cabin in hopes someone would have a cancellation. i don't really want a condo or hotel room because we can do that anywhere. we both love the outdoors and enjoy the area for it's natural beauty. i was even hoping for some camping but was told "good luck".
my husband says maybe we could drive up on thurs., stay in a hotel then wake up early the next morning to try for a "first come, first served" camping spot.
am i dreaming? are restaurants open on thanksgiving? is it so crazy during this holiday week that we might find it more troublesome than relaxing? last thing i want to do is frustrate my husband during this emotional time,
but it seemed like a few days up there might do us some good.
if you've read this far then i'd also like to ask for some tips; must see and do/things to avoid/food recommendations etc..
thanks so much for reading my long post.

[hiknapster]

Have you called any of the cabin rental places? Are they all saying that they are booked?

[NJDevil]

same with the campsites - there's no way they're booked. Thanksgiving is perhaps a little busy, but it's really not bad at all, good time to come. Last year we went to the Park Vista hotel (Gat) for Turkey day, it was busy enough, great spread, I think you had to have a reservation. I think all the restaurants will be open, but you should call first.

Facility Details - Recreation.gov, Elkmont (TN) - Recreation.gov