Richie Bergeron and Katie Sparacello enjoy the karaoke and sports-bar scene at Puckers.

Puckers, in Gatlinburg, is a cozy spot for friends Brad Fite, Yolanda Grade and Thom Bradford, from left, to gather.

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Joe and Misty Bates soak in the Gatlinburg nightlife at Puckers.

With the holidays quickly approaching and the desire to do something in the spirit of the season, we decided to make the trip to the center of everything delightfully kitschy - Gatlinburg.

Truly, I have never been to another place as unique as Gatlinburg. Where else can one find airbrushed t-shirts, saltwater taffy, Airsoft guns, battle axes and ninja swords all while seeing some beautiful Christmas light arrangements?

Arriving much later than intended, which seems to be a common theme among anything our group ever tries to do, we spent the evening wandering the streets of Gatlinburg and checked out some of the many shops, the holiday lights and the video arcade scene.

As the night wore on, we started looking for a place to rest for a bit, get a few drinks and grab dinner. My friend Greg suggested Hoggs and Honeys, which we found just down the street. After we got our drinks, we realized the entire place was empty, so we decided to head downstairs to the much livelier Puckers Sports Bar and Grill.

Puckers is much like any other sports bar for the most part. There are TVs, pool tables and dart boards present to keep you entertained. Puckers is a 21-and-up establishment, allowing for smoking throughout the building. The inside has a nice, older feel to it, with everything covered in wood paneling and the lighting dim, but not too dark.

The crowd at Puckers was pretty steady for a Tuesday night, a sign that it probably isn't a bad idea to make it there a bit earlier if you are planning a weekend night out. Puckers also has some spirited karaoke to keep things interesting later at night. Around 10 the regular lighting went out in favor of more entertaining ceiling and disco lights to further the karaoke atmosphere. The karaoke was some of the better I've heard and the crowd was certainly into it.

Drinks at Puckers are fairly cheap for the area. Drafts will run you $2.75-and-up for the usual domestics, Blue Moon and Sam Adams Boston Lager. Bottles range in similar pricing throughout Puckers' selection of over 75 beers, offering buckets of five for $15. They also offer a huge menu of cocktails, martinis, margaritas and shooters for those that can hold their liquor.

The food at Puckers is great as well, with us once again finding some of the best burgers we've ever had. My friend Brian and I both had the Teriyaki Burger, a half pound of meat with pineapples, teriyaki sauce and cheddar cheese. Greg tried the Bubba's BBQ Burger with fried onions and Puckers signature BBQ sauce, while our other pal Kim had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich. Most of the burgers and sandwiches will run you a pretty standard $8 and are well worth it.

The service was great and helpful with any questions we had. Our server actually managed to cook our food perfectly (the cook was out sick) while still handling other orders and keeping up with our drinks.

I haven't visited many bars in Gatlinburg, but Puckers was a great first experience and definitely somewhere I might check out again whenever I'm back in the city. If you are looking for a good place to spend the evening after a busy day of sight-seeing in the Smokey's, Puckers is a great choice.