Well, it's been about 2 weeks now, so I thought that it was about time that I tell you about our vacation to Gatlinburg. We left on Sunday the 19th and headed south. We planned ahead for the long drive and brought lots of books on tape for the journey. Of course, they were all books about finance, because I am afterall married to Dusten. The first book was an abridged version of Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach. I love when authors narrate their own books, because they are so enthusiastic. And David Bach is one of those guys with a happy voice. But usually when they get to the investment chapter I start dosing off and I missed the last 1/3 of the book, but we made it to Gatlinburg, settled into our room and went out for dinner. Sunday we went to the Smokey Mountain Restaurant & Brewery.
I had a cheeseburger and D had some kind of sausage sandwich, but we should have gotten a pizza, because the pizzas going to all the other tables looked fabulous. Monday we got up too early for being on vacation, especially because I forgot to turn off my phone alarm which woke us up at 6:45a.m.--at least we were able to enjoy sleeping in, even if it just was until 8:30. Monday we packed a lunch of pb & j(which we had pretty much every day for lunch) and headed to Cade's Cove. We rode our bikes the 13 miles around the place. 
It was a really nice sunny day, but I thought it was going to kill me. All the hills wore me out big time. It's much nicer to enjoy it from the comfort of your car. I wasn't able to enjoy the scenery because I was too busy trying to keep up with D and not fall in a pot hole. I did it though and have the picture to prove it. That night we went to Calhoun's 
for dinner. They claimed to have the best ribs in America, so we got the ribs, but they weren't the best ribs in America. They were good ribs though, they had excellent cole slaw, and I even got a free salad in the deal. We slept really well on this vacation, because we just kept going, going and going and going. Tuesday we ventured to North Carolina. I have only been to their airport, so I wanted to spend more time there. We took a back road through the mountains. It was a 26 mile drive and it took us 3 hours to get there. It only cost us $13.00 in gas for the whole trip. It was a long and winding journey for sure. 
The views were spectacular, but I thought I was going to lose my lunch. That day we listened to about 6 of the 8 discs of The Ultimate Cheapskate. It took forever, but the book was hilarious, and we had pb& j, so we were good. We ended up in Cataloochee and spent the day on a self guided trail visiting old homes and viewing lots and lots of elk. We're still trying to figure out why people buried people on the side of the mountains. We walked up one to cemetary that was really steep.
I don't know how they got bodies, let alone headstones up there, both D and I were struggling to keep our balance. Hope they weren't drinking water coming off that mountain, but I think they were. That night we ate dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. 
D and I got shrimp of course, which was very good. It was very over priced. 12 shrimp and fries for $16.00- you know we're cheap. We did enjoy some nice bread pudding there. Wednesday we had an early meeting with our rep at the resort we were staying at. We had purchased our week vacation on our Honeymoon two years ago. It's a time share place, and it's nice, but we're not resort people. It's a good deal if you like to stay at resorts, but there were too many people for us, and we found ourselves longing for more space and woods. So despite the pressure, we didn't buy in. We headed to Wendy's because by then it was about lunch time. We grabbed a quick burger and then headed to the roaring fork parkway for some waterfalls. We know fall is not the best time for falls, but we did it anyway. We walked 2 miles to rainbow falls
and then another mile to Grotto falls. It was fun, but going to waterfalls is a lot of work as they are obviously all uphill hikes. We got our share of exercise on this trip. Grotto falls was the coolest because while we were there the llamas came down. Grotto Falls is on the way to Mount LeConte. Mount LeConte is only accessible by way of this trail. If you hike the strenuous 8 miles to the top you can stay the night and eat at their restaurant. So llamas carry all the supplies to the top once a week. We were lucky enough to be there on their way down the mountain. We got some really good pictures of 
them walking behind the waterfall. The sun was starting to set on our descent back to the car. By this time I am completely wiped and hungry of course. Well when we got back to our car one of the people we had talked to on our hike had locked herself out of her car, so D lent her his cell to call someone to come let her in. She ended up sitting with us in my car for over an hour while we waiting, and we had some fun chatting with her. Her name was Tara and she had just come down from Mount LeConte. After that we changed and went to dinner at The Peddler. 
This is probably the best restaurant in Gatlinburg. It was late and when we left they were already closed. We had an awesome waiter named Robert (who remembered us when we saw him at McDonalds) and got to sit in the best seat in the house. They had amazing rolls and we had a really yummy brownie with ice cream for dessert. Thursday we went back to North Carolina. This time we stopped at Mingus Mill 
on the way and bought some corn meal that made some really yummy corn bread. We arrived in Cherokee and walked the river trail into town. After we returned, we walked around the farm and I had fun taking pictures of the farm animals. That night we ate at Bennetts Bar-B-que pit. 
Another over priced joint. D hated it. But now we know to eat at the Peddler everynight. At this point we were trying to decide when we were going to come home. We had our room until Sunday morning, but I really wanted to leave on Saturday so I would have time to recover before I had to go back to work. On Friday it rained which worked out ok, because D and I spent the day shopping the arts and crafts community. We bought some artwork for the house, none of which he has hung yet, and some still need to be framed. That night we ate at the Park Grill. 
Their pecan chicken is amazing, but there was so much I couldn't even eat half of it. Pretty much every night after dinner we walked around Gatlinburg. There's not as much good stuff there as their used to be. All the good stores closed and are now tshirt and purse outlets. I did find the best apple cider at The Donut Friar in The Village. We went there at least 3 times, and it was yummy. We also found a really good place to have breakfast. I had chocolate chip 
and D had carribbean.
.yumm
We did decide to come home on Saturday, all the trails would have been muddy anyway. We left early and stopped in Nashville, IN on our way home. We spent a couple of hours there. There were a lot more arts and crafts there, but we didn't buy anything. We headed to Castleton and walked around the mall and went to P.F. Chang's for dinner. It was super yummy after a long day. It was almost 11 before we got home to unload and we still made it to first service at church. I didn't get a nap that day, but it would have been crazy coming home on Sunday and trying to be in a frame of mind to work on Monday. We had a great time, and I'm ready for another vacation already.
Well this entry has taken me two days to complete, and when I find more time between my couch cushions, I will add in the pictures from our adventure..
I had a cheeseburger and D had some kind of sausage sandwich, but we should have gotten a pizza, because the pizzas going to all the other tables looked fabulous. Monday we got up too early for being on vacation, especially because I forgot to turn off my phone alarm which woke us up at 6:45a.m.--at least we were able to enjoy sleeping in, even if it just was until 8:30. Monday we packed a lunch of pb & j(which we had pretty much every day for lunch) and headed to Cade's Cove. We rode our bikes the 13 miles around the place. 
It was a really nice sunny day, but I thought it was going to kill me. All the hills wore me out big time. It's much nicer to enjoy it from the comfort of your car. I wasn't able to enjoy the scenery because I was too busy trying to keep up with D and not fall in a pot hole. I did it though and have the picture to prove it. That night we went to Calhoun's for dinner. They claimed to have the best ribs in America, so we got the ribs, but they weren't the best ribs in America. They were good ribs though, they had excellent cole slaw, and I even got a free salad in the deal. We slept really well on this vacation, because we just kept going, going and going and going. Tuesday we ventured to North Carolina. I have only been to their airport, so I wanted to spend more time there. We took a back road through the mountains. It was a 26 mile drive and it took us 3 hours to get there. It only cost us $13.00 in gas for the whole trip. It was a long and winding journey for sure. 
The views were spectacular, but I thought I was going to lose my lunch. That day we listened to about 6 of the 8 discs of The Ultimate Cheapskate. It took forever, but the book was hilarious, and we had pb& j, so we were good. We ended up in Cataloochee and spent the day on a self guided trail visiting old homes and viewing lots and lots of elk. We're still trying to figure out why people buried people on the side of the mountains. We walked up one to cemetary that was really steep.
I don't know how they got bodies, let alone headstones up there, both D and I were struggling to keep our balance. Hope they weren't drinking water coming off that mountain, but I think they were. That night we ate dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. D and I got shrimp of course, which was very good. It was very over priced. 12 shrimp and fries for $16.00- you know we're cheap. We did enjoy some nice bread pudding there. Wednesday we had an early meeting with our rep at the resort we were staying at. We had purchased our week vacation on our Honeymoon two years ago. It's a time share place, and it's nice, but we're not resort people. It's a good deal if you like to stay at resorts, but there were too many people for us, and we found ourselves longing for more space and woods. So despite the pressure, we didn't buy in. We headed to Wendy's because by then it was about lunch time. We grabbed a quick burger and then headed to the roaring fork parkway for some waterfalls. We know fall is not the best time for falls, but we did it anyway. We walked 2 miles to rainbow falls
and then another mile to Grotto falls. It was fun, but going to waterfalls is a lot of work as they are obviously all uphill hikes. We got our share of exercise on this trip. Grotto falls was the coolest because while we were there the llamas came down. Grotto Falls is on the way to Mount LeConte. Mount LeConte is only accessible by way of this trail. If you hike the strenuous 8 miles to the top you can stay the night and eat at their restaurant. So llamas carry all the supplies to the top once a week. We were lucky enough to be there on their way down the mountain. We got some really good pictures of 
them walking behind the waterfall. The sun was starting to set on our descent back to the car. By this time I am completely wiped and hungry of course. Well when we got back to our car one of the people we had talked to on our hike had locked herself out of her car, so D lent her his cell to call someone to come let her in. She ended up sitting with us in my car for over an hour while we waiting, and we had some fun chatting with her. Her name was Tara and she had just come down from Mount LeConte. After that we changed and went to dinner at The Peddler. 
This is probably the best restaurant in Gatlinburg. It was late and when we left they were already closed. We had an awesome waiter named Robert (who remembered us when we saw him at McDonalds) and got to sit in the best seat in the house. They had amazing rolls and we had a really yummy brownie with ice cream for dessert. Thursday we went back to North Carolina. This time we stopped at Mingus Mill 
on the way and bought some corn meal that made some really yummy corn bread. We arrived in Cherokee and walked the river trail into town. After we returned, we walked around the farm and I had fun taking pictures of the farm animals. That night we ate at Bennetts Bar-B-que pit. 
Another over priced joint. D hated it. But now we know to eat at the Peddler everynight. At this point we were trying to decide when we were going to come home. We had our room until Sunday morning, but I really wanted to leave on Saturday so I would have time to recover before I had to go back to work. On Friday it rained which worked out ok, because D and I spent the day shopping the arts and crafts community. We bought some artwork for the house, none of which he has hung yet, and some still need to be framed. That night we ate at the Park Grill. 
Their pecan chicken is amazing, but there was so much I couldn't even eat half of it. Pretty much every night after dinner we walked around Gatlinburg. There's not as much good stuff there as their used to be. All the good stores closed and are now tshirt and purse outlets. I did find the best apple cider at The Donut Friar in The Village. We went there at least 3 times, and it was yummy. We also found a really good place to have breakfast. I had chocolate chip 
and D had carribbean.
.yummWe did decide to come home on Saturday, all the trails would have been muddy anyway. We left early and stopped in Nashville, IN on our way home. We spent a couple of hours there. There were a lot more arts and crafts there, but we didn't buy anything. We headed to Castleton and walked around the mall and went to P.F. Chang's for dinner. It was super yummy after a long day. It was almost 11 before we got home to unload and we still made it to first service at church. I didn't get a nap that day, but it would have been crazy coming home on Sunday and trying to be in a frame of mind to work on Monday. We had a great time, and I'm ready for another vacation already.
Well this entry has taken me two days to complete, and when I find more time between my couch cushions, I will add in the pictures from our adventure..
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