" I don't have a red solo cup, but I WILL proceed to party!"
Last Saturday I left for TN & I have to say that this was probably one of the best vacations I have ever been on. It is also the only vacation my whole (well.. most of them anyway!) family has ever taken together. Here's what we did:
Saturday ( February 18)
Corey, Andrew, Dawn, Charlie, Kyle and I left for Chattanooga and after a long, rainy ride, we finally made it to the hotel & ordered pizza. After we finished dinner, we headed to the indoor pool for a few drinks and relaxation.
Sunday (February 19)
We left and headed to Sweetwater, TN to go to the "Lost Sea Adventures". It was deffinately as cool as it sounds. We were lead on a 3/4 of a mile walk throughout a cavern that was once inhabited by Native Americans. We got to see parts of the cavern that held their pow-wows, parts that was the local teenage hotspot before it was purchased by the Government, and another part that was once an underground pub. We then got on a boat and toured the lake that as inside of the the cave. The water was crystal clear & even though it was pretty cold in there, I was very tempted to dive right on in! After our tour of the underground lake was complete, we drove the rest of the way to Gatlinburg and met up with my parents & grandparents and then checked into the cabin. We were happily greeted by snow and all of the 'kids' went outside and had a snowball fight. We partied the rest of the night in excitement of what the rest of the week had to offer.
Monday (February 20)
We woke up to snow this morning! It was gorgeous! After the excitement over the weather had died down, the girls got up early and went grocery shopping for the week. Pretty boring stuff. Then Corey and I drove down to downtown Gatlinburg and explored.
Tuesday (February 21)
After being to Cades Cove 1 million times in my lifetime, I think this was the last time I will ever go there again. For those of you that have never visited, Cades Cove is just a long windy road you can drive down with several cabins, trails and settlements to stop at and explore. You also may encounter deer and bears (if you are lucky). The catch is, to get there you have to drive forever through the national forest. By this point, I was tired of being in the car and over it. Corey and I went back downtown this night and ate at Dick's Last Resort. If you haven't heard of it, the waiters are paid to literally be.. well... Dicks to you while they serve you. Catchy name right? I was very excited about going here but after two salads, two mixed drinks and $60 later, my excitement quickly went away. Plus they give you the option at the beginning of serving you regularly or putting on a show which kind of took the fun away.
Wednesday (February 22)
This was a girls shopping day! I finally got some shoes so now I can throw my old dirty ones away! woohoo ha. Later that night was date night. Me and Corey went into Pigeon Forge and after calling several places and finding out they were closed, we decided to go on a Jurassic Jungle Ride. This thing was horribly animated, dark, and loud. But I still ended up in Corey's lap scared to death. After we went to Wonderworks, or also known as the upside down house. It was so freakin cool! Imagine the Exploreum times ten.
Thursday (February 23)
This was kind of a 'cram everything else you want to do into one' type of day. We went back downtown, had old time-y western photos done (Ive always said I would never do these but hey! It was only $10. How could you pass up a deal like that?:), then we just walked around shopped and ate. Corey and I ate at a place called No Way Jose Cantina and it deff. left me feeling like 'No Way!' After a grande margarita (think 5 servings with the cup as big as my face) and a decent chimichanga/burrito type thing we left and I was feeling so good I had to go home and take an afternoon siesta. Then it was hot tub time and one last game of pool.
Friday (Today)
We took the long 8 hour trip home.
After waiting since September to on this trip, I am sad that it is over. It just makes me excited to see where we will travel next and what adventure we will wind up on.
