Grits & Eggs

Grits & Eggs

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"Trip to Gatlinburg"
2001-03-31~5:51 p.m.

Our trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee
March 25th-29th 2001
2nd Wedding Anniversary
We drove up to Augusta Saturday night after Tim got off work. We stayed at his parents’ house that night. It had been a while since we had seen them. In the morning on Sunday, Sharon cooked a big breakfast and we got ready to leave for Gatlinburg. We arrived in Gatlinburg that afternoon. We drove through Cherokee over the mountains. It was beautiful! I saw so much snow still on the ground that had not melted from last week. We stopped a couple times to take pictures. I was amazed at the huge casino in Cherokee. I had heard Sharon talk about it, but I thought it was a little thing. It was so big! I could not imagine all these cars here for paying casino games!
When we got to out hotel, the room they put us in had 2 queens. We had requested a king. Also I could not dial out to my parent’s toll free # which was an 866 number. I had to go to the lobby and call them to tell them we were ok. I complained to the lady about it being a pain to have to use the pay phone to call out. She found us a king room and we moved there. I should never unpack before we are sure we like a room. We had to re pack and then move. The new room was better. It had the king bed and was closer to the elevator and we didn’t have to walk through he pool area where it was hot and loud. So we were happy.
I looked over brochures for where to go to eat. I picked JJ’s Bar & Grill, which was just down the road a ways. It seemed like a pretty new place. They were nice and not really crowded. We were the only ones in one section and they brought us the remote control and we were able to watch what we wanted. I put it on the Oscars. So we watched the stars parade around in their outfits and ate our meal. It was descent. fries were not freshly cooked though.
Afterwards, we went to the hotel and went downstairs to the putting green. The pool was full each night of kids being loud and playing so we just used the putting green. We had fun. Tim won our challenge so he got a back rub from me.
Monday we had planned to spend in Gatlinburg. We woke up late and went to the Pancake Pantry. We had seen a brochure and wanted to experience it. It was a busy place but it was good. The food was delicious and huge quantities. We both got omelets and pancakes. Yummy. Then we strolled the main strip of town and went in different shops. The teddy bear place had closed up from last year and was re modeling in another building. But it would not open until April 2nd. Phooey! I really did not buy much. We mainly window shopped and checked out the different places. Then we went to Ober Gatlinburg and rode the bus up. They were repairing the tram so we had to ride this school bus up the mountain! It was a steep drive up! We bought a day pass and it let us ride the ski lift and Alpine Slide as much as we wanted and the go karts twice. So we tried the Alpine slide first. It is a plastic type sled and you go down a real long and curvy cement track, like a slide. I was scared the first time >but started speeding up. It was a real long track. And it was cold that day! Afterwards we went to the go karts. I pulled ahead of Tim and was speeding along. I got bored though cause it was a long time to ride and I was already ahead so what else was there to do? Then I started getting sand in my eyes and they watered and I wanted to pull off. But I hung on and kept me lead pretty much. I LET Tim get in front of me and they finally ended our round. It was fun. Then we rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain and it was gorgeous. The beautiful mountains from up there. We took pictures. Then we rode the slide again. We were kind of tired so we went inside and watched the ice skaters. I really wanted to ice skate but I didn’t want to do it for 3 hours. I just wanted to try it. I ended up not doing it. We shared a pretzel and watched.
Afterwards we went to our hotel and relaxed and then prepared to go to Applewood Restaurant in Pigeon Forge. It is a farm house type restaurant. It was pretty good food. They give you apple fritters and apple butter to start off and it was great. They gave you tons of food. You also got dessert with your meal and we took that with us to go. We went back to the hotel and went to the swimming pool. But there were so many kids horsing around, we retreated to the hot tub part. They were even splashing water over into that part. But we enjoyed the soak. >Some older people started coming so we decided to get out. We were prunning up anyway. So we dried off and did some more putting.
Tuesday we planned to spend the day in Pigeon Forge and outlet shop. We drove to the Alabama grill and ate there. The food was alright, but it could have been better. We got our free 8X10 autographed copy of Alabama’s picture. Then we headed shopping.....I was really not finding anything I had to buy so we didn’t buy much. I was mainly looking for shoes. I needed a new pair of running/walking shoes. I found some but didn’t by them. I bought a baby gift for a shower I have to go to next week at Carter’s. Then we went to the Calhoun Restaurant for dinner. It was in Gatlinburg. I ordered ribs and they were pretty good. We had planned on seeing the Hillbilly Hoedown but when we saw what a tiny place it was we didn’t go. We went to Country Tonight and bought tickets for Wednesday night.
Wednesday we planned for our picnic day. We first packed our picnic stuff. Then we went to Pigeon Forge and played Lost Treasure miniature golf. It was fun. We played two rounds. We filmed while we were playing. Then we headed to find a place to picnic. We found a place off the side of the road that had walking trails to the river. We found some rocks there and had our lunch there. The ham we had bought had frozen in the cold mini fridge in our room so it was still partially frozen! It was hard to make sandwiches but we made do. As we were eating them, it was kind of crunchy from the ice, so we called it crunchy ham! Afterwards I got real stupid and decided to walk across the rocks in the river to see how far I could go. Tim was filming all this. I was pretty scared as some rocks were slippery from the algae or whatever. As Tim says “Come on, you can do it!” I step on the next rock and slid right in the water! It is just a good thing I didn’t fall on my butt! My shoes were soaking wet and my jeans were wet on the hem. Let me tell you, that water was COLD! It had record lows of 20 the night before. So I take my shoes and socks off and roll my pants up. It is not so bad on the rock in the sun. But the water is cold. I got a few rocks to bring back to my students. Tim was “nice” enough to bring me some sandals from the car so I would not track mud to the car! I knew then I really needed to have bought those shoes.
We went to the hotel and I got into dry clothes. Tim napped. Afterwards we went downtown and shopped some. I bought some candy for my nephews. Then we rode the trolley to the hotel. We were going to go to the aquarium but changed our minds. We got dressed and headed to Pigeon Forge and found the shoes I wanted and I bought them. Then we went to Country Tonight. It was a wonderful show. They put on a great performance. I would love to see it again. Afterwards they signed autographs and we bought a picture of us they took when we first got there and had everyone sign the frame thingy it was in. The harmonica player kissed me on the cheek. Tim said no girl kissed him from the show. Haha! Then we tried to find a restaurant open that late and settled on Denny’s. I think it was the best food we had all week. I was stuffed. Then we headed home. Oh, Tim put one of those quarters in a water thing and it landed on the little platform. He won a free Grand Slam meal from them. Pretty cool.
We headed to the hotel and packed up so we would be ready to leave in the morning. It rained the whole day on Thursday coming back. I’m just glad it didn’t rain while we were there. We had to stop in Atlanta in Conyers to pick up softball shirts. After we got home, we headed to my parents to pick up Scooter. We missed him. He was filthy! Their yard has more dirt in it and he loved playing in it! But he had a good time. Mom and Dad had fixed a roast and veggies for us when we got home so we had a nice meal to come home to. And that is the gist of our trip. We had a great time and have talked about making it an annual tradition. We would love to go one winter and try to ski before we are too old!

Yesterday ~*~ Tomorrow

~*~Did ya miss somethin'?~*~

clothes - March 13, 2009
day off - February 16, 2009
don't hurt - February 09, 2009
rain - August 23, 2008
catching up - February 16, 2008

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