We are wrapping up our last couple of days of vacation, which has been wonderful! This is the first time since the honeymoon that we have had 9 days off together. We went to the Smoky Mountains for 5 days and were able to meet up with Mama and Daddy as they did an impromptu tour of the southeast. We stayed in a cabin in Pigeon Forge. The leaves were changing and were breathtaking. We learned a lot on this trip, so I had decided to make of list of things we have learned:
1) A year can fly by like the blink of an eye. We had such a wonderful and fun wedding a year ago on the beach and went on a wonderful cruise to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Roatan, Honduras, so this year we went to the mountains to celebrate 1 year together.
2) Fall is the BEST time of the year. We left 102 degree heat index in Tampa and enjoyed low 70's to low 50's in the mountains. The leaf colors developed into the most magical scene between Friday and Tuesday. On the way through the Smokies to Pigeon Forge on Friday, I said "I would like to see more reds." I got much more red on the return trip! It was purely God's art!
3) Time shares are CRAP!! Especially BLUEGREEN. When I booked the cabin, I looked up "discount cabin rentals Pigeon Forge" and pulled up a great rate for a 2 bedroom cabin with hot tub, whirlpool bath, etc. When I called, I was informed that we would have to take a 90 minute tour of a time share for the discount rate. "No problem" I thought. We will be there for 5 days, we can spare 90 minutes to save over $400! It was actually 3 hours, and it was high pressure. We went knowing that we wouldn't be buying because we don't get a lot of time off together and WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY! Well, just google "bluegreen complaints" and you will see what we went through. They basically told us that the only way to have your kids or grand kids (which we don't have!) remember you is by buying Bluegreen and "insuring" a great vacation every year! "Are you willing to neglect your family by NOT buying this?" This was my 2nd time share presentation and they always get pissy when you say "If we convert units to dollars, you are saying this room is 400 UNITS per night and your price per UNIT is $3, that means we will be paying $1200 per night, right? We don't even spend 1/12 that when we go on vacation!! How is that saving money?" I feel bad for the people who bought and can't do basic math. It was a "one day only" opportunity, so they wouldn't let you leave and think about it. This was their way of preventing us from researching on the internet. (Sorry that was so long!)
4) Mama is WAY more of a mountain person than she thought she was! She REALLY loved the high parts of the mountain! We climbed to the highest point, despite the fact that we thought we were going to DIE! The only reason we went was because we saw a really old couple (80's) on their way down and figured "If they can do it, we surely can!" We got to the top and couldn't see crap!! It was so foggy!! And none of the people on the way down even bothered to tell us!! A-holes!! Robert got almost all the way up, and turned around thinking he had been gone too long, only to see me and Mama trudging our way up, so technically he went up 1 1/2 times. It was a 1/2 mile hike one way at 45 degree angle!
5) Pigeon Forge is Kissimmee with mountains!! And boy do they love their pancakes and go carts!! I have NEVER seen traffic like Pigeon Forge traffic! It is worse than rush hour in Miami! No joke! You can easily take 1 hour to go a couple of miles! That is not because of wrecks either!6) Harrah's at Cherokee has our money. We started by walking about 3/4 of a mile to the casino, then had to get a card to play, then donated money! Mama and Daddy always win and they didn't this time! When we left, we discovered that they have shuttles to the parking lot, so we didn't have to walk all they way! We were losers in so many ways! (This was the same day as the climb up the highest point #4.)
7) There is a lot of "authentic" Cherokee stuff MADE IN CHINA! My family has always loved native American history, clothing, dream catchers, etc. so when we see this stuff, we have to check it out! I don't understand why it is being made in China! That is just wrong!
8) We found Elvis! He is in Pigeon Forge with his friends just across from the Titanic! The Smoky Mountain Knife Shop is HUGE (like the size of a mall!) If you need to cut somebody, that is the place to go to get it done! It had wonderful artifacts from all eras too! Mama thought she was turning into a dude because we spent so much time in there!
9) Christmas occurs year round in the mountains and there are lots of Christmas shops to celebrate it! We went to a huge one after the Knife shop, not as payback, but it could be taken that way. There was a room off to the side where the men could go to watch the Gator/LSU game. It was a beautiful place.
10) Trips are more fun with others. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE to go places just by ourselves, but we tend to rest a lot and become under motivated at times. We saw so much stuff and did so much, and I credit that to having Mama and Daddy with us. They love to go and see things, and that is so awesome! We went on the ski lift and gondola in Gatlinburg so Mama could experience her fear of falling! She's an adrenaline junky now! She'll be skydiving by this time next year! She wants to Zorb down the mountain!
11) ALWAYS get a place with a hot tub
if you will be climbing mountains and walking a lot. This saved us!! We enjoyed our nightly hot tub time! We would sit in there and talk about the day and laugh!12) It is nice to not check email and computer! I didn't get on the computer much while we were gone. I have been addicted to a couple of games and checking web sites, but I didn't care about it at all while I was gone. How nice.
13) Vacations are good for the soul! And fall is such a great time of year. I feel rejuvenated! Hopefully I come back to work a less stressed and better person.
***14) Afternoon naps are AWESOME!! I think we should make this a part of every day! (I forgot to add this last night and it's my favorite!)
Here's to many more anniversaries and lots of happiness and great vacations! Shannon and Robert
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Well, I've just realized tonight that some of my must-read blogs are not updating in the automatic window on my own blog. I have realized this because I have been on a recipe-adding frenzy for the last couple of days, and my own recipe blog has failed to update. So, after test-clicking, I have just found this update, FIVE DAYS after it went up. I'm not happy. No, not happy at all.
It's been nine years since I was up there in Gatlinburg. I need to go back. I'm much more of a beach person, but the mountains really are beautiful. When were were last there, it was right around Christmas, and there weren't a lot of people there. Of course, it was frigidly cold, and we actually got snowed in for a day or two on top of the mountain above Gatlinburg. It never got above freezing the entire four or five days that we were there. It was so cold that Dollywood wasn't operating, and I had had my heart set on riding a roller coaster. So, we didn't have traffic problems, but I know that the places just keeps getting more popular, and you were there at the peak of fall leaves, which is probably just about the busiest time. If I had had to wait in those traffic jams in Pigeon Forge, I might have had to stop at a Pancake house, get a big to-go order, and start throwing them onto other people' windshields.
I used to love, love, LOVE summer, but the older I get, the more I enjoy autumn. Spring is still probably my favorite, but it could be eclipsed in the not-too-distant future by the crisp air & turning leaves of fall. The only down side to autumn is the shortening day length. I detest it. I nearly go insane when darkness arrives at 5pm.
Another fun trip is Chattanooga. We stayed up on the top of Lookout Mountain in 2001, and it was really beautiful as well. You could go down the mountain and have fun in the city during the day, especially along the amazing riverfront district, and then come back up the mountain and be away from everything and have stunning views. And the old classics of Rock City, Ruby Falls, the Incline Railway, etc., are still just as much fun as ever!
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