Back from Vacation
We made it back in one piece.
Kyle's wedding went great and we had fun every night we were there. I'm glad we were able to make it.
From there, we made the drive through the mountains and through the National Park to Gatlinburg Tennessee. The drive was fine, but traffic was pretty heavy (especially in Cherokee, NC). It was just as crazy driving down through Gatlinburg. It was Sunday of a holiday weekend and it was busy. Thankfully the traffic seem to all disappear by Monday evening.
So Monday we spent in Gatlinburg. We went up to Ober Gatlinburg in the morning. The only way to get there is via a 15 minute 2 mile tram ride. This isn't a ground tram, but rather an alpine cable tram. The ride up was packed, but it was fun when we got up there.
There was an indoor skating rink, a few shops and a black bear zoo. The black bears were rather lazy and I can't blame them because it was rather hot at that point of the day. We wandered the shops and then headed back down the mountain.
We made a quick stop in Friday's for an appetizer lunch and then headed to Ripley's Aquarium. That was a blast as well. Plenty of fish, and the shark tank had several Sand Tiger sharks. We also got to see the ray show, and pet the rays afterwards. It was kinda slimy but it was cool too. Unfortunately, the clouds outside had opened up and decided to dump a bunch of rain on the area as we left. So me and Dan busted back to the car so the girls wouldn't get wet. We went and got dinner to let the rain clear and then went to HillBilly Golf.
. The best part is that it was about 300 feet up the mountain. So we rode a little tram up to the first hole. It was a good course, with plenty of obstacles, and I actually managed to finish 2 under and win the round. That was the end of day 1.
Tuesday was spent golfing. We played a Gary Player designed course which was an absolute blast. I scored a 62 and 54 for a total of 116. We both got off to a bad start on the front, but seemed to do better on the back despite it being much more difficult (to us anyway). The back started with a blind hole and then got worse from there. Two of the holes were to directional flags and then to the green. And another was a 113 that played like 85 due to the elevation drop from the tee. We ended up having fun with the course.
That night, we went to Dixie Stampede for dinner. Dinner was awesome and the show was a blast. It was something I would definitely do again. It's hard to describe, but its a musical and animal competition all rolled into one. Unfortunately the North got hosed and lost. Its worth it though and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good dinner show in Gatlinburg (or any of the other cities).
The next day was Dollywood. I'll leave another post for that review though.
Thursday was spent driving. We went all the way up to the top of the Smokies and looked out from the observation tower, and then traveled around to Cade's Cove where we drove the road looking for wildlife. We found some. Not a quarter mile down the road there was a ranger stopped to keep people from parking on the road since there was a sow and cubs back in the woods. We saw some deer and visited the original buildings on site. Its so weird to be in a building so old and knowing that people lived there. We also visited one of the on-site cemeteries. I stood at the graves of a revolutionary soldier as well as a man murdered by rebels during the civil war. There was also a grave of a woman buried in 2004. She was buried next to her twin sister who died in birth back in 1911. Driving back out from the church we passed a car of idiots from Louisiana who were wandering deep in the woods after the deer who were trying to get away. I got their license and passed it to the workers at the guest center. They said if they couldn't catch them at the park, they would send a summons. That would be cool.
Shortly after leaving the guest center (which is at the back of the loop) we came across another bearjam, with the bear being about 20 feet off the road and just chillin at the base of a tree. So, the people who properly pulled off the road so they didn't block it, then proceeded to stand in the middle of the road (blocking it) so they could get pictures. I was really hoping for a mauling, especially when a fat guy started to climb the hill towards the bear to get a better picture. The first vehicle behind the jam though had to stop right in the middle of the road so his fat lazy kid sitting in the back could get a good picture. They had annoyed me earlier by stopping in the middle of the road to get some pictures of white-tail deer. I kept hoping the fat kid would fall out but he never did.
We stopped at a stream on the way out of the park and admired the scenery while Lily was being fed. It was really nice. That was the end of our day though. We stopped for dinner in Gatlinburg and then up to Pigeon Forge for ice cream. We were on the road back the next day and I once again determined that vacations NEVER last long enough. I'm not even back to work yet and its STILL too short of a vacation.
Kyle's wedding went great and we had fun every night we were there. I'm glad we were able to make it.
From there, we made the drive through the mountains and through the National Park to Gatlinburg Tennessee. The drive was fine, but traffic was pretty heavy (especially in Cherokee, NC). It was just as crazy driving down through Gatlinburg. It was Sunday of a holiday weekend and it was busy. Thankfully the traffic seem to all disappear by Monday evening.
So Monday we spent in Gatlinburg. We went up to Ober Gatlinburg in the morning. The only way to get there is via a 15 minute 2 mile tram ride. This isn't a ground tram, but rather an alpine cable tram. The ride up was packed, but it was fun when we got up there.
There was an indoor skating rink, a few shops and a black bear zoo. The black bears were rather lazy and I can't blame them because it was rather hot at that point of the day. We wandered the shops and then headed back down the mountain.
We made a quick stop in Friday's for an appetizer lunch and then headed to Ripley's Aquarium. That was a blast as well. Plenty of fish, and the shark tank had several Sand Tiger sharks. We also got to see the ray show, and pet the rays afterwards. It was kinda slimy but it was cool too. Unfortunately, the clouds outside had opened up and decided to dump a bunch of rain on the area as we left. So me and Dan busted back to the car so the girls wouldn't get wet. We went and got dinner to let the rain clear and then went to HillBilly Golf.
. The best part is that it was about 300 feet up the mountain. So we rode a little tram up to the first hole. It was a good course, with plenty of obstacles, and I actually managed to finish 2 under and win the round. That was the end of day 1.
Tuesday was spent golfing. We played a Gary Player designed course which was an absolute blast. I scored a 62 and 54 for a total of 116. We both got off to a bad start on the front, but seemed to do better on the back despite it being much more difficult (to us anyway). The back started with a blind hole and then got worse from there. Two of the holes were to directional flags and then to the green. And another was a 113 that played like 85 due to the elevation drop from the tee. We ended up having fun with the course.
That night, we went to Dixie Stampede for dinner. Dinner was awesome and the show was a blast. It was something I would definitely do again. It's hard to describe, but its a musical and animal competition all rolled into one. Unfortunately the North got hosed and lost. Its worth it though and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good dinner show in Gatlinburg (or any of the other cities).
The next day was Dollywood. I'll leave another post for that review though.
Thursday was spent driving. We went all the way up to the top of the Smokies and looked out from the observation tower, and then traveled around to Cade's Cove where we drove the road looking for wildlife. We found some. Not a quarter mile down the road there was a ranger stopped to keep people from parking on the road since there was a sow and cubs back in the woods. We saw some deer and visited the original buildings on site. Its so weird to be in a building so old and knowing that people lived there. We also visited one of the on-site cemeteries. I stood at the graves of a revolutionary soldier as well as a man murdered by rebels during the civil war. There was also a grave of a woman buried in 2004. She was buried next to her twin sister who died in birth back in 1911. Driving back out from the church we passed a car of idiots from Louisiana who were wandering deep in the woods after the deer who were trying to get away. I got their license and passed it to the workers at the guest center. They said if they couldn't catch them at the park, they would send a summons. That would be cool.
Shortly after leaving the guest center (which is at the back of the loop) we came across another bearjam, with the bear being about 20 feet off the road and just chillin at the base of a tree. So, the people who properly pulled off the road so they didn't block it, then proceeded to stand in the middle of the road (blocking it) so they could get pictures. I was really hoping for a mauling, especially when a fat guy started to climb the hill towards the bear to get a better picture. The first vehicle behind the jam though had to stop right in the middle of the road so his fat lazy kid sitting in the back could get a good picture. They had annoyed me earlier by stopping in the middle of the road to get some pictures of white-tail deer. I kept hoping the fat kid would fall out but he never did.
We stopped at a stream on the way out of the park and admired the scenery while Lily was being fed. It was really nice. That was the end of our day though. We stopped for dinner in Gatlinburg and then up to Pigeon Forge for ice cream. We were on the road back the next day and I once again determined that vacations NEVER last long enough. I'm not even back to work yet and its STILL too short of a vacation.
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posted by John at 8:12 PM
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