Memories Made

It's good to get away and good to be home again.  We recently traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains in TN.  It was a fantastic week that went all too quickly.

Be warned, this is a picture heavy vacation post!

We stayed in a cabin that was new to us and it did not disappoint.  Just check out these views and the sunsets.

The boys loved this cabin, as they each had their own bedroom and bathroom.  There was a center pole that was not only structural, but decorative.  A local woodcarver used only three tools, a chainsaw, a Dremel tool, and a torch to create these beauties.

And many evenings were spent enjoying the views from the hot tub.

We spent some time at Dollywood, taking in some shows and riding the rides.  Oh my, I can't do roller coasters like I used to, but I did some for the sake of my children.

SSShhhh.....don't tell, but we even discovered that Elvis is indeed alive!!

We hit some of our favorite spots for food.

One must only go when the "Hot Donuts Now" sign is on!

I love diners!!  And the next few are from our favorite Pigeon Forge Diner.

Diner lights.

Check out that ceiling!

And wow, a new spot for some special drink...

The first legal moonshine!!

I have to confess that when my husband and I lived in TN years ago, we had the chance to try the "old fashioned" moonshine...

They have the original corn whisky, and a bunch of different (less potent than the original) flavors, but this is what came home with me.

Let me tell you, these little cherries pack quite the punch! 

There was our traditional round or two of mini-golf (I finally beat all of the boys in the first game), a trip to the Ripley's Aquarium, walking through Gatlinburg, etc.

I don't mind frogs that aren't associated with my stitching!

In the shark tunnel...

So colorful...

I could watch the jellyfish for hours...

These crabs were a little too big for me...

This guy was just chilling...

My boys got a big kick out of these in the one store...be sure to read the bottom of the label for the scent...

And of course, you can't go home without your raccoon hat!

We had to laugh at the older and youngest....they didn't even realize they were doing the same thing with their arms!

Here is where I dominated the first round of mini-golf!

A new museum was being built that last time we visited TN and it did not disappoint.  We spent quite a few hours taking it all in and highly recommend seeing this.

There are no cameras allowed inside, due to copyright law.  But trust me, there are artifacts from the Titanic, a replica of the grand staircase (the flooring of which is the most expensive of the time - hold on to your hats, ladies, it is not granite or marble....any guesses?  It was linoleum!), and I could go on and on.  At the beginning, you are given a passenger card.  Throughout the museum, you can find out about your passenger and at the end you learn their fate.  Sadly, three fifths of my family perished on that fateful night...

We did some hiking in the mountains...

These trees were intertwined...loved it!

We came across a very old cemetery.  Each of those stones you see are markers.  Some so worn, that you can no longer read the markings.

Can you see how this tree grew around the rock? 

The rain and storms started moving in, so we ended the hiking and took a drive. 

Such beauty in these mountains.

As you can see, we kept ourselves very busy.  And as great as the trip was, we bid our goodbyes, took the obligatory last pictures on the cabin deck,

 

and hit the road back home.

Where were we all anxious to pick up this guy.

Who, by the way, at 21 weeks, weighed in at 69.6 lbs!!  Yikes!!!!

If you made it all the way through this post, you deserve a gold medal!!  I will try and be back soon with some stitching.  Until then...

“But, of course, it isn't really Good-bye, because the Forest will always be there... and anybody who is Friendly with Bears can find it.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner