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Monday, July 5, 2010

10 Year Anniversary Getaway

I mentioned in an earlier post that Brian and I were away on our 10 year anniversary getaway.  We left the boys with my parents, and we headed to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN.  We left first thing Wednesday morning (the 30th). 
As soon ad we made it into town, we hit up the local Kroger for a few drinks and snacks to keep at the cabin.  Then, we freshened up and headed out to the Black Bear Jamboree Dinner & Show.  While this was a cute and entertaining show, it wasn’t nearly as fun as The Dixie Stampede that we saw at Myrtle Beach.  But – we opted out of seeing that one again since we’d already seen it.  The show was decent, but Brian found the food to be very disappointing.  I, myself, found it edible, but it wasn’t momma’s cooking for sure.  Once the show was over, we decided to head over to the Wonderworks Museum since it was next door.  Again, this was interesting, but it was NOT worth the $52 we paid to get into the place.  We enjoyed it, but we’ll skip it if we see it in other cities.  Then we headed back to the cabin for the evening.

This guy was the main character at the dinner & show.  He was funny and definitely a character.IMG_5930 Wonderworks MuseumIMG_5934 Brian playing some gameIMG_5936 Brian laying on the bed of nailsIMG_5939 Oh, the drama…LOL!IMG_5942 Brian’s arm after laying on the bed of nailsIMG_5943
Thursday was our anniversary, and we decided to head into Gatlinburg.  We got up and ate breakfast at one of the NUMEROUS pancake joints.  Now, when I say numerous…I do mean numerous.  There must be a pancake house on every block.  It’s CUH-RAZEE!!!!  While the meal was good, we decided paying $30 for breakfast wasn’t going to happen every morning.  We then drove into Gatlinburg and found a place to park.  We walked to the Ober Gatlinburg aerial tram station and hopped aboard the next tram.  We took the aerial tramway up to Ober Gatlinburg.  Once there, we decided to enjoy the wildlife experience.  Brian had a good time watching the black bears…he was like a little kid in a candy store.  We then decided to take the scenic chairlift up to the top of Mt. Harrison.  Once at the top, we explored around a bit and headed back down.  After a bit of shopping, we were off to explore “the strip” in Gatlinburg.  We visited a few shops, and then we decided to eat at the Smoky Mountain Brewery.  The meal was tasty and worth the money.  Brian enjoyed his “brew”, too.  We strolled the strip for a little while longer and made a few more stops.  We visited the Hollywood Star Cars Museum, and Brian thoroughly enjoyed it.  Being a car enthusiast, he was in heaven.  After walking a little bit more, we decided to head back to the cabin.  Once we had taken a quick nap, we headed out for our anniversary dinner.  We chose to eat at The Chop House, and it was delicious.  Granted, we weren’t able to eat it all, so we took some of it back to the cabin for another time.
Heading up to Ober GatlinburgIMG_6013 One of the owls we sawIMG_5945 Skunk…ewwwwwIMG_5947 Black bearIMG_5954
IMG_5956 OtterIMG_5960 Our view from the scenic chair lift heading up to Mt. HarrisonIMG_5963 Welcome to Mt. HarrisonIMG_5965 What a view…IMG_5967 We could see all these peaks from Mt. HarrisonIMG_5973 The view from the chair lift going back downIMG_5976 The cable system for the aerial tramwayIMG_5979 One of the tramsIMG_5981 Round house we saw from the tramIMG_5987 Look at that foundation…crazy!IMG_5992 Space Needle (we opted out of visiting)IMG_6005 Brian in a HUGE chairIMG_6012 The General Lee (I know you remember the Dukes of Hazard)IMG_6017 Car from The Italian Job (one of Brian’s favorite movies)IMG_6018 Back to the Future IMG_6020 The Beverly HillbilliesIMG_6021 1977 Pontiac Trans AmIMG_6028 Who You Gonna Call…GHOSTBUSTERS!IMG_6030 This was Brian’s favorite carIMG_6034 Jurassic Park (this was for Caleb)IMG_6043
Friday we got up and headed to Dollywood.  We stopped at Burger King first, and were pleased with our $2.44 breakfast.  LOL!  We were very surprised that Dollywood wasn’t crowded AT ALL.  We didn’t have to wait to get in, and most of the rides had short lines as well.  I think the longest we waited was 15 minutes…totally different than Disney.  It was so nice being able to enjoy the rides without the kiddos though…we don’t get to do that too much with the boys in tow.  We just took our time and enjoyed the park.  We enjoyed a sit down lunch at the Backstage Cafe, and it was nice to get out of the heat for a bit.  After lunch we enjoyed  a few more rides and called it a day.  We headed back to the cabin for a quick nap.  Then, we headed to Cades Cove.  The manager of the nearby Kroger (our Starbucks of choice) had told us to head there around dusk because we’d have a better chance of seeing the wildlife.  It was a really nice experience, and we did see some wildlife (wild turkeys and an abundance of deer).  However, we were disappointed that there were no bears to be seen.  Oh well, maybe next time.  Once we had driven the loop, we headed back to the cabin.
***I didn’t take the camera into Dollywood so there are no pictures of our fun there.***
Wild turkeyIMG_6048 Another shot of the wild turkeyIMG_6049 View of the Great Smoky MountainsIMG_6052 DeerIMG_6055
IMG_6057
IMG_6061 One of the buildings we saw along the wayIMG_6069 The sunset over Cades CoveIMG_6071 Another buildingIMG_6073
Saturday we packed up and headed back to reality.  We thoroughly enjoyed our getaway, and we had an awesome time.  However, we missed our boys, too.  We were ecstatic to be welcomed home by them Saturday afternoon. 

***As a sidenote, I want to wish Caleb a HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY!  You are a wonderful blessing and gift from God.  We are so thankful for you, and we love you so very much!  Happy Birthday big guy!***

5 comments:

Lin said...

What a great anniversary you had!! Isn't it nice to just be a couple again without being mom and dad too? You need that. Happy Anniversary to you both!

April Gardner said...

Happy Anniversary!!
We love Tennessee. Great choice for a get-away!

Unknown said...

What a fun weekend. Havent been here for awhile. Gladto see you are still blogging!

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