Family Vacation

When Tyler and Kaelyn got out of school on Friday, we brought them home and ate lunch. Then we asked them if they wanted to go on a trip. To which they enthusiastically replied "YES!". I already had suitcases packed and Chuck had put them in my car before going to pick the kids up from school. So after getting the last minute things together we started out on our journey to the mountains of Tennessee. On Friday we stopped north of Atlanta and stayed the night in a hotel and then we were back on the road Saturday morning. We made it to our cabin that afternoon. After checking out our cabin and unloading all of our luggage, we headed to the local Kroger grocery store there in Pigeon Forge to buy groceries that we would need for our stay.

On Sunday we rode go-karts in Pigeon Forge. Later on we went into Gatlinburg, our first stop was at Ripley's Davy Crockett® Mini-Golf.

Kaelyn saw the Gatlinburg Sky Lift and wanted to ride on it. Tyler said he wasn't interested in going on it, so Chuck bought two tickets for him and Kaelyn to ride. Tyler and I sat at the bottom of the mountain and waited for them to get back. Then we walked around Gatlinburg and stopped in at numerous shops.

For supper Chuck and I wanted to go to Bennett's Pit Bar-B-Que. The last time that Chuck and I had ate there was on our honeymoon almost fifteen years ago. It was just as good this time as it was back then. I ordered their Smokehouse Combo with pulled pork, quarter chicken, and pork spareribs along with a side of fries and bar-b-que beans. I had some of the best sweet tea that I have ever tasted before. This is a place I highly  recommend you eat at if you are ever in Gatlinburg.

Don't you just love this little container that they brought our BBQ sauce in?

After we ate we drove back to our cabin for a relaxing evening with more time in the hot tub. We also played a few rounds of pool. Tyler really enjoyed that pool table and wanted to know if we could get a pool table for our house. I asked him where on earth did he think we would put it if we got one. His reply to me was, "In my bedroom.", I asked him where did he plan on sleeping at, because his bed would not fit if there was a pool table in there. You could tell he was putting some thought into his answer, he then said, "I could just sleep on top of the pool table, I like a firm bed." I just about fell over laughing. He wasn't joking though, he was serious about it. Our final answer to him about getting a pool table was a big "NO".

Monday morning started our day with being cold and overcast (the weather was nice and comfortable on Saturday and Sunday). We ended up spending some time in Pigeon Forge going to some different shops. Then we went back into Gatlinburg where we stopped for some photo opportunities.

Kaelyn asked if we could eat pizza for lunch, so we went in search of a pizza place that was local. We didn't want to eat somewhere that we had back home. We did find this little place called Best Italian Cafe & Pizzeria . After eating here I told my family that I didn't want to eat pizza again back home, because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as what I had just eaten. That was some very good pizza.

After lunch we had to go and walk off some of that pizza. So we walked the streets of Gatlinburg one last time. Tyler and Kaelyn both had some spending money that was about to burn a hole in their pockets. They knew what they wanted to buy so we went in search for those coveted items. A knife or several knives for Tyler and Kaelyn got a new purse and wallet. We did one last fun thing before heading back to our cabin. It was Go-Karts. I decided not to ride this time, so it was just Chuck, Kaelyn and Tyler that were riding.

After the go-karts we went back to our cabin and started getting our things packed back up. Then after supper we went to bed early. On Tuesday we were up early and ready to make the long trip back home. Even now almost a week later our kids are still talking about our vacation to the mountains. We had a great time and are looking forward to making plans for another vacation next year.