Our 10th Anniversary Getaway 110509-110809

So we have been talking about it for awhile about what we would do for our anniversary. We had talked about going on an Alaskan cruise, but knew we needed to do that probably in May/June timeframe to be really good. Since Kevin was without a job for awhile we thought about waiting but I really wanted to do SOMETHING for our anniversary. So we talked about it and I started looking into renting a cabin. After a lot of searching I found one in Pigeon Forge, TN that had an entire package included (I will get to the stuff included later) for what I think was a really great price. So we booked it.

On Thursday morning we dropped Tye off at school at 7:20am and headed down the road. It took us awhile to get through the traffic of Brandon, FL and everyone leaving for work. lol But it was all good. Then once we got on the highway we didn't go very far before there was a huge backup because of a wreck. Anyway, we finally got on our way and we felt we were making pretty good time. We stopped a couple of times along the way to get gas and lunch. Then as we were driving on one of the roads I saw a sign for some water falls. I said, "let's stop!" So we turned down one road and didn't see anything, so we turned around and went back and said oh well. Well when we got back on the road the next road had another sign so I said, "let's turn here!" lol So we did and we did find the falls, the original turn would have taken us there, we just needed to be a bit more patient. Anyway, it was called Tallulah Falls Gorge. There was a cute country store that had a viewing platform you could go out on. Kevin spied some old fashioned bottled soda and wanted to get one, but didn't find any cream soda so he couldn't convince me it was worth it to buy it! lol

Here is the view we actually saw, I am sad the colors of the trees didn't turn out quite as beautiful as they were, but I still think you can see it fairly well.

Here is the zoomed in version of the falls down in the gorge.
Kevin and I on the deck overlooking the falls.

After that we started winding through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. And that road was windy for sure! You could only go about 35 on the road. Oh and by then it was about 5:30pm so it was DARK through those mountains/trees!

We got into Pigeon Forge, TN about 7pm and decided to go to dinner and then hit Walmart to get the propane tank we supposedly needed for the cabin (instead of driving back out after we got to the cabin and unpacked....glad we did as the cabin was about 10 miles out of town--which meant 30 mins on those windy roads.)

We ate dinner at Pop's Catfish. We wanted a local place, that wasn't an all you can eat buffet (or let me clarify that, I didn't want an all you can eat buffet). So in we went, I debated and finally decided on the crab stuff flounder and Kevin got the all you can eat catfish and chicken. The flounder was really pretty good, slightly more fishy than I would have liked, but the crab stuffing was DELISH! The sides were wonderful, the hushpuppies and cornbread. YUM!

Then we ran to walmart and got the propane tank. And then off to the cabin we went. Like I said it was already dark, but thank heavens at least one of us have a cell phone we had to use it as a flashlight to get into our cabin! lol They had not left the porch light on so we couldn't see the buttons to push to unlock the door! lol

Once we got in this is what we found.

One dozen roses with a gorgeous arrangement! (Part of that package I mentioned.) These flowers stayed lovely for over a week and really are just now totally dead two weeks after they were bought! Aren't they pretty?? And they smelled so yummy! lol

Another part of the package...2 dozen chocolate covered strawberries! These were soooo yummy! The strawberries were good and the chocolate was heavenly! Also to be included was supposed to be wine glasses, but they forgot them and since we aren't wine drinkers I didn't put up much of a stink.

Here is the view of the living room from the loft/bedroom.

This is the awesome bed! I would LOVE to have a bed like this if I had a cabin! lol And man oh man was it ever comfy! I meant to check out what kind of matress it was but I forgot! lol I want one!!! lol

Here is our cabin. The picture of course is from the next day since it was dark when we got there. It's kindof hard to see because the "front" is really the side of the cabin and the "side" is really the front. So to take it we had to go to another driveway and take the picture otherwise you would get a lovely picture of the electric meter on the side of the cabin! lol

I gave Kevin a scrapbook I made about the last 10 years. If you want to see what the pages look like they are posted on my scrapbook blog! Kevin was so suprised and we had a great time reminiscing over all the cool things we have done since we got married. Some of the vacations we have taken, buying/building our house, Tye's adoption, etc. Kevin really tries to be thoughtful for Anniversary gifts but he always struggles. I am so hard to buy for on anniversaries. I don't wear jewelry so that is a waste of money. I don't wear perfume so that is a no go. I am not really a girly girl with all that stuff. So he tried by getting me a foot spa. It was a great thought, but something I would never use (well I guess I MIGHT use it on the days I work the elections but hello that is only twice every two years! so more something to take up space than something that will be used). lol He is still trying to find a replacement gift, I don't mind, I really am just glad we were able to spend time together on our getaway.

So later we walked down (and I really do mean DOWN) the road on Friday to the main road. I asked Kevin how far we were going to go down and he said, "only as far as we are willing to walk back up!" lol The trees were beautiful! The colors were gorgeous, once again I don't feel the pictures do it justice.

At the bottom of the road and across the main road was a cool river/creek (not sure what they call it). There was even a little waterfall on it. Neat to listen to. We walked along it for about 1/4 mile. (The morning we left it was all foggy over it, so neat looking). Then we hiked back up the hill. I felt pretty good, a bit winded at times, but I totally did it and was beating Kevin!!! We stopped twice because of him being out of breath, not me this time!! This really was a huge hill, even our car struggled to go up it (made some weird engine sounds like it was really good worked over! lol), so it was a great accomplishment!!!!

We played pool a couple of times that day. We each won 2 games.

Then we headed into town. Kevin wanted to check out the bookstores (his "tradition" when he goes some place is to look at their chess books, why chess books I don't know, yes, I know he likes it, but why is that the thing he has to do when he goes on vacation?! I mean isn't chess everywhere, can't he buy these books at any Barnes and Noble?! lol). So anyway we went on our book hunt. I guess the good thing about his little book hunt is I found 2 Christmas gifts!

We were going to make hamburgers on the grill at the cabin that night for dinner, but it was getting late after our chess book hunt so he wanted to just eat in town. I was all looking forward to a hamburger so we decided to find a local hamburger place. And we found one in Mel's Diner! Yep, Mel's Diner. Here we are! lol I even got a chocolate MALT! I haven't had one of those since I graduated from High School (which was 1994 and we used to get them at the Country Diner where I worked in High School). YUM and of course HUGE, Kevin shared with me.

The outside of Mel's Diner. Isn't it cute?!

The next morning we went into town again to do some tourist shopping! I had to find my thimble and we wanted to get something for Tye but not a shirt! lol JK! This was just inside the 3 Bears Country Store. Too cute, all the town was already decorated for Christmas. This was the store I found a new thing called Pumpkin butter! I really wanted to buy it but felt bad paying $6.99 for a pint! Not to mention what if I got this whole pint for seven dollars and then end up hating it! So I decided against it. But thought about it all day long! lol We found Tye a little black bear with a scarf on it that says, "Great Smokey Mountains". He is into stuffed animals right now (especially at night, he likes sleeping with them) so it was perfect for him!

Then it was lunch time. So we wanted to have a southern style country lunch! lol So we saw this "Old Mill Restaurant" and decided to go there. The wait was 25 mins so we decided to wander the stores nearby. We went into the Old Mill Gift shop and guess what they had?! Pumpkin Butter!!! But they had it in a smaller size. So I told Kevin after we got done eating we needed to go back in there and get it.

So we ate our lunch, I had fried chicken, mashed potatos, green beans, biscuits and fritters. OH MY I have never had fritters before (at least not that I know of), oh they were good and I wanted more oh so bad! lol Guess it is probably a good thing she didn't bring me more or I probably would have been sick! lol

But we did hit the gift shop after and got the pumpkin butter and guess what?! Fritter mix! Oh yeah!!! lol Oh and for your information, the pumpkin butter--DELISH!!!! I am now ticked I didn't buy the bigger one! So good on this multi grain bread we buy some times. OH YUM! I will definitely be buying it again if we ever get up there!

After that we checked out some more tourist shops and FINALLY was going to meet up with my friend Jane. Jane used to live here and we were really close. I was so sad when she moved away, but she moved up to Nashville, TN. So it was about a 4 hour drive for them to get to Pigeon Forge. I was sooooo excited when we finally got together (there was way too much traffic and it took them WAY too long to get through town to where we were! lol). She couldn't believe how I looked! lol

So after they ate lunch and Kevin and I had a piece of pie (since we had already eaten lunch), we went to the Christmas Place. Oh my, this place was HUGE and it had sooo much Christmas stuff! So neat. I think we were there for probably 2 hours and I think we only saw 1/2 of it (if that). I found a school bus ornament for Tye for Christmas, it is soooo cute! And then I found a graduation cap ornament for Kevin because the year he graduated from ITT we wanted that to be our ornament for the year and could never find one so we actually don't have an ornament for that year until now!

Here is Jane and her boyfriend, Pat. He was a funny guy we had a lot of fun with him!

Kevin and I in front of the Christmas Place.

After that we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I had prime rib, YUM! My Favorite steak! Kevin had the NY Strip (I think! lol)

Then we headed up to the cabin for the night. They were quite impressed with the actual cabin. I think it is a cute one myself! lol My only complaint was we couldn't figure out how to get the DVD player in the living room to work and there was only a VCR in the bedroom and we only took DVDs. There was also a hot tub and we really wanted to go in it, but it was around the side so it was going to be MIGHTY cold to get out and go into the cabin so we skipped it! I think next time we would get in it during the day when it isn't quite so cold! lol

Here is Kevin and I on the front porch of our cabin!

Another picture of the gorgeous trees with their changing leaves.

What a great getaway! We are so blessed to have been able to go and enjoy ourselves. (Thank you to Oma and Opa for watching Tye while we were gone. We could have never done it without you guys!)

I can't believe it has already been 10 years since we have been married! Some days I think both of us wonder how we ever made it past one year! lol

I love you honey! Thanks for taking this journey through life with me!