Early last week, Cory suggested that we go away for the weekend. I had an extremely busy week at work and told him he would have to plan it. Do you ever have those times where you know you need to step back and get away but it almost seems like a hassle? I am stresser {if that’s even a word} and I normally plan our trips, pick our hotel, and make sure everything works out with our finances. I hate to admit it but Friday afternoon I was almost dreading our trip. It’s not that I didn’t want to spend time with my husband but I spent all day
Thursday doing laundry and I still had to pack and get the dogs to my parents house. On top of that, I worry about our dogs when I am away from them. I can’t help it, they’re my babies.
Once I got off Friday, I was exhausted from another busy day at work. I came straight home and packed in record time…30 minutes. That. never. happens. And I only had 3 outfits so the whole ride up there I was convinced that I had forgotten something that I just couldn’t survive the weekend without.
Ha! Even with three outfits, I still over packed.
BUT…I was so wrong to feel this way. Cory and I have the best conversations in the car and we had 3 1/2 hours to chat. Somehow, I managed to stay awake the whole ride up there {which never happens} and as we started to enter Gatlinburg, I started getting so excited about spending some quality time with Cory.
It turned out to be a wonderful weekend. I hate that it actually took me getting there to realize we needed the break but thankful that Cory recognized it and planned the trip. He was so worried about the hotel-I’m kind of picky when it comes to hotels. It doesn’t have to be four stars, but it has to be clean and I don’t like hotels that have doors that open to the outside. The hotel was both clean and you had to enter through the lobby.
Good job, babe!
By the time we got to our hotel Friday night, it was almost 10pm so we got settled and crashed. We got started early Saturday morning and ate breakfast at The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge. It was packed but we only had to wait about 15 minutes or so. The food was definitely worth the wait. We both got the Old Mill country breakfast but it was so much food, neither of us could finish.
After breakfast, we headed to downtown Gatlinburg to do a little exploring and shopping. I think Cory was most excited to see the giant Transformer and super heroes that we saw driving through Friday night.
The transformer was made of real car parts. As you can tell, he liked it.
Downtown Gatlinburg has a sky lift that I wanted to ride for the pictures I could get at the top except Cory hates heights. But he rode it for me and my pictures didn’t disappoint but this one is my favorite.
They had a camera at the top and Cory and I decided to do a scared face. I told him mine looks more confused than scared but his is priceless. That look probably wasn’t far from the truth. I hated to pay 12 bucks for this picture but I couldn’t walk away from how funny it was.
After we got done in downtown Gatlinburg, we headed back to Pigeon Forge to the Tanger Outlets. It was a ridiculously busy but we finally found a parking spot and started shopping. I wasn’t in the mood to really shop {which is strange for me} and I’m not even sure why. I think it was the crowd and the fact that my feet were killing me. But I did want to make it into Coach and what do ya know, they were having an extra 50% off sale. It was a mad house in there so I found what I was looking for and called it a day. I’ve been looking for a bag that had the cross body option and I found one that I love! It’s the perfect color and size.
After we left the outlets, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. Since we had such a big breakfast, we skipped lunch but were starving by 5:00pm so we decided on an early dinner. I had asked on my Facebook for some recommendations for things to do and where to eat while we were there and someone recommended Bullfish Grill. After reading some of the reviews, we decided to try it for dinner. It was so good! I was craving a good steak and Cory got a burger.
Since we had an early dinner, we had time to go to The Christmas Place which is a gigantic Christmas decor shop. I was a little overwhelmed with everything they had {and still not really in the mood to shop} so I didn’t get anything but I enjoyed looking at all their decorated trees and getting some ideas. Plus, the outside was all lit up and I love looking at Christmas lights.
After we left The Christmas Place, we headed to an arcade. I’m married to a big kid, remember? I was too busy playing skee-ball and getting a ridiculous amount of tickets watching Cory enjoy himself to get any good pictures.
Cory was dying of thirst when we left so we swung through McDonald’s to get him something to drink. I was craving a McFlurry and a Pumpkin Spice Latte and I couldn’t decided which one I wanted so I got both. Isn’t that what vacation is for? To eat all the good food you want?
Sunday morning we slept in a little and headed to Sevierville to check out a shop called The Beehive. It was another Facebook recommendation and had a lot of neat stuff but the real jewel was the flea market Cory found. He is on a constant search to complete his
collection and was like a kid on Christmas morning with the Egon from The Real Ghostbusters {and grocery bag full of others} he found.
We headed back to Pigeon Forge to go to the Apple Barn Winery. They have two restaurants, the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant and Applewood Farmhouse Grill. We chose the restaurant and oh. my. gawd. was it good. If you are ever in Pigeon Forge and looking for way too much home cooked food, eat here!
They start you off with homemade apple fritters and apple butter. After that, you have soup and a salad or coleslaw. I chose the vegetable soup and Cory had one called the Pot Likker. Both were excellent. I chose the salad and Cory had the coleslaw with his meal.
For our meal, we had a big of bowl of mashed potatoes to share and I had meatloaf and mac-n-cheese. Cory had ham and fried okra. As you can see, both of us got big ‘ole hunks of meat. After our meal, we got dessert and Cory got the apple pie and I got a big slice of chocolate cake. The table behind us was already giving me weird looks for taking so many pictures so I opted out of dessert pictures. Trust me, pictures didn’t do any of this food justice. It was all so good and I highly recommend it.
Our last stop on our trip was to Wonderworks which is a interactive attraction. We thought it might be too childish for us but we both enjoyed it.
Our poor, ugly children.
Cory doing the Han Solo in carbonite. He’s such a nut.
Us as Oompa Loompas with cute little short legs.
On the way home, we came across a bunch of cars stopped in the middle of the road with their cameras. We realized there was a bear in the tree right off the side of the road. I’ve never seen a bear in the wild before and had to snap a picture, even though I had to ride home soaking wet.
So I’m sure I’ve shared way too many food details and pictures than you are interested in but Cory and I had such a nice weekend. We are so blessed that we had the opportunity to get away for a few days.
5 Comments
Lauryn Roth
This is awesome! We are supposed to leave tommorow for Gatlinburg! I cant wait!!! Great pics!
Paige @ Reasons to Come Home
Hope you guys have a fun time!
Andrea A
Oh man! My husband would have lost his mind over the Transformers and super heroes! I love The Christmas Place. We try to get an ornament there each year. Maybe Josh and I need to sneak away before Christmas. This looked so fun! :)
Paige @ Reasons to Come Home
Yes! You do! I’m so glad we were able to get away. Hope you guys get a chance to!
Nikki Wonn
Hi! We go every year and really love getting out in the nature. A great place to go is Chimney tops picnic area and Cade’s Cove. The Chimney Tops is my favorite place to stop and have a picnic or just walk on the huge boulder rocks in the creek. There is grills there to use. The ride through Townsend on your way to Cade’s Cove is beautiful. There is some fun little shops to stop at too. I love riding through the historic nature trail on roaring fork It’s so pretty! Those btw are all great places to take pictures. The Applebarn is a favorite too! But my favorite place of all time is The Log Cabin in Gatlinburg! Every year we go it’s so ridiculously good I have to eat there as many mornings as I can. The French toast is the best ever hands down! They make a Royal banana foster French toast that pretty amazing too. Everything is good! It’s by the convention center down a side road. There is always a crowd but line moves fast. It’s an old Log cabin that’s been there for a long time. The owners daughter has a Candy shop next door. Also, the rotary club puts on a craft tent in Pigeon Forge over behind the Mill. I think it starts in October. If you are ever there at that time it is a great place to find awesome stuff. I get my wooden Christmas ornaments there every year for 1.00 each. Lady even personalizes it for free in beautiful handwriting. My tree is covered in gorgeous wooden ornaments. These are by far my favorite places. Check them out whenever you go back to visit. I’m sure they will become places you will visit every time you go😉