Ted and I love to explore new places and amazingly our kids are pretty good road-trippers, as long as there are screens. In November, we took a long weekend and stayed in a cabin in western North Carolina and the stay really left us wanting more mountain time so we booked a cabin around Pigeon Forge, TN for Spring Break week. That's the extent of the pre-planning we did, I love to just collect brochures when we get somewhere, look around, feel-out what we want to do.
Family think we're crazy, but the last three road-trips, we wake up around 4 and are on the road by 5 AM, this works great for us, the kids are still drowsy, the few more hours of dark helps them rest, there's no traffic, and by 9/10 am, a good chunk of the trip is behind us! Ted, who any other time sleeps in passed me, is happy to take the first shift. Unfortunately, none of us slept once we were in the car, but at least there was some quiet time, and by 11:30 AM we were in Pigeon Forge!
We were looking for a place to eat and happened upon Bush's Bean Factory and Museum. Part of the fun of vacations with no structure is getting delightful surprises with no expectations. It's actually a lovely museum, shop and restaurant, and we really enjoyed spending a few hours there.
We were able to check in early, settle in, take a walk, then go back out for groceries. Our cabin was about 25 minutes from town, so we just planned each day knowing we would either be OUT or IN!
Hudson said he wouldn't go on the wheel because he's afraid of heights, yet, he was gung-ho about this ropes course! This did not make sense to me but Ted and I were very proud of him, and Hudson says this was a highlight of the trip!
After the caverns and a hike, we explored Gatlinburg. It was very commercial and congested but I'm glad we got to see it!
We hiked in the Great Smoky Mountains most of the days, this was a highlight for Ted and I.
If there are some rocks, he wants to climb them (and therefore Sadie wants to climb them)! Both kids need hiking boots before our next trip!
Next up, planning our NY/PA Summer trip!
Family think we're crazy, but the last three road-trips, we wake up around 4 and are on the road by 5 AM, this works great for us, the kids are still drowsy, the few more hours of dark helps them rest, there's no traffic, and by 9/10 am, a good chunk of the trip is behind us! Ted, who any other time sleeps in passed me, is happy to take the first shift. Unfortunately, none of us slept once we were in the car, but at least there was some quiet time, and by 11:30 AM we were in Pigeon Forge!
We were looking for a place to eat and happened upon Bush's Bean Factory and Museum. Part of the fun of vacations with no structure is getting delightful surprises with no expectations. It's actually a lovely museum, shop and restaurant, and we really enjoyed spending a few hours there.
We enjoyed this hot tub immensely! Many of the cabins we looked at had hot tubs inside, like inside the living room, so weird!
We watched a movie every day from the copious cabin collection including Spies Like Us, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and My Blue Heaven. Love that the kids are old enough now that we don't have to limit ourselves to cartoons.
When the kids ask for something in a shop, I offer to take a picture instead! We give them money at the beginning of the week to spend and they love taking all week to decide how they are going to spend it. This was an area called Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge that had lots of cute shops.
We also visited The Island at Pigeon Forge, Hudson did this ropes course while Sadie and I did the wheel! This area is a large outdoor mall with huge anchors like Margaritaville and Paula Dean restaurants. I wanted to go back at night to see the lights on the wheel and there is a water fountain light show, but honestly once we were home we stayed in, and it was chilly at night anyway, in the 30's and 40's so we skipped it for now!
From the Great Smoky Mountain Wheel
Hudson on the top of the Island Ropes Course
A beautiful yet still chilly day!
We enjoyed exploring Forbidden Caverns by Pigeon Forge.
Finally on the last day we did the must anticipated Zip line and Ropes Course, and we all got into it! After a couple of turns with help, Sadie was unclipping herself and zipping down the line over and over while the rest of us did some ropes course and some zipping. This was definitely pushing my comfort level but it's something we all want to do again!
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