On Monday, we drove from Indianapolis to Gatlinburg and checked into our cabin. We took it easy that night and just settled in and went out for Mexican food.
Home, sweet, home. It was a perfect size cabin for us, though we never did figure out if the kids were in the master bedroom or not. We gave them the one with the shower/tub combo instead of just a shower, but there was whirlpool tub just outside our room. Around the back is a screened porch with an outdoor table where we ate several meals (the kids thought it was funny to eat breakfast out there in their pjs) and a hot tub that Kevin and I enjoyed after the kids were in bed (and felt great after hiking). It was so nice to have enough room that we weren't right on top of each other, and we didn't have to worry about the kids disturbing anyone, like at a hotel. It was also very nice to be able to have breakfast there. I made muffins to have during the week and one day did a big bacon and eggs type breakfast. We also cooked out on the grill a couple of times, and had pizza and a movie one evening. We really liked not having to eat out for every single meal.
For our first full day, we hit "The Village" area of Gatlinburg that is full of little specialty shops. First up was a doughnut snack at the Doughnut Friar which the kids enjoyed immensely. Then Malcolm and I went into the fancy cheese shop and made some selections for our dinner. They were nice enough to hold them for us and we picked them up on our way back. Those were our two main stops of the day, but we walked around the little shops and checked everything out.
The kids really liked watching a couple of artisans making mugs and bowls at a pottery place. Later in the week, we bought each of them a kid sized mug as a souvenir, and they were really excited.
Once we finished in The Village, we walked up the street to take in all of the tackiness. Malcolm wanted to do
everything and thought it all looked completely amazing.
Outside Ripley's, there is a huge granite boulder floating on a thin layer of water that you can roll and turn. We were very lucky that the area wasn't very busy during the week while we were there, so the kids got a nice long turn since no one was waiting.
Malcolm was hugely impressed with the Transformer, and this was about the only picture he willingly posed for all week. We didn't go in to Ripley's, but this was just outside.
We had lunch in Gatlinburg, then headed back to our cabin for a rest. While the kids were resting, I hit the grocery store and bought a few perishable things to get us through the week. We had brought all the non-perishable items we needed because it us super expensive since there is only one grocery store in town. I had made muffins the first night and discovered that despite having a "fully stocked" kitchen, there were no pot holders. I saw two for a dollar at the grocery store, so I bought them and we left them as a donation in a drawer of the kitchen.
For dinner, we headed into the Smoky Mountains Chimney picnic area. It was beautiful, and we had the place nearly to ourselves. We grabbed a table near the river and enjoyed a lovely evening.
Our spread. We had the fancy cheeses we bought earlier in the day (smokey cheddar, white cheddar green olive, Jarlesburg, and goat cheese gouda), summer sausage, roasted garlic bread, fresh fruit, feta stuffed olives and pickles. It was so good! When we were done, we had to clean everything up before heading to the river because there were signs everywhere not to leave any food unattended, even in a basket or its packaging.
Climbing on the rocks.
Throwing little rocks into the water was easily one of their favorite things to do. After a day or two, Malcolm started to prefer climbing on the big rocks to tossing in the little ones.
On our way home, we saw several people pulled over on the side of the road, so we pulled over to to see what all the fuss was about. I assumed there were some deer or turkeys, but we were pleasantly surprised to discover a momma bear with three cubs. I couldn't get all of them in one picture, and my camera doesn't have a big zoom, so I couldn't get a clear picture, but here's the best I could do.
It was very exciting to get to see them. I honestly didn't think we would ever see any bears while we were there, and we did it on our very first day!
When we got back to the cabin, Dorothy found a little cricket on the railing and was very excited to pick him up. She was more impressed with the cricket than the bears.
It was a pretty perfect first day; we experienced pretty much everything the area has to offer in just a few hours. We weren't sure we would be able to top it, but we did manage to maintain a good momentum for the rest of our stay.
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