Tennessee Part 2

The last week we were in Tennessee, we stayed in a super sweet cabin about 10 miles outside of Gatlinburg.  Russell stayed in it on Friday as I spent Christy’s last night as a single lady with her.  However, that night he checked in was after the rehearsal dinner, it was late, and raining, and the code they gave us to get in the cabin didn’t work.  But because the cabin was in the mountains, there was no cell service.  So Russell had an interesting night before he finally drove back into town, called the owner, and got the right code.  The hassle was worth the wait!




We loved the cabin. . . so if you are planning a vacation in Gatlinburg we highly recommend it. 
The first full day we were in the cabin was Sunday.  We went to Pancake Pantry for breakfast.  Pancake Pantry was recommended to us by at least 4 people (here in Texas).  Of all the pancake places (which there is a lot in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area) this one is apparently the best.  And it was really good; however, there are a LOT of choices.  They need like a silver dollar pancake sized sampler platter. 

After pancake pantry we went to the grocery store and got some supplies for the rest of the week.  The rest of the day we just relaxed.  On Monday we went to Cade’s Cove, which is basically a fertile valley community  in the middle of Smokey Mountain National Park before they bought the land for the park.  In Cade’s Cove we saw 3 bears, a mama and her two babies.  They were SO cute!






That night we went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for dinner, Russell wanted shrimp.  I don’t like shrimp so I had a burger. lol.  We also walked around town some and Russell got some fudge (the first of many times haha).
On Tuesday we just relaxed around the cabin.  After our New Zealand honeymoon, which was very action packed, we both knew that we didn’t want to have something scheduled everyday.  But that night we went into Pigeon Forge to go to the Dixie Stampede.  Dixie Stampede is a dinner show put on by Dolly Parton.  It was a good show, horses, buffalo, pigs, good times.  Mom had texted saying that they might not have silverware.  And she was right.  I still don’t understand why not.  It was a LOT of food, soup (yes with no spoon!), a WHOLE chicken, a pork chop, corn, potato, and roll, PLUS dessert.  No cameras were allowed during the show, so sorry for the lack of pictures.


On Wednesday we went zip lining.  There was a place that was literally two minutes from our cabin.  It was SO much fun.  They had 10 zip lines that we did, and we never touched the ground until the very end.

After zip lining we went back to the cabin and got cleaned up.  Then we went and played putt putt.  We chose to play at a place called Hillbilly Golf.  We chose it because it looked cool, you have to ride a little tram up the mountain where the course is.  However, we were not too impressed with the course itself.  After that we went to a place where everyone in the guest book recommended, the Alamo Steakhouse.  It was really good, it was a nice place to have a nice meal.

Thursday was our last day in Tennessee.  Unfortunately, we had to be out of the cabin by 10.  So we packed everything, had breakfast at McDonalds, then went looked at some of the artists shops.  The first one we went in was definitely the best, it was a woodcarvers, where I got some Christmas ornaments.  After that we went to the aquarium.  It was good, but I wasn't overly impressed.  Then we went into Pigeon Forge and had lunchand then went to the Christmas store.  The Christmas store was AMAZING, there was all these different trees with different themes.  I wanted them all:  here are a few of the best:

blue and white china tree

red and white snowmen

gingerbread men

smores (marshmellow snowmen)

After Christy's Christmas in July theme wedding, and the Christmas store I am ready for Christmas!  If I start praying for a white Christmas now, do we think that God will get tired of that prayer and answer it?  

Oh yeah, we also got this made while we were in TN.  We love it, but not sure where to put it, so for now its on the mantle.  Please give suggestions.