My annual b-day trip to the Smokies

[IloveJack]

Family Trip for My Birthday
October 12-15, 2007
ArrowCreek Campground, Gatlinburg, TN

Dad, 59
Mom, 56
Me, turning 27 on trip
DH, David, 22
DB, Sam, 22
DB's GF, Lindsey, 22

Friday, October 12
David and I left our house at 7am to go to Mom and Dad's. After a brief stop at McD's for breakfast, we made it to their house by 7:30. They were still loading the Suburban, so we threw our stuff in and helped out by feeding the pets. Our drive was pretty uneventful, and we stopped for lunch in Knoxville at my favorite restaurant, Kan-Pai of Tokyo. This was my fave place to eat when I lived there, and since then, I've introduced both Mom and David. Today would be Dad's first visit, and he ate til he could eat no more.
Dad had decided to go to Gatlinburg the back way, through Townsend, so I directed him through Alcoa, and we were soon in the foothills. We had hoped to miss the traffic of Sevierville this way, but we were soon slowed to 20mph by the car in front of us. They never had the courtesy to pull off, and we ended up arriving at the campground an hour after check-in.
Sam and Lindsey were already there, but since the cabins were in my name, they had to wait on us to check-in. The owner was rather grumpy, and gave us a hard time about using the AAA discount. (This was after they “changed the rules” and wouldn't allow us to bring our dogs. I'm glad I called ahead, as we'd have had to board them up there somewhere).
I decided then and there that $82.50 a night, per cabin, wasn't worth it, not to mention that we were 8 miles out of town! For the $165 it was costing us a night, we could get a suite at a hotel, or one of the luxury cabins that have a hot tub, pool, jukebox, etc., where I've stayed before! We would have left, but they have 45-day cancellation policy, and I wasn't giving them $165! :-o Oh well, we enjoyed it last year, and we didn't let it ruin this year, either.
We moved in to the cabins, David and I in one, and Mom, Dad, Sam, and Lindsey in the other. The cabins each have one bed, one futon, a half-kitchen, and a full bath. We'd planned to eat most of our meals at the cabins, but ended up only eating breakfast's there.
We all piled into the suburban and headed to town. We parked in the same lot we always park in, behind Texas Roadhouse, as it's $6 for the rest of the night, versus $5 an hour at most of the other places. We strolled down the strip, checking out the decorations. We had specific destination, other than to return to Bennett's for dinner. We stopped in a few places, then went to the Mountain Mall. We just window shopped, as we had no intention of carrying packages on our first night in town. We found a store called the Turtle Shop, and I exclaimed, “It's my store!” (since I collect turtles). :cloud9: We turned around when it started to get dark, and headed back up the strip to Bennett's.
It took us a little while to be seated. (I was shocked when I didn't have to choose a seating preference, as this was the first time I'd eaten out under the new “no smoking” law). Our waitress seemed put off by our being there, at first, but was then sweet and helpful the rest of the meal. However, the food was dry and tough. :ack: This was the first meal I'd ever had at Bennett's that I hadn't fully enjoyed. Oh well. All in all, it's still a great place to eat.
The “flower peddler” came by while we were eating, and set Sam's allergies aflame. His eye starting tearing up, and pretty soon was running as if he was in full sob mode. He ended up in a pretty foul mood the rest of the night, as his eye was irritating him so much.
We were told by the camp owners that it would be easier and quicker to drive to Newport to go to Wal-Mart for groceries, versus back into Sevierville. Err... not sure what they were thinking, but it definitely wasn't. By the time we left Wal-Mart, everyone was irritable. Sam's eye was swollen and puffy (good thing his gf is a current pharmacy student!), David was getting a sinus infection, and I was in the middle of a reaction to my insulin. I spent the drive back forcing down an apple, that I wasn't hungry enough to eat, with David begging me to eat it so my sugar would go back up. Sam spent the drive sleeping, as Lindsey had doped him up. In fact, he didn't remember getting out of the car and going into the cabin that night.

Saturday, Oct. 13
David and I were up way before the others, so we just enjoyed the warmth of the cabin (I was glad I had packed both warm and cool clothing). Once I heard them moving about, I got a shower while David helped Dad cook breakfast. The kitchens only had microwaves, toasters, and coffee pots, so they cooked eggs and sausage on the camping stoves we'd brought. Mom toasted bread and bagels in their cabin while Lindsey got a shower. Sam was still in bed with half of his face swollen up by now. We finally got him up when the food was ready. We offered to find him a doctor, but he didn't want to waste half the day, so he took more Benadryl, and got ready. We'd planned to be on the road by 9:00. It was more like 11:00 by the time we left.
Our destination today was Grotto Falls. David and I had been here in April, and we wanted the rest of the family to see it. Normally, we would head to Cades Cove on our annual “leaf-changing” trip, but we'd tired of that, and this was better than sitting in a car all day. I'd warned Dad that it was a treacherous road, and they agreed by the time we got to the top. We noticed that most of the leaves were still green (unless they were dead), which is very unusual for this time of year. It's peak season here, normally. But with the drought, and then the recent rains, most of the trees and plants were flowering out like it was spring. Oh well, we think the Smokies are beautiful even in the dead of winter! We had to drive about 0.2 mi. past the parking lot to park on the side of the road, but that's typical for this trail. It's really popular, and there are only about 15 parking spots.
Mom wasn't as up to this as she'd expected to be (she'd had quintuple bypass surgery on May 4), but she held her own. We just had to take it a lot slower than normal. It took us about twice as long to hike the trail as was the recommended time allotment. However, this gave the “kids” plenty of time to play with their cameras, and take tons of pictures. David and I both consider ourselves amateur photographers, and Sam's learning. Lindsey just goes with the flow. Once we got there, David and I, of course, had to climb all over the side of the falls, taking pictures, and getting views most people don't.
On our way driving back down the mountain, I looked behind us, and saw a minivan with kids hanging out of it. Not just hanging out of it, but there were two sitting on the front “window sills,” two standing up out of the sun roof, and one laying across the top of the van, hanging onto the sun roof! I took their picture, since they were being so ridiculously dangerous. I really hoped to see a ranger on down the road, and send them back up after them. :nono:
Once we got back to the cabin, Sam and David were still very tired, so they asked for a little while to lie down, and then we would go to town for a while. Well, David fell asleep, and I started watching the UK-LSU game. I woke him up when they were tied at the final buzzer. I was a little shocked that no one had come to get us, so I went to find out what was going on. I found Mom and Dad outside grilling steaks and playing cards. I asked why they weren't getting ready to go out, and they said Sam and Lindsey were still asleep, so they'd decided to stay in. I was fine with that, as I wanted to watch the rest of the football game. All I have to say is... Wow! Who saw that coming? :cheer:
When the game was over, David and I bundled up and went back out to sit with Mom and Dad. I got out my sketch book and started drawing to pass the time. I drew a “goth” Tinkerbell, which David really liked (and suggested I be for Halloween ;). I was finished with all but the shading when the food was ready. The other two were awake by then, and got the utensils ready so we could eat. The steak and potatoes were better than Bennett's from the night before! After dinner, Dad got the pumpkin pie (my fave!) that he'd bought earlier, and split it up six ways, calling it my birthday cake. (Since going on insulin, I've virtually weaned myself from sweets. Cake isn't my favorite dessert in the world, so I didn't want to “waste” my carbs on it. Dad understood and got me something that he knew I'd enjoy. I love my Daddy!) :party:
Since the youngun's had some extra rest, we decided to have some fun with the cameras, and David and I taught Sam and the rest of them how to “double expose” digital pictures. I won't go into detail here, but we laughed for hours as we took some hillarious pictures!

Second half in next post...

[IloveJack]

Sunday, Oct. 14 (My 27th birthday!)
David's first words to me this morning were “Happy birthday!” :party: To which I promptly responded, “Don't mention it.” He frowned, and asked why. I explained that I never wanted to be this old and not have any kids yet (we're following dr.'s orders, and waiting until my blood sugar stabilizes, before trying). He reminded me that hopefully our next visit would bring the good news, and by the time I turned 28, I could very well be a mother. I still cried over it, and since the others weren't up yet, he held me for a while, and let me cry. :babyroll:
Today began much like yesterday, with Dad and David cooking outside, and Mom toasting inside. At dinner last night, we'd discussed hiking somewhere new, since we always seemed to do the same things on these trips. Dad had once started the Alum Cave Bluffs Trail, but not gotten very far and had to turn around. He asked if we could go there. We didn't mind, so the decision was made.
We got a little bit earlier start this morning, but still were behind schedule. Oh well! It's vacation! I fell asleep on the way up the mountain, as I had slept very little the night before. (I stayed up reading until almost midnight, then was too hot to sleep, as David had the heater up to 78 due to his cold). David woke me when we got to the trailhead. The recommended time allotment for this trail was twice as long as yesterday's. Of course, the trail was twice as long. It was considered “moderate,” so we figured it would take us about 5 hours to hike it.
Dad stayed with Mom today, holding her hand for most of the hike. That meant the “kids” did a lot of waiting again. Of course, we took lots of pictures! Sam had been bragging about his new Nikes “with cleats” all trip. He put them to the test, though, by climbing all over the rocks in the creek. The cleats didn't help, and he just about went down the rocks on his rear! Lindsey already needed a potty by this time, and we were only about an hour into the hike. No one had thought to bring tp though, so she just dealt until the hike was over. Mom freaks out on the small log bridges, so it took us quite a while to convince her to go further when someone told us there were 5 of them. We were amazed at the ease of the hike, especially to have been labeled “moderate,” until we reached the Arch.
The Arch looks like a cave, until you realize there's nowhere to enter the mountain; you just go through the side of it. It's literally straight up, and there's a wire cable to hold onto as you climb the rock. After that, the trail became severe, and I concluded that the lable of “moderate” was reached by averaging the “easy” first half, and the “severe” second half. The rest of the trail was either climbing major rock, or holding your breath as you walked a trail more narrow than you. The views to our side were absolutely amazing! We would literally hike to the top of the mountain by the end of the hike, and as we were on the absolute edge of it, we could see for miles out across the range.
Once we got to the bluff, the “kids” roamed all over it. It was a little too steep for Mom, so Dad stayed with her. The bluff was probably 20 stories high, or higher. I climbed up in a crevice for some great photo ops, and took the chance to have a snack. I didn't want to have another insulin reaction three miles up!
By now, Lindsey wasn't the only one who needed a potty break, so the trip down took much less time. Sam found a tree :pine: to “use” and while we waited, we joked that he'd been eaten by a bear. Then, since he's a hairy man, we joked that instead of eating him, the bear had taken him to be it's “honey!” We hurried on down the mountain, but then ended up waiting for an extra 30 minutes for Mom and Dad to make their way down. Sam and Lindsey went on to the “burban,” but my ankle was bothering me, so David and I stopped a little ways in to wait for Mom and Dad. I had also gotten a little worried that if something happened to either of them, it would take us too long to find out, if we were all at the car. Mom later thanked me for thinking enough of them to wait.
We raced over to the Chimney's picnic area, and all visited the restroom, before heading back to Gatlinburg. Mom and Dad had bought porkchops to grill, but Sam and David had developed a craving for burgers, so Dad offered to pay for dinner in Pigeon Forge. Sam decided on the Golden Corral (:sick:), and we didn't object. A buffet, where the largest section is for desserts, is not a diabetic's friend. Mom and I had a little trouble finding enough to eat; Mom, even more so, as she now has to watch her fat intake. I finally decided on a steak and sweet potatoes, and stayed far from the desserts!
After eating, we headed to The Track. One of Lindsey's friends is a manager there, and had left us about $90 worth of tickets. Each of the “kids” rode go-karts twice. I don't like them, so I rode once by myself, and once with David in a double kart. Then, all six of us used the rest of the tickets to play mini-golf. It was a lot of fun, and we took some great pictures with the props. Lindsey came in first, which was funny to us, as Sam is the “golf pro.” He did make second, then the parents, then David and I tied for last. Oh well, neither of us are the competitive type (with mini-golf, at least), and we'd rather tie each other than worry about who won.
Once the tickets were gone, we headed back to the cabins. David and I took a couple of pictures of just us. Sam and Lindsey noticed, and got in the pictures, too. David and Sam were going to take some time exposure shots of the stars, but the girls were tired, and convinced them to go to bed. We decided to get up early and be out of there by 8:30, then split up for the night.


Ended in third post...

[IloveJack]

Monday, Oct. 15
David and I were up on time, ready, and packed well before the others. (Surprise, surprise!) David was feeling better, and the weather was warming up. We rushed them along, and drove over to the front office to check out. Once we got there, however, we realized they didn't open until 9:00. Sam suggested leaving the key on the mat and going, but I was afraid they'd charge my card to replace the keys, as rude as they'd been when we checked in. The owner's son showed up about 5 minutes early, and we gave him our keys.
We'd planned to eat at the Pancake Pantry, and spend the day loafing in Gatlinburg, so we parked behind the Village. Mom paid for parking with a $20 bill, and got back $14 in quarters. We used $4 of them to pay for Sam's parking, along with a couple of dollar bills. She told me to hang on to the quarters, so I stuffed them in my pockets. :secret:
We got in line for the Pantry, and watched the taffy-maker start to work. We were soon seated. I'd worried about knowing how much insulin to take (as these were my first pancakes since), but I guess I guessed right, as my sugar was never high throughout the day. I had sweet potato pancakes with no syrup, and link sausages. Sam told me I was going to turn into a sweet potato! David had the pigs in a blanket (sausage links in crepes). Dad... Well, everyone had pancakes around the table. What else would we eat at the Pancake Pantry?
Dad had wanted to get his yearly t-shirt from the Day Hiker, so we went there next. Mom, who couldn't care less, went to the Christian bookstore. Dad got his shirt (“You can fall off a cliff and die. You could be attacked by a bear and die. You could run out of food and die. Or... you could just fall off the couch and die”). David bought a army pack for his friend for Christmas, a “Alum Cave Bluffs” medallion for his hiking stick, and a shirt ("Enlightenment begins where the pavement ends."). And I got a book about Day Hikes, and a shirt (“Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. See there is no someday”).
David and I were bored waiting, so we walked over to the Thomas Kincade gallery. The lady really tried to sell me a piece, but I told her I was waiting on his piece of Walt Disney World, and the one of Gatlinburg. We wandered around a couple of other shops, but saw nothing we wanted. By now it was getting rather warm, so we went back to the car to drop off jackets and packages before going on.
Mom and Dad had wanted to go back to the mall, so we split from them. Sam wanted a book about hiking in East TN, so he and Lindsey could hike on the weekends he visits her. So Mom and Dad went to get it for him.
There's a wood shop that makes signs on the strip, and David and I had one made in April that said “The Brotherton's, Est. 2005”, with a scene of the mountains overlooking a wood cabin on a lake, with a canoe at the dock. We decided we want to add our names, and those of our future children, on hanging hearts. So we stopped to get a double heart that said “David and Susan.” We had an hour to blow while it was being made, so we went up the strip to Ripley's arcade.
I put all those quarters from parking to good use here. I gave each “kid” $2.50, and we each played them up. I played the crane games (my secret addiction), and won two Smokey dogs (one for me, and one for Mom). Then I gave my leftover tokens to David. He won enough tickets to buy three pumpkin hacky-saks (to juggle, of course). Sam and Lindsey compiled their tickets to buy a can of Tootsie Rolls, which they promptly started eating.
We stopped back by the wood shop and picked up our sign before crossing the street. David needed to take some more medicine, but had nothing to drink, so we paid $2.00 for a 20 oz. at the “pharmacy.” We had to stop for a Kodak moment, when I spotted Jack Sparrow outside the new wax museum. Okay, so he couldn't “feel” me holding his hand, but who cares?
We met up with Mom and Dad, then went to the Craftsman Fair, which Sam did not want to do, but everyone else did. However, we got to the front door, saw that it was $12 just to enter, and said forget it! $72 to just look, and not even buy, is ridiculous!
We went back to the mall to look around one last time, as Lindsey was wanting some cotton candy. David had been waiting all day for me to drop a hint about something I wanted for my birthday. Mom had given me $100 yesterday, but I had already planned to put that toward a backpacking pack that I had my eye on at home. We had noticed the Turtle shop in the mall on our first day, but I just glanced around, and didn't really look. This time, I looked at everything. I finally settled on a small statue of three turtles. The base says “Family” and the turtles are stacked in descending size. I thought it'd look great in our living room, which is already “crawling” with turtles. However, at the checkout counter, I found a set of mini turtles in a classroom setting. What better gift for a teacher who collects turtles! I got it also, of course! :turtle:
Before leaving, we drove back up to the base of the mountain, to take our ritual family picture at the “Great Smoky Mountains National Park” sign. Sam and Lindsey took one together. Mom and Dad took one. David and I took one. Then we took one with all six of us together. It's great having a camera with a remote!
David and I ran across the street to find a benchmark that we knew was somewhere close by. (David couldn't Geocache on this trip, since all six of us were always together, but he figured one little benchmark wouldn't waste anyone's time). After this, we were on our way home.
Well, headed that way, I guess. We had to stop at the Smoky Mtn. Knifeworks. It's a ritual, and we always do it. We had a picnic lunch on their front lawn before going in. David and I each got a new Case pocketknife, with orange and white checkerboards on the sides (like UT's endzones). We also purchased a couple of Christmas presents while there. And Mom bought enough Cub Scout knives to make sure she'd have them when the Bears got their whittling chips.
Once through the check-out line, we said our goodbyes to Sam and Lindsey, as they were headed back to her house, which is in the opposite direction. Then we were off toward home for real.

[DisneyTwirler13!]

Sounds like you had a fabulous time! The Smokies are beautiful at this time of year.
Happy late birthday!:party:

[Noah's Helper]

We were at Grotto Falls just a few days before you were!

Glad you had a good trip. Thanks for the report! :thumbsup:

[disneydrmr]

What a wonderful time you guys had! My dh and I ate at Bennets once and it was horrid so we've never gone back. Now Pancake Pantry we eat at EVERY trip! EVERY breakfast! :thumbsup: I always have their fruit crepes (getting different fruits each time) and dh LOVES their french toast! Happy belated birthday! and thanks for sharing your trip!