momof3kids-Yvonne

Fiends and Piano Bob? :popcorn: Can't wait to see pictures from that!

That slide looks awesome!

I think we are going to book our big trip of the year again during 4th of July week to Tenn. We had such a good time this year for 8 nights we are thinking of just making it a tradition. Staying up and around where you do, you don't even notice the crowds unless you go into town. Since I hate crowds, the fort during the 4th and halloween is always a no no for us. Did I mention I hate crowds...lol We never waited in line in the smokey's to hike on a trail or take in the views. Love the report.

I was telling my Steve that I would like to go to Gatlinburg for the 4th this year. Do you think you all would stay at Smoky Bear again? We've never been there for the 4th of July. Where can you watch the fireworks? One thing I would love to do just to say I did it, (and it would be easier for us as my kids are older ) is watch the parade at midnight on the 4th in Gatlinburg. Dave, I am done hijacking your thread now. :rofl3:

Man, would I like to see a Tennessee GG next year. I just might be able to manipulate things a bit next summer. We were pretty well blanked this year, thanks to work. Do you accept Nebraska cards for admission to that Tennessee party? I'll even promise ot leave my Gator stuff at home. Well, maybe some of it.

I am all for Nebraskans being there. I do have a list of things I would like you to bring though. Let's see Runzas, dumplings from Bohemian Cafe (both the brown and dill gravy would be fine to accompany those), some Fairbury Hot Dogs, Valentino's Pizza and if I think of anything else I will be sure to let you know.

wondering how the planning is going?

I am too. I have not heard yet if TCD has choreographed the dance moves for the "Fort Fiends Flash Mob". :partythree:

If he is going to include any dancing on tables, may I suggest he contact Judy to help with the choreographing for that part of the dance.

You mention that missing school is not a factor. I can't remember if you homeschool or not. If you do, did you know they actually have a fall and winter Homeschool event at Williamsburg? They also mention that if you cannot make it to one of these then contact them and they have discounted rates for homeschool families.

Here is the link.

http://www.history.org/history/teaching/grouptours/schoolandyouth/homeschools.cfm

Sunday morning we decided to sleep in and not worry about rushing out to get to breakfast. We had some fruit and yogurt (plus all the leftovers from the previous two nights) in the refrigerator in our room. Who says chicken alfredo is not for breakfast? Don’t tell Rachel that. It was the only thing we had that she wanted to eat.

At 11:30 I took the keys back to the building where you check in. Yes! They actually give you keys here. If you lose one they charge you $20. They say that if you get home and find it then you can mail it back and they will refund your $20. Thankfully we did not have to test this out.

Then we made one final check of the room. Made sure the van was locked up and headed into town. First we stopped here. I told them they should have gone before we left the room, but they just would not listen. :rofl2:

Ok, so I know they say the "Family that Prays together stays together." But not sure what they would say about this?

Once we were done here we went in search of a cup of coffee. My son had seen a place the night before. It happened to be the same place that we were going to get the kids ice-cream from later. It was called Jordan's Village Creamery. We had no idea what to expect. Drew ordered a carmel frappacino, I had a pumpkin spice latte and Steve had an Irish Creme coffee. OH MY they were heavenly. That is one place we will definitely be going back to again. The prices were about the same as what it would cost at Starbucks, but waaaaaay better as far as taste goes. Not that we get Starbucks on a regular basis.

We decided to walk around town first, get some lunch and then go buy any souvenirs and gifts we were going to get just before we left so that we didn't have to carry them around with us the entire day.

Look at that line to get into the Pancake Pantry!

Here are some more people in line waiting around the side of the building.

Some fun fall pictures of the girls in "The Village"

Steve found a place to rest for a minute.

Jessica and Drew chilling out.

At the place where we played miniature golf on Satuday they also had a Mirror Maze. If you added it to the golfing you got a little bit of a discount. Steve still had the receipt and they went ahead and gave him the discount. I thought it was kind of boring last year so, didn't go.

Drew was the first one to find his way out.

He just loves having his picture taken.

The rest followed shortly after him. Jessica was actually the last one, but being little does have some advantages. Such as being able to walk under your daddy's arm and make it look like he was the last one out.

We found our way here.

Steve and I enjoyed the samples. He was going to buy a couple bottles for Christmas gifts, but it was Sunday so, we couldn't do that. Jessica decided to relax a bit outside and listen to the band while we were "tasting" the other two were around somewhere. We didn't leave them there so, they couldn't have wandered too far. :rofl2:

She is her daddy's daughter!

Now it was time to go spend Daddy's money! :yay: The girls had each found a shirt that they wanted and also wanted to do one of the Old Time Photo pictures. We had taken one as a family last year, but this year it was just them.

Drew and Steve both got Henna tattoos. I forgot to get pictures of those though. I believe Drew also got a t-shirt. While they were getting their tattoos. I found a t-shirt for Total Joker, but didn't buy it (Sorry TJ the kids spent all hubby's money!)

A couple more fun pictures of the girls.

Well it seemed we had done all we were going to for this trip so, it was time to head back to our car. Before we did that though we had one more stop to make. After all we had promised the kids ice-cream.

Some final pictures.

I drove the first part of the trip and once we were out of the windy mountain roads Steve and the kids took a nap. One neat (well I guess it depends on how you look at it actually) was when I was driving on Interstate 40 I passed Hermain Cain's bus. I tried to tell everyone, "Hey look it's Herman Cain's bus!" This is what I heard them say. :sleep: I would have taken a picture, but as I was saying I was driving so, I couldn't do that.

Thank you all for following along with me on this trip report and encouraging me along the way. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

:heart: Now, that's a keeper!

Good for you for ordering not just 1 beer at dinner, but 3!! :cheers:

Thank You. I normally don't order beer (usually I'll have a margarita or mixed drink), but since we were at a brewery I thought I should. Also since we were there I wanted to make sure I tried out a few different ones.

This is so cool. So did the 3D glasses work on the beer picture I posted?

I agree.

That is a great photo!

And are those the beer samples in your photo above? They look pretty big for samples.

I'm going to need to get to this place!

TCD

They were samples. I forget how many ounces each was, but they were definitely bigger than what I was thinking a sample would be.

Love the hats! We've never stayed at the Jellystone Campground in Cosby. Actually, come to think of it we've never stayed at any Jellystone Campground. So, I am really looking forward to your pictures of the campground and hearing about all the fun things to do there.

Lesson Learned: Don't try to be smart.

I gave that up when my DS turned 13. :rofl3:

You have a beautiful family. I am really enjoying your trip report.

Great report and wonderful pictures.

It's true what they say about learning something new everyday. I lived in Howard County and Anne Arundel County Maryland. DH worked at Goddard in Greenbelt and until now I never knew about this campground.

Following dinner we stopped to get some pictures before heading back to our hotel.

Some to compare from last year and 2008

Oh yeah my son got that sweatshirt from the sports store in Gatlinburg right after Alabama lost to SC last year. Not like he wanted to rub it into his friends who were Alabama fans or anything.

Where oh where did my baby go?

Jess and her new best friend.

After arriving back at our room we pretty much just crashed out. Tomorrow we would have to check out. Though they did tell us we could leave our car where it was after we checked out so, that would give us more time to look around and shop.

Glad you enjoyed the brewery. That is one of our favorite restaurants in the smokies due to the service, great food, and great price. I also agree about Piegon Forge. If it were up to me, I would spend the whole time in the national forrest. Our last trip we found JT Hannas kitchen in Piegon Forge. This is another great restaurant find for the same reasons as the brewery

When we go camping and stay at Smoky Bear going to the park is generally what we do. We might go into town one night for dinner, but that is about it. I really miss doing that. Darn the school system for shortening the break. I guess we could go during spring break, but we just really love it in the fall.

Loving your trip report!

Glad you made it home safely. Looking forward to your trip report.

Seeing how these pictures made me smile I can only imagine how much fun you all must have been having.

Ok, I'm slow but I'm finally here, We absolutely loved Gatlinburg, really didnt care much for Pigeon Forge. Have I ever mentioned how pretty your girls are? they have the bluest eyes I've ever seen! I think a GG in that area would be awesome! I'd sign up for that one for sure. I have heard about Jack Huffs and glad to know now that the reviews do it justice. This year for my girls birthday we are taking just a mommy and me trip and that is probably where we will land. We really do need to get our girls together soon!!

Yeah we aren't huge Pigeon Forge people either. I don't mind going to the outlets to look around, but spending hours shopping is just not fun to me. If I can't find what I want in under 10 minutes than I am out of there. A mommy and me trip sounds fabulous. We do need to get the girls together. Maybe after you get back from Disney? BTW, do you think you suitcase is large enough for me to fit inside? :rofl2:

As I mentioned we still had to decide where we were going to eat dinner. The one thing you will note is that I am a planner. I want to know if we are going somewhere when we will be going, for how long, where we want to stay, eat etc all before we get there. Steve on the other hand is not as detailed oriented as me. So, being the “good wife” I decided not to let this bother me and though I did my research did not insist on the decisions being made prior to us leaving. In the end this end up working out well for us. Our requirements for where to eat were simple. One the place had to be showing college football games and we wanted to watch the Nebraska game. The other Steve was wanting a steak. So, we called various restaurants in town. If they only had a few televisions in the restaurant or lounge area it was pretty evident on our part that they would not be showing the Nebraska game as there were SEC games going on at the same time. So, this led us to the place where I was secretly hoping we would go. Where? Why the Smoky Mountain Brewery of course.

We waited to leave until after the first half of the Nebraska and Ohio State game. If you saw my first post in the College Football thread than you know that it is a requirement in our family that Husker wear be worn on game day. They were losing. Ok let me correct this they were humiliated during the first half. Did we really want to go out in Tennessee (some of their fans have a strong dislike for Nebraska) wearing our Husker shirts? Yes. We did. I am thinking that maybe the change of scenery for us helped the team because they ended up coming back and winning the game. Ok, so I know that we really had no impact what so ever on the result of the game, but humor me.

Being that the Brewery was not located near our hotel we had a bit of a walk. We could have taken the trolley there, but we enjoy walking. Steve and Drew went ahead of the girls and me to see about getting us a table (also known as they were walking much quicker than us). We were seated upstairs and Steve and I both ordered a beer.

Actually I ordered the 3 beer sampler.

Liked it so much I went ahead and tried 3 different ones. I forgot to get pictures of those though. I believe Jessica and Drew ordered water and Rachel had a lemonade. We ordered wings as an appetizer. The girls both ordered chicken fingers and fries off of the children’s menu. Drew ordered a burger, Steve had a steak (filet I believe) and I ordered the chicken and smoked cheddar sandwich. The food was good and we were stuffed so when the waitress asked if we wanted dessert the answer was “No Thank You!”

Enjoyed your TR very much!

Thank You! I am having fun writing it. I think when I am done I will print it out and make a little book out of it. Usually when we go on vacations we take all these pictures and never do anything with them. I am not the scrap booking type person so doing this trip report has been a great way for me to keep a momento of the trip. I only wish I had thought to do this before. Oh well better late than never I guess.

Sorry for not posting sooner, but I love your trip report!

Great photos!

I love the quaint retro look of your hotel/motel.

The trolley ride looks like a fun diversion, and how can you go wrong for $2.00?

I hope that there is more!

TCD

I loved the retro look as well. Our room was apparently in the "newer" section of the hotel. Sometimes you have to worry if a hotel is older, but not here. The rooms were spotless. I was telling my husband I would like to go back and spend the week of 4th of July there. If we do they actually have a house that they rent as part of the hotel and I am thinking I would like to get that. You are right about the trolley ride. It was a nice diversion. I was thinking at first I would get some quiet time alone for the trip, but I did enjoy getting to share it with my girls. There is still more. After all you don't know if we hid out in the room yet for the second half of the Nebraska game or donned disguises to go out and eat. :rofl2:

Enjoying the report! Good thing you waited until the end to talk about beer & fried pickles, I couldn't even concentrate after that.

We discovered this place last year and the fried pickles were our favorite thing there. They are perfect nice and greasy!

Elkmont is a great campground. The downside like you stated is no elec. or showers in the comfort stations. The sites are great and mainly you see a lot of tents, pop-ups and your occasional TT. Not sure if they allow generators being a natioanl park or not. There is a lot of wildlife to see there and I hear you see the most bears at that campground. The is another campground at cades cove which I think has the same ammenities

I had heard about Cades Cove before, but never Elkmont. The beauty of it just driving in was breathtaking. It would be neat to camp where you could be so close to wildlife. I doubt I could convince anyone in my family to go more than a day or so though.

I'm really enjoying you TR. Looking foward to more.

Thank You I should be able to add some more tomorrow. I'll have to crack the whip and make sure my girls get their school day done first though.

There are some generator loops at Elkmont, and some where they are not allowed.

Ok so now all I have to do is ask Santa to bring us a generator for Christmas. Hmmm wonder if he can fit that in his sled?

I love your title. Though I do admit when I read it my first thought was, "When? and Can I go?" :rofl2: I guess it's obvious I long vacation. I am looking forward to reading more about your trip and seeing your pics. :popcorn:

I am glad to hear your grandma is doing better. I really enjoyed your quick trip. I love hearing about all these other things to do at Disney besides just the parks. It gives me ideas for future trips.

Once again I loved coming along on your trip. I have never been to the Food and Wine Festival. It is on my list of things I want to do at Disney. I have always heard such wonderful things about it.

This is the report that never ends. It goes on and on my friends. We started reading it not knowing what it was and it will go on forever just because. This is the report that never ends. It goes on & on my friends.....

I was getting a bit worried as the digital sign where the trolley was going to pick us up did not have the tan trolley listed. But, my worry was for nothing. :whew: The trolley showed up right on time. There were only

about 6 of us on it.

I had never taken this trip before so, I had no clue how it would work. I probably should have asked before we even boarded, but what is it they say about hindsight being 20/20?

As I mentioned we departed right by the aquarium.

Here are a couple of the girls as we are heading out of Gatlinburg.

There were three stops scheduled the first being the Sugarland Visitor Center, the second being Laurel Falls parking area and the last being Elkmont Campground. The cost for the trip was $2 per person and

exact change is required. I thought we would stop at each place get out for a bit to get some pictures and then continue on to the next stop. I cannot say if that is what happens or not, but it did not happen on

our tour. I am thinking it is because hardly anyone was on and no one seemed to want to leave the trolley.

I tried to get some pictures as we were going along, but as you can see we were traveling at a fairly fast speed. This was not the case for the ride back into town though.

The first stop the driver announced the stop and no one moved. Then at the second stop it was pretty much the same thing. I had hoped that at least someone else would have wanted to look around there as I

was hoping to do that. Oh well on we went. We arrived at the Elkmont Campground and Jessica and I both agreed we want to come camping here in the future. I thought it was only tent camping, people did

have campers. There is no electric though so, you have to have a generator. I also researched the campground when we got back and although there are bathroom there are no showers. So, an overnight stay

might be just enough.

I am not sure if she is looking at something here or trying to stay awake.

Finally we get out for a bit. This is taken at the Elkmont Campground.

After our 10 minute stay it was time to head back.

The ride back took a lot longer as everyone and their 3rd cousin was headed out of the park and into town. It was an interesting ride as a couple gentleman were having a very interesting conversation about

politics, economics how we are doomed. They were both on the same side when it came to the issues so, there was no debating going on. The trip was taking so long I kind of wish they had debated a

bit it could have been entertaining.

Here are some pictures of the ride back.

We made it back to Gatlinburg a bit late, but no one seemed to mind. I called Steve to find out where they were. They were still at Blaine's so we headed over there to meet them. After enjoying a beer and some

fried pickles we all headed back to the room to figure out where we wanted to eat dinner and to watch the Nebraska/Ohio State game. Truthfully after the first half of the game I am surprised we even left our

room, but we did.