THE SMOKIES WERE FANTASTIC. Lookit! A rainbow cradled beneath this view. What could have been more glorious? Seriously, why on earth did we wait so long to go? I guess I'm a big skeptic on how beautiful and serene the nearby surroundings can be. It's nice to know it's just a short drive away :)
During late October we had another "so where are we gonna go next time?" discussion. Graham had several vacation days that he needed to use before he lost them, so we decided for him to schedule a big block to use them before and after the Christmas holidays. We went over our list of places we wanted to see that would fit in accordance with out budget. After lots of digging I found some incredibly low-priced tickets to Peru. I have always wanted to see Machu Picchu and when's a better time than with an great deal? We purchased them and I began to plan for our trip, with feelings of elation. After a twist of events Graham found out his class was over our trip, we had originally looked and didn't have the correct information. It was very unfortunate, since we decided we would be in the heart of the Andes Mountains during his class time. His professor was not understanding, under the pretense that he had logged in to teach in many countries. G felt serious anxiety, particularly since his end-of-term paper was due then. (And it was like 35 pages long.) It just didn't seem like a good idea. We called our credit card company to cancel within a few days of our buying them. I was very sad.
Then fate smiled upon us and we found the true tickets I really, really, really wanted. We found an amazing deal to fly into England and France, like, half the cost of our Italian tickets. And without hesitation we bought them! But that was for May 2016- Graham still had to use his 2015 days. So we racked our brains for ideas. Would we go on a cruise? a road trip? go to the West Coast? Finally I decided I would prefer to stay closer to home and save as much money for our biiig upcoming trip. In conjunction with this, Graham really wanted to see snow. We looked to the Smokies as our best bet for the two.
I had never before visited the Great Smoky Mountains, while Graham hadn't in many years. I searched in vain for an affordable cabin with gorgeous mountain views. Everywhere was so overwhelmingly pricey! Not for the faint of heart. I began expanding the location to include small town, figuring we could the drive the difference. We stumbled upon a wonderful studio apartment at the top of a mountain with a jacuzzi, an indoor fire place and 20 foot window with mountain views. It was also very inexpensive, as the shining cherry on top. We jumped at the offer for a stay at Eagle's Nest. Since it was a little bit on the outskirts we traveled directly through the Parkway each day to get into Gatlinburg. I can't help, even now, to shake my head and marvel. When we would turn and see the look out points with the piercing mountain range behind it... There just isn't the right words to explain the beauty.
Our first nice we decided to stay in Asheville, so we could quickly get into our cabin the following morning (and let's be honest, he had the time off so why not?) We didn't get in until dark, we watched a movie at the local theatre thanks to Christmas gift cards, and didn't awake until late the next morning to see the mall. We strolled around taking advantage of post- Christmas deals until we left for our home-away-from-home. We were in awe to see the place! On first glace, an eggplant house, had left us in uncertaintly but we were quickly converted. We carried all our luggage upstairs, which seemed to take forever after the 3 trips to bring our stuff in. After immersing ourselves in cable tv, we rested.
The first official morning we left for Gatlinburg! We leisurely drove through the Parkway, stopping every few miles for pictures and oooh, ahhh's. As we pulled into G-burg, where we spent several days as tourists, it was completely in the hustle and bustle phase, complete with bumper to bumper traffic. We visited Ober, a German tourist trap with a couple rides, which Graham enjoyed as a child, and rode up and down the mountain in their contraptions. We paid a little extra to ride a "scenic chair" for us to see Gatlinburg from the top of Mt. Harrison (it wasn't that high). By the time we got onto the chair, around 6, the sun began to set. I had a tiny long sleeved shirt and Graham had a thin short sleeved shirt- we FROZE up as we slowly rose upwards. I also forgot to put my boots in the car so I had sandals on. My poor piggies. Seriously though, we were hugging and rubbing each other's back for the little bit of warmth. I cursed the trip in it's entirety through chattering teeth. When we reached the top we paid astronomical prices for watered down cider and hot chocolate, but we didn't care. We tried to pace ourselves so we could drink down the mountain for warmth. Then, after letting the heat course through us, we looked at the lights of the city from way up top, you know- what we actually came for. It sure was pretty! I wish my pictures would have turned out so I could show it off, but I guess that'll just stay as a good memory for us. As soon as we reached the car we blasted the heat until we completely thawed out. We didn't leave without a jacket any other day that week ;)
Here is our photos from our first night in Asheville, followed by our first day in Tennessee.
The ones below are photos that we took on our scenic route to Gatlinburg, right on the Parkway!
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