Gatlinburg!!

I know i'm way overdue for a post. I keep procrastinating, saying i'd do it last weekend, but that never happened. So, here I am, determined to update you all on our lives.
We enjoyed the long MLK holiday weekend by going to my favorite place--Gatlinburg, TN. I grew up going there on vacations. While we were there we started talking about how many times I have been in my lifetime, and I finally concluded i've been there at least 12 times. I also reassured David that we will be going back in the future as well, so that number will grow. Anyway, we decided back in November/December that we were going to take a weekend to go to the mountains and look for snow, so that's how we ended up in Gatlinburg. We were surely blessed too--we could not have picked a better weekend to go. It was freezing, and we got to see snow! Snow had fallen the week prior, and they started to have another snow storm the Monday we left.
We left work early on Friday to make the long drive. We got up there after dinner, and ended up crashing in the hotel room. 6 hours on the road has the tendency to wear us down. We woke up nice and early on Saturday, with snow tubing on our minds. We went to the tram station at Ober Gatlinburg, and they were not sure if they would be opening up the snow tubing route that morning. We didn't want to take the chance of paying the money to ride the tram up there only to find out snow tubing wasn't open yet, so we decided to drive over to Cataloochee. Cataloochee is on the "eastern" side of the park, and was the home to a fairly large community prior to the area being turned into the national park. The NPS also released elk back into that area in the last 8-10 years, in an effort to reintroduce them to the Smokies. It was quite a drive--it took about 2 hours to get there, and required driving several miles down one laned gravel and dirt roads (through snow and ice at times). Of course I chose the route so I couldn't really complain--it was definitely the scenic route. But the drive paid off. We saw several bull elk, as well as some cow elk.
We headed back towards Gatlinburg, but this time we took the more practical route through Maggie Valley, Cherokee, and the Smokies. Luckily we chose this route, as ice and snow closed the road between Cherokee and Gatlinburg (the main road through the Smokies) on Sunday and Monday. Upon arriving back in Gatlinburg, we walked around and looked at the shops, then made our way to Ripley's Aquarium. Gatlinburg has definitely changed over the last 30 years (i'm sure the locals could really elaborate on that comment). I remember the Ripley's museum being there when I was a child, but it seems like Ripleys has taken over the town these days. There's the museum, aquarium (which was really neat), putt putt, and who knows what else. It is a tourist trap, though, so I don't blame them for opening up so many attractions there.

On Sunday we got up and headed to Ober Gatlinburg (they ended up opening up the snow tubing on Saturday). We took the tram there early so we could do the 10am-12noon run (before the crowds got there). We had a blast--I think the best part was when it started snowing up a storm while we were tubing. That definitely added to the fun. We also made the right decision about doing the first snow tubing session (and getting up there early). When we got off the tram in Gatlinburg, the lines to catch the tram were very long. Then there was the line to purchase tram tickets. That extended from the ticket booth (which was located in the back of the building) all the way to the front door of the building.
After snow tubing, we headed into the Smokies to the Laurel Falls Trail (towards Cades Cove--via the only road open that day). I've wanted to hike this trail for some time, so am glad we got the opportunity. Of course everyone else in the world was out there on the trail as well, but it was still worth the gorgeous falls at the end. Plus it gave me my excercise for the day. Afterwards we drove the long way back around to Gatlinburg, driving through Townsend and Pigeon Forge (the other tourist trap in that area). Of course we did more shopping that night in Gatlinburg.

We woke up Monday to flurries. Those flurries soon gave way to heavy snow (big chunky snow flakes--the best kind).
Since we never see snow here, I made David walk all around Gatlinburg yet again so we could enjoy it. After walking around we headed up to the Gatlinburg "artisans" area and visited some of the local art/wood carving/etc shops. By that time, it was really snowing hard and there was 1-2" of snow on the ground (they were calling for 3 inches by 1-2pm, and 5-6 by the next morning). I begged and pleaded David to stay another night, but he wouldn't give in, so we headed back to Charleston. I told him there's a good chance that we'll be making a yearly trip to TN in search of snow...and shopping (the candy shops up there have the BEST gummy bears)!