A Mountain Getaway

Adam and I always try to get away for a day or weekend trip before school starts back.  We were unsure of what to do when Adam’s dad asked if we would like to go to the mountains with them for a couple of days.  We accepted and I am so glad we did.  Earlier last week I had been stressing about the school year and being prepared for my students, but I am now rejuvenated and excited for the year to begin. 

We headed out Wednesday night after the guys got back from Methodist Men and arrived at 3:30 AM.  Ya you read AM!  Adam and I had the second shift of driving…I blogged to stay awake as we trucked along!  Once we arrived we settled in and planned for a lazy morning at the cabin.   We woke up to the Smokey mountains Thursday morning…what a view!!

 

Around lunch time we headed out to check out Dry Falls.  The falls were beautiful and reminded me of my summers visiting my grandma in Michigan.  Grandma D and the family always spent a day driving around to check out all the nearby waterfalls.  While at Dry Falls I stepped in a puddle and it had me seriously rethinking our adventure for the next day…whitewater rafting!  The water was freezing, no comparison to the much warmer waters of Blue Run.  

 

After our falls adventure we head on to the small town of Highlands.  Highlands was my kind of town!  It had beautiful views, bridges, inns, a chocolate shop and many fun shops! 

As soon as we pulled into Highlands we stopped for a photo session at this amazing wood bridge.  At the same site was this interesting maze design made out of vines we had to go check out.  Adam even found an apple tree but the apples were not ripe yet.   We are use to coming to the mountains during the fall when all the apples are delicious!

In town the flower boxes were amazing.  I need to go to a class that teaches me how to plant flowers that compliment each other.   The outside patios were inviting and welcoming.  The store fronts were beautiful and made me want to visit each shop.  We went to the local fudge and ice cream shop…oh my…delicious.  Adam got “Highlands Mud” and I could have eaten the whole thing if he would have let me.  We headed home for afternoon naps because, we all were still tuckered out from our drive the night before.  The naps were just what we needed to prepare for our evening of feasting at The Dillard House.  I had never been and everyone assured me I was in for a treat. Boy was I excited!!!

We had fired chicken, roast beef, maple glazed ham, but those didn’t excite me, it was the sides that came with!  The sides we had at The Dillard House did not disappoint…green beans, fried okra, potatoes a gratin, creamed corn, carrots, cabbage casserole, acorn squash casserole, fruit, tomatoes…do I even need to continue.  It is safe to say I rolled out of there after I topped it all off with peach cobbler!   We checked out the farm animals before we head home.  Two words…baby goats….oh my were they cute!  They were running, jumping, bucking, biting, and head butting each other.  We wanted to crawl over the fence and grab one!

When we got to the cabin I enjoyed the view of the Smokey Mountains at night.  I loved how we could see the lights of Franklin down below. 

I was ready for our whitewater rafting adventure the next morning.  I had only been whitewater rafting once a long time ago so I was excited and nervous. The hub and my father-in-law were trying to freak me out the entire ride there.  We stopped along the way to snap pictures.  The top picture in this collage had a momma and fawn getting a drink from the Nantahala River.

Compliments of Pug’s big zoom lens camera!

We were pumped to get started rafting down the river!! I was praying I wouldn’t fall in.  I was having flashbacks from when I step in that freezing cold puddle of water the day before.  We had a pretty good ride down “only” getting stuck on TWO rocks with Adam’s dad falling out of the boat the second time.  I was so proud of him because he went into his “swimmers position”…he watched the video…ha!  Adam grabbed him from the top of his PFD (personal floatation device) and we were off again.  Adam’s dad bought a waterproof camera to take some pictures but we he had to buy the picture taken at the last rapid because of our expressions.  Hilarious!  It was a great day with many memories!

Our faces are priceless right?  HA!

On Saturday we wanted to go to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, but the weather was putting a damper on our day.  The goal was to ride the sky lift to the top of one of the mountains in Gatlinburg, and eat dinner at the Apple barn in Pigeon Forge.  since it was raining we headed on to Pigeon forge and ate lunch at the Apple Barn instead of dinner. 

  The star of the lunch were definitely their famous apple fritters.  I could eat those all day!! 

 

After we walked through the gift shop, check out the bakery, candy shop, winery, and creamery.  The creamery caught our eye…the sign said “apple cobbler with homemade ice cream”.  Even though we were miserable from over eating at lunch we all split one!  It was worth it!

 

We got some great pictures at the scenic stops along the road ways!  

It was the perfect get away before the school year!  We are so thankful Pug, Kellee, and Kelsey wanted us to tag along!  

 

*LRW*