When we were talking about places to go for our honeymoon, Caleb at one point asked me what I thought about going to Tennessee, to which I said, "What in the world is in Tennessee?" (coupled with a rather sarcastic expression, I am sorry to have to say). But I was very wrong in asking that question, as I gladly found out.
We had our own cabin on the outskirts of Gatlinburg, in the mountains. It was BEAUTIFUL!! We kept complaining to ourselves about how our camera could not even begin to do justice to the natural beauty there. Our cabin was awesome, and equipped with everything from a huge stone fireplace and hot tub to a dishwasher, netflix and wi-fi, and a front porch with an amazing view! There was so much to do in the area that we could have stayed much longer, except for the fact that we missed having a good church to go to. (and realized how we have taken that for granted so often!!)
Unfortunately, we forgot our camera at the church after the wedding, and so for the first few days of the trip we resorted to taking pictures with little disposable ones (which we still have not gotten developed, and who knows how they turned out :P). So no pictures of the Believe-it-or-Not Aquarium or the sky-lift over the mountains :(, but here are some we DID manage to take:
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Here is our cabin :)
(the only other property around was a cabin right behind us, which was not used while we were there) |
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| This is the loft. Caleb TRIED to teach me how to play billiards..... |
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Part of our view
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We did several things around town-
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| At one of the museums, a marble ball which you could move around because it was resting on an inch of water |
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| There was a little European-looking village where we went to look around... |
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| And eat, of course :D |
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| They even had a place that sold Thomas Kinkade paintings |
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Yes...we even did the mirror maze
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The Smokey Mts. National Park was nearby, and we enjoyed that so much we went back a couple of times-
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| We did not see any bears, though, nor did we fall...but we did see a rattlesnake (as the park rangers were dealing with it. So much for an exciting story :P) |
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| This waterfall was a couple of miles hike to get to, but VERY worth it! |
We also went to Biltmore Estate, just over the border in North Carolina.
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| It just so happened that we had a flat tire along the way... |
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| Make that two....If you look closely you can see that the second time around we were really close to our destination |
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| And this was the accompanying look of frustration :D |
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| But, once again, it was worth it. The mansion was amazing (but they would not let us take pictures inside :( ) |
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| We had a picnic out on the grounds |
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| And they let you roam through the miles of magnificent gardens until dusk... |
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| We kept seeing signs for a waterfall, and with everything being so beautiful there, we really wanted to see it.... |
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| But it was getting late, so we had to run...literally.... |
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| And were rewarded with this.... |
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Which was not very exciting after a 15 minute run in the heat and humidity to get there. Oh well :P
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We also did the Cades Cove loop before we left, and saw some bears, and old buildings, and more mountains, of course :)
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| Caleb cooking :P |
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| This was called the Primitive Baptist Church |
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| So Caleb got a picture behind the pulpit :P |
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| A baby bear in a tree near the road |
And, at the end of the day, we could always go to the chocolate monkey and get some ice cream :D
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Home of the BEST ice cream EVER!!
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We were so blessed to have had such a great time, and perfect weather, and perfect safety. God truly is good :)
Love, Caleb and Casey
