We Might Not Be Back: Gatlinburg By Way of Keeneland

Since we were leaving bright and early, but couldn't check into our "chalet" until 4:00pm, we made a small pit stop in Keeneland. I've never been there for actual races, but according to a list of free things to do in Lexington we could see the horses practicing from 6:00am until 10:00am. Had it been about 15 degrees warmer I really think the girls would've been interested in this, but sadly it was freezing. Luckily any disappointment over the horses races was washed away by a super cheap breakfast at the Track Kitchen which included grits and biscuits and gravy!
Even with our brief stop, we still got to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in time to purchase junior ranger books and hike a couple miles. It's hard to complain about paying $3 for the ranger books when the whole park is free. We watched the movie about how the park came to be. We stared at the taxidermy in the museum. Finally, we set off for Cataract Falls. We opted for the long way to the falls so we could check out one of the historic buildings on the trail. This gave Dan and Lottie an opportunity to scare the living daylights out of Gabby and me. This particular waterfall wasn't super impressive, but the walk was lovely. We tried to go a little past the falls but not everyone was really on board for that plan. We accepted defeat and turned around. The next stop was Food City to stock up on junk food for dinner. Our rental property, the Sugar Shack, was a pretty standard a-frame. It was delightfully easy to find from town. The drive up the hill to the property was far less treacherous than some in the area. All major pluses since we were completely exhausted.