Heading to Maine on the AT

We only had one full day in Gatlinburg and intended to make the most of it.  We got up early and had some leftover Tombstone pizza, which my kids may not have ever had before and may never have again.  We made it to the Newfound Gap before 900am and it wasn’t too crowded yet.  We were going to hike the Appalachian Trail, or at least a couple of miles of it.  We took obligatory pictures in front of the sign that said how far it would be to Maine and the plaque for the Rockefellers.  We hiked about an hour out towards Maine, which meant we were about 1970 miles short of the end.  At that point we were taking too many risks with the youngest member of our party who was suffering some intestinal distress and claiming to need a bathroom.  I wasn't trying to call her bluff.  By the time we made it back to the facilities the foot traffic was picking up.  It is kind of odd to me that people start their hikes so late in the morning. 
From Newfound Gap we headed down to Oconaluftee Visitor Center.  We wanted to see the old buildings and say we made it into North Carolina.  The ranger in the visitor center scared Gabby by drawing lots of attention to the kid in there being sworn in as a junior ranger.  She made him stand in front of everyone and then yelled for everyone’s attention as she made him say the pledge.  Lottie was in awe and Gabby wanted to puke.  We strolled around the little village and finished the junior ranger books.  Gabby at first refused to turn her’s in.  The ranger got her to say that she’d prefer a more minimalist swearing in.  Lottie requested as much attention as she could get.  We checked another badge off our list. 
We tried to rush over to the Cherokee Reservation and fit in a trip to the museum, but by the time we got there we realized it probably wouldn’t be worth paying to get in for the brief time we had left.  We had to get home in time for dinner in downtown Gatlinburg, which is of course a whole different kind of cultural experience. 
I wasn’t quite sure we were going to make it to dinner after we had to back out of a parking lot that would only take cash, but luckily we found street parking behind the main drag.  Dinner at Smoky Mountain Brewery was fair.  Ice cream at Kilwin’s was delicious.  Free tastes of moonshine was totally Gatlinburg.  We once again crammed everything in.  The Grizwold spirit is alive within us. 

Time to get up!!!!

We like a two-for

We are really holding him back from his dreams of completing the whole thing.

We must take pictures with EVERY sign or plaque.

Holding their own.

A simple ceremony

LOOK AT ME!!!!!!

Kilwin's selfies

Kilwin's selfie #2

This is as close as these kids are getting to Ripley's.

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.

Waiting for the horses to come by.

They had to be still for a while so I could get a horse in the background.

Grits, eggs, biscuits and gravy.  Southern breakfasts are AMAZING!

She loves grits too!

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Thank goodness for those tumbling lessons.

Dan still laughing about jumping out from behind the door and scaring us.

Lottie only runs up hill.  Walking on flat land she does nothing but complain.  RIDICULOUS!

Warm and cozy

Sugar shack.