Where to go, where to go? We started a tradition for just the two of us each December. We would find somewhere really nice to go and have one evening to ourselves. This year we settled on the idea of two days and one night in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The big draw was dinner at Bubba Gump's. Shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp! I reserved a hotel room that was right in downtown Gatlinburg along the river.
We left Friday morning and arrived about 2:30pm. We checked into our hotel and left our car in their parking lot. The rest of the day would be walking to where we wanted to go. How cool is that? If you have visited Gatlinburg, you know the streets are packed with cars any time of the year. So having free parking and being close enough to walk is just a huge bonus.
One of the first things I saw was Kaw-liga. This is a very, very old country song my father used to sing. Claude posed for me to get this picture.
I found a couple of attractions we might want to see. One was Cars of the Stars. There is this man who loved to take cars and work on them so they would fit with other things. He parlayed this talent into a career in television and movies. A number of the cars he made to fit a television show or a movie are in this little two story museum on the Parkway through Gatlinburg close to Bubba Gump's. We both really enjoyed browsing through and seeing all these cars. Here are just a few for you to enjoy: the Batmobile from the television show with Adam West; the Flintstones car from the movie; the Beverly Hillbillies car from the television show; the truck from the movie Twister; the Ghostbuster movie car; and the Back to the Future car from the movie. There were many others from Dolly Parton's Cadillac to the Beach Boys car autographed on the hood by the Beach Boys. I liked that Bob Hope had a big old Buick. I am an old Buick Lady!!
I found a craft center so we could visit that for something that might be truly enjoyed by me. Alas, we could not find that building. So we went ahead and dined at Bubba Gump's with the idea of walking it off after we finished. So many shrimp. So very delicious. Worth the four hour drive for dinner!!! Bwah-ha-ha!!
Then, after dinner, we did just that. We walked and walked and walked. Just like the pioneer children. Coats buttoned up against the cold (which fortunately was not overly cold). Taking the little off street shopping areas as we saw fit. The end result was purchasing birthday presents for Bailey and a new belt for Claude that was fitted to him and holes punched while we waited. Very successful stroll. I assured Claude he could give me the belt and I would wrap it up and put it under the tree for his Christmas present. How clever is that idea?
The one thing we wanted to do that we didn't get to do was take a ride on the Trolley of Winter Lights. When I was doing research on-line before the trip, I found this Trolley ride that looked like a great way to see the Christmas lights. I tried to get tickets and ended up with the last single ticket for the night we would be in Gatlinburg. I held the ticket (it was only $5) and kept checking back until we took the trip. We walked down to where you would leave for the Trolley ride and there were no more tickets to be had. That would have been fun but didn't ruin any of the fun we had in our stroll.
We found these pretty lights down by where the Trolley Ride would have been. These trees had lights and crystals hanging to reflect that light. It was truly gorgeous.
One our way back down the Parkway or Main Street of Gatlinburg, we stopped for ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Yum! Then we strolled back to our hotel to warm up and enjoy a relaxing evening.
Saturday we slept in a bit and then went to the Atrium for a pancake breakfast. There are pancake establishments all over Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. It was time to point the car north to Sadieville. We drove into Kentucky and found a back road outside of London, Kentucky that went through the Daniel Boone National Forest just for fun.
It was a great date. May have to try that again next year. Hmmmm...
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