16th Anniversary Vacation, Part 2

We arrived in Gatlinburg Monday afternoon around 4:00. We had rented an adorable little cabin in the mountains. It was perfect for our vacation even though the drive up to it each day was a little stressful- curvy, steep roads. 

The cabin was beautiful and the perfect place to relax and recharge during our trip.

Our favorite part was the hot tub on the back deck and the view of all the trees and sounds of nature. 

It was a little drizzly, but we went ahead and ventured down to downtown Gatlinburg. We ate dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant and proceeded to explore the strip. It felt like a supersized Branson to us- lots of cute shops, arcades, candy stores, and novelties. 

After walking around for a couple of hours and picking up a few essentials at Wal Mart we headed back to the cabin for the evening. 

Tuesday morning we drove back down to Gatlinburg for breakfast at a fun place I had heard about with giant pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Usually, we're not big breakfast fans, but it was fun to enjoy breakfast out together. 

After breakfast, we walked over to explore Anakeesta for the day. We rode a chair life up to the top of the park. 

Anakeesta had different areas to explore- treehouse bridge trails, observation tower, fun little adventure courses, and a few shops and restaurants. 

It was beautiful and fun to leisurely walk around and experience. 

We sat on a bench and took in the scenery for a bit too. 

After some ice cream and more walking around we took the chair lift back down to the strip. 

We were near a hiking trail, so we did a four mile round trip hike along the river. It was delightful to catch up, visit, and experience landscape that we don't have in Oklahoma. 

One of the trolley drivers on the strip said that this sign is the most photographed National Park sign in the country. 

After our hike we grabbed some dinner at a restaurant on the strip and then drove back to our cabin to play some games and rest our tired muscles in the hot tub. 

Each morning of our trip we ate breakfast on the back deck. It was one of my favorite parts of our trip- so peaceful.

We spent Wednesday at Dollywood riding roller coasters. 

We rode all 8 (minus the kiddie coaster) at Dollywood which was our goal!

We took small breaks between coasters for a snack of cinnamon bread.

Since we usually visit theme parks with our kids, it's rare for us to get to ride coasters together these days, so we appreciated the quality time of getting to ride together and choose which rides to do too. 

We missed the Flower and Garden Festival at Disney World this year, so I appreciated the cute landscaping and flower sculptures at Dollywood. 

We ate barbecue for dinner after our day at Dollywood and came back to the cabin to start a game of Twilight Struggle. 

Thursday was a rainy morning. The sounds and smell of nature and the rain during breakfast on the deck is something I never want to forget. 

We had a lazy morning and played a couple more rounds of Twilight Struggle before heading back to Gatlinburg for a few hours. 

We visited an old pinball arcade and spent too much time there playing all the pinball games- I can get a little addicted trying to beat my previous scores, ha!

We also shopped around and picked up some gifts for the kids (we do miss them a little bit on our trips).

Then it was back to the cabin to finish our game of Twilight Struggle. It's such a complicated, intricate game that we can only play it when we have multiple interrupted days away from our kids. 

I ended up getting the Chernobyl card at the exact perfect time on the last round of the game to put a death nail in Matt's attack and was able to claim victory. Without the luck of that card, I'm sure I would have lost. 

That night we enjoyed our nightly ice cream on the deck and took in our last views of the trip. 

We packed up and left early Friday morning for home and to be reunited with our kids. This vacation was a gift- a perfect combination of relaxation, intentional quality time, and exploring and experiencing new fun things. I don't know that we'll find ourselves back in the Smoky Mountains again anytime soon, but I'm so glad for the opportunity to have gotten to see a part of the country I'd never visited before, and even more grateful for a week of quality time with my best friend. 

16th Anniversary Vacation Part 1

Matt and I celebrated 16 years of marriage in May. Instead of gifts for anniversaries, we go on a vacation together each year. This year we drove to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Mansion and then headed to Gatlinburg, TN for another few days of fun. 

We left early Saturday morning and made it to Asheville late that afternoon. We checked in to our hotel, changed clothes and headed to a delicious Italian restaurant for dinner. 

During dinner we each shared our top five moments of our 16th year of marriage. We went heavy on vacations this year and between May 2021-May 2022, we had four vacations! And vacations always seem to make it into our top memories for the year. 

Matt's Top Five Moments of year 16

1. Exploring Star Wars Land at Disney World

2. Beach vacation

3. Visiting Six Flags over Georgia

4. Walking along the Riverwalk in San Antonio

5. Our 15th Anniversary Staycation

Angela's Top Five Moments of year 16

1. Fireworks show at EPCOT to close out our Disney World Vacation

2. Swimming in the ocean with the dolphins at Fort Walton Beach

3. Exploring Mt. Vernon

4. Dinner at the Tower Restaurant in San Antonio with the Shondelmyers

5. Fourth of July 2021

After dinner, we had to find ice cream for dessert. We ate our ice cream and walked around the shopping area for a bit. 

Our hotel was nestled in the Smoky Mountains. That's a view we don't get in Oklahoma 

Sunday morning we drove over to the Biltmore for the day. The Biltmore Mansion has been on my list of places I wanted to visit for years. Matt was sweet to insist we were finally going to make it happen. 

It was a majestic view. 

We had a little time before our house tour, so we walked around the gardens

I enjoyed touring the house. I'm always interested in the daily lives of people in different historical periods. 

The bowling alley and swimming pool were especially fun to see. 

After our house tour, we also paid to do a backstairs door where we learned more about the lives of the servants who lived in the Biltmore. We got to see their bedrooms, including the Lady's Maid's room, their living area and some extra rooms behind the pantries and kitchen. 

After our tour, we walked around the gardens and the grounds until the heat did us in. 

The Biltmore was certainly fun to see. I learned a lot about the family and the time period in which they lived. 

We said goodbye to the Biltmore and drove over to the villages to explore some more. Of course, we found more ice cream before calling it a day and heading back to our hotel. 

Monday was a rainy day. We took our time getting ready and then played a game of Seven Wonders before leaving the hotel. 

We spent a few hours shopping at the Asheville Outlets, grabbed some lunch at Chick Fil A, and then drove over to Gatlinburg, TN for the next part of our vacation.