It's finally Friday y'all - I've been on vacation all week and I swear, I didn't even know what day it was sometimes but I do know that today is finally Friday and since I've been absent on the blog this week with my adventures, I thought I'd use my Friday Five to share what I've been up to! Prepare for all the pictures! And note - this edition is coming to you from the backwoods of Mississippi, well cell service is non-existent and WiFi is the only saving grace...
One. Anakeesta - Our family has been spending vacation time in Gatlinburg, TN since before I can remember... when we lived in MS it was about 6 and a half hours and now that I'm a VA resident, it's also just 6 and a half hours... just in the opposite direction! We decided that we'd spend the weekend ahead of our week in MS in our old haunt of the Smokey Mountains - it's been 2 years since my last visit and my parents couldn't remember how long it had been.
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| Gorgeous mountain views.... |
One of the new attractions is called Anakeesta; which is Cherokee for "the high ground", it's a ski lift or chondola (that's a chair gondola...apparently...) ride to the top of the mountain side where there are shops, some dining, zip lining, a mountain coaster, a treetop walkway and a garden. They are still adding on to Anakeesta, so I'm sure we'll have to make a return trip to see how it grows. The views are spectacular and I'm sure they'd be absolutely breathtaking in any season! I'd love to see them in the Fall! We rode in the chondola to the top because I'm not wild about heights and swinging about in a open air ski lift seat is just not a thing I'm signing up for...
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| Isn't it absolutely beautiful? |
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| Knock! Knock! Anyone home? |
The gardens are still in the process of being built - but what they already had was absolutely beautiful! Rippling waterfalls and streams, crocus and pansies blooming...and the blue skies and mountain ranges in the distance certainly don't hurt! I'm sure once it's all said and done, the gardens at the top will be amazing - how could they not be with that backdrop?
One of the things they have is a treetop walkway - 16 bridges that span through the treetops - and so we made our way along the treetops, watching people zip along over us on the zip lines. It really was such perfect weather and the views were stunning! I've always loved the mountains, I'm so blessed to actually live in the mountains now!
We made our way down the mountainside via chondola; my Dad chose to ride on an open air ski lift but I don't do heights so well...so my Mom and I followed behind him in the enclosed chair gondola. It really was such a fun thing to do and if you're in Gatlinburg, I'd definitely recommend taking a little ride up the mountainside to
Anakeesta!
Two. A Dusting of Snow - When we woke up on Monday morning to head down to MS, there was a light dusting of snow on the mountains, almost like someone had sifted down powdered sugar on everything! It was nothing like the snow we've been seeing in Northern Virginia but it was still awfully pretty to look at, and so I took several pictures as we made our way out of the mountains and onto the interstate.
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| At lower elevations, there was pretty much no snow... |
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| I think it's so funny how as you look up the mountain...the trees turn from green to brown... |
Three. The Mississippi Museum of Arts & Entertainment - Meridian is where I grew up and while the city itself seems like it's falling into a bit of disrepair (sorry fellow Mississippians, I'm speaking the truth) they do have a new museum that is dedicated to the pioneers of arts and entertainment from the state of Mississippi and on Tuesday, we met up with my "little sister" McKenna and toured the museum.
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| "Luke - I am your father!" |
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| McKenna & I on the roof of the museum. |
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| Cruising down the Mississippi River... |
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| This is where I went to college - and McKenna is currently in school there. |
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| The pews were salvaged from the church I grew up in; a tornado destroyed in a few years ago & they managed to save these. |
The museum had a special exhibit for a limited time that celebrates Jim Henson - who I had no clue was from Mississippi. They had several of his puppets and costumes and creatures from movies like The Dark Crystal and The Labyrinth on display - definitely very neat! I was super enthralled with the puppets from Fraggle Rock, I spent some formative years watching that show... *sigh* memories...
Five. Laurel MS - Yesterday we headed up the road about 45 minutes to Laurel, which is where the HGTV show
Home Town is filmed. I went to college in nearby Hattiesburg and when I was in college, Laurel was just a blip on the radar that I flew through driving in between Meridian and Hattiesburg for school - but now, thanks to Ben & Erin Napier, it's kind of a big deal. We met up with McKenna, who is now in school at the University of Southern Mississippi (my alma mater) and perused the town for a few hours.
After we perused the mercantile and I made a purchase (of course), we headed over to Pearl's Diner for lunch (delicious Southern style cooking y'all) and then poked our heads in several of the stores lining the streets of the little downtown and I found several things I'd have loved to buy - but I refrained, ha-ha! Then we made our way over to Scotmans & Co. to snap some pictures and pick up a couple goodies. The store is filled with things that just scream "deep South" and conjure up images of front porch sitting and everything that comes along with it... moon pies.. a Grape Nehi.. and plenty of bug spray, ha-ha!
Our final activity of the visit was to drive around the streets of Laurel and try to spot some of the houses that Ben & Erin have done on the show - they were harder to spot than you'd think but I think we found a couple. I know we found one of my personal favorites in the deep blue house with the generous front porch! After a stop at Shug's for some cookie dough (second time in less than a week - that's winning at life), we headed back to Meridian and called it a day.
And that's this week's Five on Friday - and it's certainly miles longer than it usually is! I hope y'all have had a good week! My cousin gets married tomorrow and then we're headed back to Virginia and I am so looking forward to being home again! I've had a good time here in the back woods of MS but I do think I'm a Virginian now, it certainly holds my heart! Y'all have a good weekend and I'll pop back in on Monday!
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