I have been home now for almost two weeks, and I am finally getting this last little post up! Goodness y’all, but the last week was an absolute roller coaster, and this week has been a bit wild in and of itself. Suffice it to say, there are a multitude of reasons why I am just now getting this post done! *wipes brow*
I have a multitude of pictures to share from our final day and a half of spending time in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge as a family - and that's just what this post is for! We started our morning at Pancake Pantry for breakfast; a tradition that we've had for years, we usually eat at Pancake Pantry on our final day of vacation. Since this wasn't our final day of vacation, Lindsey said this was basically stripping away a tradition - but then again, she's a little dramatic!
After eating all the
pancakes… actually, I had a waffle – sacrilege, I know. After eating all the
breakfast foods, we headed up the opposite side of the mountain on another ski
lift to Anakeesta! My little sister has never experienced the joy and happiness
that is Anakeesta and so we were thrilled to show her around! We perused some
of the shops and made our way all the way to the top of the hill (yep – a hill
at the top of a mountain) where the swings are and plopped down for a hot minute.
Seriously – it was HOT at the top of the mountain. So hot.
We contemplated the
alpine coaster – I should say, the rest of my family did – I did not. However,
it was something like 25+ additional dollars to ride the coaster and so we
passed. I mean, I’d have passed anyway because if I’d gotten on it, I probably
would have passed out. Ha! We did walk to the top of the Ana Vista Tower with Lindsey
and Ryan and I ended up in a conversation with some people who recognized our
Lapp shirts and were from Lancaster! We snapped pictures and headed back down
and around to the Ropes Course to try our hand – although only Lindsey and I
were bold enough to try it this time!
Our final stop was
to experience the Treetop Walkway – which I always really love doing, even if
it does involve both suspension bridges and heights! Those are two things that
I would usually pass on, but when in the mountains at Anakeesta, I can’t resist
a good treetop walkway in the afternoon sun. We thought about waiting to see
the first zip-liners head out on their adventure but there were a few shops
Ryan wanted to pop into, so we headed down the mountain ahead of my parents and
sister to race into the shops before heading back to the car to drive over to
Pigeon Forge!
Oh wait! How did I
forget?!? The first shop we stepped into was the Savannah Bee Company and we
tried honeycomb and y’all, I would like some more! Ryan and I saw a sign that
said “Try Honeycomb – Just Ask!” and I was immediately intrigued. They gave us
each a little spoon with honeycomb, one blueberry and one small cube of white
cheese and told us to eat it all in one bite – and it was DIVINE! Now, the
smallest jar of honeycomb was over $20 so I am just holding that memory in my
mind for now… but that stuff was amazing!
The next stop on our journey was The Island in Pigeon Forge! I should mention - we were sort of hitting the "high notes" of places Lindsey has never been in the Smokies, since she hasn't been able to vacation there in years. A new experience at The Island was something called Flight (or something like that) - and y'all, it was just like Soarin at Disneyland - so we grabbed tickets and hopped right on that! It was so much fun... my only complaint is that the six minute ride wasn't quite long enough, ha-ha! We perused a few shops and then decided to head back toward Gatlinburg and hop on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
A friend had mentioned to my Mom that they'd driven the Cades Cove Loop around dusk and ended up seeing tons of wildlife, so we figured that the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail would be similar - and y'all, we were NOT let down! We sighted a momma bear and three cubs not long after turning onto the roadway - they were far enough off the road that they were a bit hard to see and the cubs were quite small, which made them even harder to spot.
However - about five miles in, we came across cars backed up and so Ryan, Lindsey and I hopped out and walked ahead to investigate. Right above our heads, perched in the tree tops having their evening meal: a momma bear and her three cubs - this time the cubs were a few months older and since they were right above our heads, they were crystal clear and it was incredible!
We were absolutely enchanted with these little guys (probably not actually that little) and watching them scramble across the branches to get the best leaves and berries. One of the small cubs was very intent on getting himself some leaves from a branch far above him... and he would climb and wobble and retreat and repeat, ha-ha! It was absolutely the closest I have ever seen black bears in all my years of visiting the Smokies! And another note - the minute that bear started down the tree, everyone ran for their vehicles. A healthy respect for wildlife!
The rest of the evening was spent exploring some shops in downtown Gatlinburg and then grabbing Marble Slab for our dinner - when on vacation, you know? I somehow forgot that in the midst of all our shopping, Ryan and I popped into a boot outlet and ended up taking advantage of the buy 2 get the third pair free. I now have a killer pair of cowboy boots!
After a good night's sleep, we headed to Ogle Farmhouse Kitchen for breakfast and I got griddle cakes that were the size of my face! What?!? I could barely eat one of them - thankfully I only got two. Ryan also loved the John Deere outside the restaurant because it was just like the tractor his family had growing up - so we had to snap pictures! We did a little outlet shopping, grabbed fuel for the road from Black Rifle Coffee Company and then headed out for the highway and home!
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