Web Development and Technology Blog

Normally, Stacy does all the personal family blogging (and picture posting), but she is still in Kentucky on the second week of our holiday trip, while I opted to drive home on Saturday, so I thought I would post about the trip to Gatlinburg for Christmas. I am sure when she gets back she will have much more to say, and more eloquently too.

We got to the Smokies on Saturday, Dec. 20, where we stayed at the Westgate resort. The weather had definitely cooled off since leaving Jacksonville. Everyone was excited about cooler holiday weather and the prospect of a white Christmas. We got in too late on Saturday to do much, so just went to eat at Johnny Carino’s (they no longer have any in Jax, so we missed it). We enjoyed the drive, our friend Garmin had taken us up 95 through Asheville, which did seem better than going up 75, and we had stopped at rest stop and eat these wraps Stacy made.

We only had a few plans, lots of places to eat from our past trips, but not a lot we HAD to do on this visit. So on Sunday we went out to see the national park and maybe some snow. It was cool, but not as cold as expected, but obviously the higher we got the more it cooled off. The road to Clingman’s Dome was closed, but you could stop at the base of it, where you straddle the North Carolina-Tennessee border. The view was amazing, but the wind sure was blowing, I had hoped we could do some walking, but no one was for that, and Stacy had started to get a cold (I think from the change in weather). From there we went over into Cherokee, NC. Stacy and I had been, but Jacob wanted to see Santaland and Ghost Mountain in the Sky. We will have to go back in warmer weather so he can add to his coaster count.

Once we got back to Gatlinburg, we went to Calhoun’s. I had some very good ribs! Looking back now I am thinking our main activity was eating out, LOL. The next night we ate at Bubba Gump’s. Stacy and I had really liked it previously, but it was very disappointing and over-priced this trip. After we left Bubba Gump’s on Monday we walked the strip to see the Christmas lights. I couldn’t believe how sparse the crowds were, I assume the recession really impacted discretionary travel, but it was still very pretty. I hadn’t dressed warm enough, so we bought jackets in a store, which I probably won’t get to wear again till we go back next year.

All week long we played lots of board games, which went well. Usually someone yells death threats after only a few minutes, so that was wonderful change. Maybe us 3 kids are maturing, LOL. We even had gotten a new game from Santa, a new version of Clue and it was a lot of fun. We also played a newer version of Monopoly where you get $2 million each time you pass GO.

Brianna and I went to the indoor water park on Tuesday, and it was a BIG disappointment. It was one of the reasons we had picked Westgate, but the whole experience was a let down. But the worst for us was the 60 degree lazy river (the water heater had been broken for a week), I thought would be relaxing, not a Polar Bear Dive! While we were at the water park, though, Jacob made his famous peanut butter balls. We had tons of chocolate for the week, will probably pay for it in diet in the new year. That night we went to eat at a new place called Blue Moose, that Stacy’s friend Beth recommended. The burgers were great, and next time I want to try their wings.

Anyway, Stacy still wasn’t feeling good and since Dollywood was closed on Christmas Eve, we postponed that to Friday. Amazingly, considering it was a tourist town, lots of places closed early on Wednesday and were closed on Thursday. But we did go to a great Mexican place called El Paso in Sevierville (apparently it used to be Monterrey, leading to us having GPS issues). I honestly think I could eat Mexican daily, but it was Feliz Navidad for us, LOL.

As is our tradition, we opened gifts Christmas Eve night. The kids are getting SO old, so they get less but bigger gifts, but they seemed really excited about their gifts. Glad Bri liked her record (yes, like LP’s) player after spending hours looking for Beatles albums around town. Christmas day we ate lots of food and chocolate and played games and watched holiday movies. It was so much fun, weird when I think how old the kids are and I figure not too far away from having our family of four maybe include significant others on the trip (of course with Bri’s texting, it is almost like having them along now, :-p ).

So on Friday, we went to Dollywood. The weather was very warm so all but the water rides were open. The mystery mine ride was a ton of fun, but being the old geezer I am, I pinched something on the second ride and hurt the rest of the day. Stacy still had the cold, so we went to a lot of the Christmas shows, while the kids rode. When we left there, we ate at Ruby Tuesday, so Jacob and I could get the unlimited fries, because that is a BIG deal in our house.

On Saturday, I rented my Chevy HHR, which Jacob was jealous of, and drove home. I hit every accident and construction delay possible in Georgia, south of Atlanta, so it seemed to take forever, but I was glad to get home. On Monday, I picked up my “boys”, Tucker and Graedy, and we are having a bachelor-week, except for the time I spending at office working on web site and installing some network-storage.

We have a wonderful Christmas, and hope you all did. Definitely check back in a week for Stacy’s version.