Now back to our trip! We really wanted to see Asheville, North Carolina. I had been near this cute city years ago for a wedding but didn't spend too much time there. We drove through Virginia and headed further east to NC. Of course we needed to fuel our bodies with a good burger and fries first!
We continued east and saw some really beautiful sights.
It wasn't long until we found Asheville, North Carolina. The city was much bigger than we were expecting, but still just as quaint in some parts with it's orange and fiery red foliage.
We went to the Grove Park Inn as a recommendation from family. We are so glad we went. It really was an amazing place and we hope to some day return there and stay for a few nights! Here are some pictures of the property.
Elias looking down over the golf course-
The next day we headed out west...toward eastern TN. We drove through a really cute small town called Waynesville. Turns out the wedding I went to back in 2007 was in this town! We parked and stretched our legs and of course got this cute photo-
We've had quite a trip thus far. From KY, through VA, to NC then back west to TN it is hard to pick out a favorite place because they were all so different from each other and we did very different things in each place. But I think Aaron and Elias will agree with me that Gatlinburg and the portion of Smoky Mtns we hiked was what we were looking for on our trip.
We entered the park just before the sun was starting to set. We stopped at a ranger stations and asked where would be the best place to see the sunset in the little amount of time we had. The answer: Clingman's Dome.
Fun fact- At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is Great Smoky Mountains National Park's highest point. It is the highest point in Tennessee, and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. Only North Carolina's Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) rises higher.
And we made it just in time.
It was cold and windy, but very worth it. This is another place I would love to go back to. Now what better to do after our long drive and time out in the cold and wind...find food...good food. So we headed to the strip town that is Gatlinburg.
What words would best describe Gatlinburg? I asked Aaron this and he described it perfectly: A lovely, kitschy tourist trap. And we loved it! It was just the place for this part of our trip.
We walked up and down the strip looking for food. We were so thankful to have found what seemed the best pizza in the Smoky Mountains!
After the delicious pizza and potently scrumptious garlic rolls we headed back out on the strip.
This guy must have been at the moonshine distillery a little to long. We passed through and saw the legitimately legal distillery and even sampled a few. Our favorites- Apple Pie Moonshine and the Moonshine Cherries (moonshine-soaked maraschino cherries).
Another night of rest and we were up and ready for some more explorin' in the mountains. We decided to do the touristy thing and drive the scenic loop recommended by the ranger.
Pictured above is one of the 3 churches from the early 1800s. Below is the beautiful valley we drove through.
We drove right under this little guy lounging in the tree at the end of our scenic tour. It was a slow paced relaxing ride, but by the end we needed to get out and walk around! One of the things Aaron wanted to do on this family vacation was do some sort of hike. Well we found a short trail to a small waterfall on our way out of the park.
It ended up raining pretty steadily about halfway through the hike to the falls. Elias was such a trooper. He was happy to be out of the car seat and in the fresh air!
We made it back to the car and ready to make to long drive all the way to Nashville. Had to catch this cutie patootie before he got back in the car seat.
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