Gatlinburg 2012

This past week was such an amazing time! E and I took the past four days during my spring break to get away for awhile, for the first time since we've been married. It was so overdue and and much needed. We ventured to Gatlinburg, TN and stayed at the Bearskin Lodge and spent the entire time doing whatever we wanted. We made few plans, took lots of naps and got to know each other even better than we already did. Pictures speak louder than all the words to describe our trip... so here are our favorites from our trip!

We started off our trip at the hotel...


...where we ended up sitting by the fire, talking until late at night:


We went to the Ripley's Aquarium where we saw sharks, crabs and of course... PENGUINS!


We played in the store




And I stuffed a penguin to take home and put right next to Herbert, the very first member of my penguin collection :)


We ate at lots of different restaurants, like Johnny Rockets


Bubba Gump Shirmp Co.


And our new favorite place that we can only afford to go once in a blue moon, The Melting Pot.


E experienced his first fondue meal and I relived childhood memories that I still hold dear... except this time with a glass of wine.


We also visited Dick's Last Resort... we love a good laugh and the food isn't terrible.






We played mini golf, rode go-carts and spent hours just walking the streets, watching people and enjoying each other's time








We stumbled upon Tennessee's first legal moonshine distillery, Ole Smokey Moonshine, where we sat outside and watched a fantastic bluegrass band not once but three or four times during our stay.




Neither of us had ever had Baskin Robin's before, so we both had our first, second and third experience of their 31 flavor delicousness


E convinced me to ride the Ober Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway that took us on a 2.1 mile ride up a mountain, and then managed to get me on the Gatlinburg Sky Lift, which brought us to the top of Crockett Mountain, 1,800 feet closer to Heaven.




I conquered (sort of) my fear of heights and wobbly things, and we saw breathtaking views that truly made me stop and just think about how awesome our God is.






We took a beautiful drive through the Smokey Mountains to get to and from Gatlinburg, and we stopped along the way to once again admire creation. We were in awe of the majestic grandeur of the mountains and kept commenting on how small the Blue Ridge seemed now.








We left Gatlinburg with so many good memories. During our stay, we made time to simply talk to each other and value quality over quantity. At first, we tried to do so much in one day- packing in attractions, dinner, walks and talks...and then we realized that we didn't want to spend our vacation rushing around and packing things in. We slept in late, took our time, crossed only a few things off of our "to-do" list and basked in the fact that we had only ourselves to answer to. No work, no internships, no classes... just four days of us being us.








When I got home, it hit me that I had just experienced by last spring break of college. In just a few short weeks, I'll be graduating from L-R, walking across the stage from my education and stepping into the real world. I thought about my peers and how many of them spent their own spring break...by comparison, mine was so mild. Calm, relaxing, and sober... and my GOD I couldn't have asked for a better week. How blessed am I that I got to spend such an awesome few days with my best friend, soul mate and husband?