Sep 29 2009
Trip to Pigeon Forge, TN
I should have posted this a week ago, but things have been hectic with Sean’s ear infection and Emily was sick this weekend. But I finally had time tonight.
For Emily’s 30th birthday, we took a belated trip to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN. It was my first time there, and Em hadn’t been since she was 16 or so.
I booked a cabin a few miles outside off of Pigeon Forge’s main drag at the Pine Mountain Resort and Spa. Here is a snap shot of our cabin as well as a link to the gallery for the weekend:
We ran into one spot of trouble. If you are EVER going to the Gatlinburg or Pigeon Force area…never go during the Fall Grand Rod Run Car Show!! When we arrived at the main drag in PF, TN we hit traffic at stop light 12. It took us 1.5 hours to drive 6 stop lights. That is basically how traffic went the whole weekend. We probably spent as much time in our car as we did out of them! (not really…maybe). One thing Emily and I thought was funny were the people. They lined the strip with chairs for miles and just sat there. All Day. Watching traffic. All. Day.
The people were, of course, good ol boys from across the US-of-A. I had to hold Emily back and promise her a good dinner that night, so she would not leave me for this strapping buck:
Saturday we spent a good part of the day in Gatlinburg and went to Ripley’s Mirror Maze, The Movie Car Museum (pics in the gallery link above, including me with the 4077th jeep!), some shops and other stuff. We went to the craft district, but it was really a bunch of unimpressive junk. There were a couple shops of truly great stuff, but some stores, I barely made it in the door before I was turning around to leave. We left Gatilnburg and headed back to PF…only to sit in traffic for another hour or so (5 miles of driving).
Once back in PF, we hit some go-kart tracks (I let Emily win once), played four or five different mini golf courses, and ate dinner are a nice steakhouse. I was seriously golfed-out by the end of the night. Our last course was an indoor black light course with a pirate theme. This place also had a mirror maze that was a million times harder than the Ripleys maze in Gatlinburg. they also had this room with green lasers that you had to go from one end to the other w/o breaking the beams! It was fun, but Emily and I don’t think it was calibrated correctly or something.
Sunday we got on the road by 1030, stopped at a couple shops, and headed back to Cincinnati by about 1115am. There is a 25mile stretch to get from PF to the highway. Its state highways basically. It took us TWO HOURS to drive 25 miles. We sure were glad to get on the highway. Except for the torrential down pour that Emily had to drive through while I slept – I’m such a good passenger! When we got about 40 miles north of Lexington, KY traffic stood still. Dialing 511 told us there was something in the roadway and the road was closed. Oh Boy. This is what we saw…
…for four hours….
State troopers finally routed traffic to uS25 (dixie highway), but during that four hour “drive”, we moved two miles. What a nightmare. Emily and I had fun though, just talking and enjoying eachother’s company. Our 4.25 hour drive took us over 9 hours! Wow.
Finally, this weekend would not have been possible at all if it wasn’t for my sainted mother.
She drove the five hours on Friday (and Sunday) just to watch Sean so we could have this weekend away. She and Diana enjoyed some time together taking Sean to various places. I’m sure he had a blast. Actually, I know he did because he was totally crashed out and didn’t wake up at all sleeping Sunday night, and he slept until almost 830 the next morning! Thank you Mom – We love you and appreciate your help!!
