The Purdy's: February 2011

Gatlinburg Day 4…Walking around downtown + small Hike

Posted by Tracy Purdy February 21, 2011 comments (0)

We spent the morning by sleeping in again today. We made biscuits and had apple butter with them. Yum. I did a little work this morning before we made our way out on the town.

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Let me just begin by telling you that if you are a person who are interested in any of the following, this is the place for you!:

Air Soft Gun Shops(crazy amount of these)

Old Time Photos

Golf…miniature…play in the dark, Ripley's haunted, circus, the list goes on…

Fudge Shops

Airbrush T-Shirt Shops

There are MULTIPLE stores of each of these! It is crazy!

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The two places on our list of “must see’s” today included the Pepper Palace, which had TONS of salsas, hot sauce and so much more! Fun place to browse through. Even picked out some salsa to take home! We LOVE salsa!

The next place was on Adam’s list, if you can only imagine what that place was:

The first legal Moonshine Distillery in TN! It was very fun to see too….of course he had to do the free taste testing!

The commercial and the brochures made this place look a lot bigger than it really was, but it was still very neat to see.

We ate lunch at Legends . Sat next to a fire place, enjoyed lunch.

Found this silly thing outside the restaurant….of course I had to twist his arm:) He was ~~mortified~~ excited about this photo opportunity as you can probably tell.

In one of the outdoor shops downtown, we saw this shirt and just HAD to get a picture of it! Funny!

After walking around downtown, Adam decided that we should fit in a short hike to Rainbow Falls. Our hike was cut a little short due to daylight. Of course we had to play a little with the new camera!

Now enjoying the evening next to the fire, getting ready to enjoy a dinner at “The Best Italian in Gatlinburg”. Will see how it goes!

Tomorrow we will be making it a day of hiking! We will be going to Cades Cove, then come back into Gatlinburg to finish the day off with one more “falls” hike.

Until then.

Gatlinburg Day 3…SKI DAY

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OBER MOUNTAIN HERE WE COME! And HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

So we started the day off by sleeping in, cooking cinnamon rolls and drinking our coffee. We then gathered up our “ski clothes” and headed up to the mountain. I am not sure that either of us really had an idea of what it was going to be like, but we were really excited. We stood in line, got our boots fitted and got our skis. I told Adam it reminded me of a mixture of going to Wild River Country and Ice Skating. Wild River Country, I remember standing in forever lines, everything costs money and there were many different stations to move through. Ice Skating, I remember having to get fitted in your skates, trying to find a place where to put your boots on, little kids screaming because they can’t walk….you see where this is going.

Once we figured out a way not to spend $15 on a locker(by simply taking our stuff right back out the front doors to our truck), we were off to the slopes. This is a bit different than Breckenridge, where I have been before. A ton smaller, not as many trail options and snow ONLY on the trails. At Ober Mountain, they make their own snow if they don’t have enough for skiing. At least until summer I believe.

Once we got on the first lift of the day, guess who fell getting off the lift, slid down on my bum, got snow all down my pants? Who you ask? Me:) This would be my first and LAST fall for the day. As for Adam, I was afraid that he would be a master skier and I would be left behind, as he reminded me again, but I felt pretty good about how I was doing. He had this “need for speed” that I just didn’t have. He said it was easier just to go straight down the mountain, rather than try to do turns….I, however, did not feel this way! I am a bit more of a cautious skier. I won’t mention the number of times that he fell….I don’t think I can count that high. ha Ober Mountain had 9 trails and today we skied 7 of the 9. The other two were just a bit too scary for our first day!

We ate lunch at the little lounge at the top of the mountain. I think we were both so hungry that we would have eaten anything! Our legs were beginning to get tired by this time!

Now sitting by the fire, getting ready to go enjoy our Valentine’s Dinner at Park Grill.

Until Next Time

Gatlinburg Day 2….Poking around

Posted by Tracy Purdy February 17, 2011 comments (0)

Sunday, Day 2, was what we like to call in my family, a Poking around day. Nothing in particular to do, just poke around! We made a trip into Pigeon Forge to Walmart to stock up on coffee and breakfast stuff.

After that we ate at The Old Mill Pottery Barn Restaurant. We were pleased with lunch. Good home cooked southern food. This was on the list of things from friends that we “must” do while here. After lunch we walked around the Old Mill District. Not too much to see there, but did take a few pictures next to the mill.

After The Old Mill, we decided to go check out “the best” and largest flea market in the “world”. Can I just say, Flea Markets are strange…..very strange. I guess I am more of an antique girl, not so much a leather belts, knives, a dozen socks for $2.00, and air soft guns type of girl. It was the most random, weird place. We just had to laugh at ourselves for going. We were definitely out of place. Glad to say we have been, but not going back.

We decided to drive up the mountain to see where we would be skiing. Of course you can’t go to the top of the mountain without paying, so we decided to wait for another day. We did drive the motor nature trail right around from our condo. Its beautiful up here, a little snow in the higher elevations. The Temperature has been very pleasant in the day, chilly at night.

We didn’t want anything very heavy for dinner so we ate at Blain’s Bar and Grill. It was just ok food. Won’t be making a second visit there!

We did however, get to watch part of the Grammy’s which of course made me happy!

Tomorrow we go SKIING! I am so excited and nervous that I won’t remember how to do it! I will leave you with what Adam woke me up saying this morning:

Adam: “Tracy, I’m sorry, but I won’t hesitate to leave you on the Bunny or small slopes, so you better be good and be able to keep up”

Me: HA “When was the last time you went skiing? When you were 12?”

Adam: “Yeah, so?”

Me: HAHA

Adam: “I can’t wait to find some ramps and try some jumps”

Me: BAHAHA!

Adam: “I don’t ever want to get scared of hurting myself as I get older, so I am going to do some crazy stuff”

Me: HAHAHA “When we rent our skis and stuff, we need to check with them to make sure that they have an ambulance available at the bottom.”

Can I just add that I am laughing so much on this trip. It has been very good for both of us! Me laughing at him… of course. And I plan on adding to the laughing tomorrow when I see how we really are at skiing.

AND HERE WE GO!

Gatlinburg Day 1….Arrival

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WE MADE IT!

To be honest, we had NO clue what the place we were staying was going to be like. Websites can seem to make places look better than they really are. I was completely surprised at the amount of traffic. Although it was a Saturday, and I am sure that Saturday’s are busier, but it was crazy! It is like Branson at Christmas time! Tons of stoplights that take you through Pigeon Forge down to Gatlinburg.

We were pleasantly surprised when we opened our door to our “condo”. Fireplace, kitchen, Jacuzzi….just a very cozy feeling.

Our Turn In From Front Door Looking in

Fireplace and balcony Bedroom with tub in it!?

Living room looking at kitchen Jacuzzi tub

Looking off of our balcony

We were excited to go see the town, even though it was dark.

We made the walk from our condo down to the “strip” of downtown Gatlinburg. What a fun place! Gatlinburg reminds me of Eureka Springs, AR X 100. Pigeon Forge reminds me of Branson, MO.