Thanksgiving Vacation!

Thanksgiving 2o10 was spent in the Smokies! Our cabin at Cobbly Nob was pretty fantastic! Our Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, yams, green bean casserole and cranberries, was prepared by Lucas and Nolan while Connie and I went on an adventurous hike of approximately 7 miles. I say approximately because, as you can see in the map, half of our hike is missing. We hiked from the intersection of the 3 black lines to the green dot #32. But then we turned and headed back to the black line (road), and made a triangle-like path. Its like if that stream was the second leg of our journey, only we didn't follow a stream the whole way... or did we? I don't remember... this was the portion of the hike where I blacked out from the scary deer encounter.



Let me back up just a bit. On our way to Gatlinburg, we stopped in Nashville and toured The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. I really appreciated The Hermitage for it's costumed tour guides. That's always a nice touch. Below you can see Lucas in front of the tomb where Andrew and his wife, Rachel, are buried.



The next day, and our first full day in the cabin, was Thanksgiving, which I have already covered. Thanks again Nolan and Lucas for the great meal.

Friday was spent in Gatlinburg. We took the trolley, went to the Aquarium, and found a nice little wine bar in an old Dairy Queen.

On Saturday the four of us drove to Asheville to visit The Biltmore Estate. I loved the Biltmore Mansion, and I loved Asheville even more. We had lunch at The Red Stag Grill inside The Grand Bohemian Hotel. The things I loved about this hotel were the large central fireplace in the lobby, the grandiose atmosphere, the chain mail fabric hanging in the doorway to the restaurant, and the hexagonal granite tile floor in the restrooms. What's not to like? I asked Lucas if we could go back and stay there for our 10th wedding anniversary in 2016 and he said yes. !! So - see you in 6 years, sweet Grand Bohemian.



Here we are at the Grand Bohemian Hotel lobby.



And in front of the Biltmore...

The Biltmore was, of course, spectacular. It was all decked out for Christmas. It had 40 Christmas trees with room for more. There was a gingerbread house made to look like a tiny Biltmore. Yumm! It would be interesting to visit again when it's not decorated for Christmas and not so crowded.