Thursday morning we loaded up the minivan and hit the road for a mini-cation. It had been planned shortly before the job loss happened and we were unable to get our money back on the hotel. So we decided that it was better to take the trip and enjoy ourselves for a few days rather than lose the $300 we’d already paid. We headed to Gatlinburg, the incredibly trashy mountain tourist destination. (Myrtle Beach is the incredibly trashy beach tourist destination.) I do so enjoy embracing my trashy side once in a while…

Anyway, we spent basically the entire day taking our time in getting there. We drove through Cherokee and resisted stopping at the casino to take our shot at the jackpot. It was a really enjoyable drive. I loved that the street signs in Cherokee had the road names translated into the native language. I’d been there before but either didn’t notice it then or this is a relatively new feature. We talked to the boys about Sequoyah and other Cherokee history. Not sure how much they really listened, but I felt like it was good stuff to talk about while we had them held captive in their car seats.

We finally arrived at our hotel (Glenstone Lodge…great place to stay!) around dinner time and after unloading, we walked down to the “strip” and explored for a while. Had dinner at a nice little sandwich place and returned to the hotel. On Friday morning, we got up and headed to the hotel where my in-laws were waiting to spend the day with us. They had (of course!) many treats to spoil the boys with.

We walked around the area and my FIL insisted on lunch at Bennett’s, which is just OK. Typical chain restaurant food, IMO. Plus it’s got the whole “Tennessee BBQ” thing going on and we know how I feel about that. He also really wanted to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which I just could not get behind. As much as I think Gatlinburg is a trashy tourist destination, there are some *really* good local places to eat and I hated the idea of eating somewhere that I could eat at here (well, surrounding area) anytime I wanted. So we went to Flying Horse Grill down in Pigeon Forge and it was really good…though that opinion was not shared by everyone in our party. I think the lone dissenter was just a case of sour grapes, though.

Saturday morning we got up and took the kids to stay with my mom in Knoxville. On the way back, we did some shopping because my maternity clothing situation was getting desperate. (Actually, it still is…if you know of anyone with maternity clothes they no longer need, I would LOVE to have them. I’m what’s euphemistically known as a “special size” so it’s hard to find things second-hand that fit. If you think you may be able to help out, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email. I’m happy to return anything you want back once I’m done!) I managed to get a couple of things that were marked way down, so that was helpful. We then returned to our hotel to rest a bit before our big dinner out sans children. We ate at Calhoun’s and had a delicious meal courtesy of the gift card my brother and his wife had given us at Christmas.

Sunday morning we headed back to Knoxville to pick up the kids and have a small family lunch/b-day party for my youngest. We got back on the road around 4:00 and finally made it home around 11PM last night. It took so long because we took a very long detour in Hickory to find a Backyard Burgers because I’ve had *major* cravings. I adore my husband because he was very patient through the entire ordeal…though I could tell he thought it was a wild goose chase. Still, we eventually found it and I indulged in a lemon chicken sandwich and some chili cheese fries. Just what this pregnant girl needed!