Birthday in Gatlinburg

Wilkins birthday arrived in May so I decided to take him to Gatilinburg for a long weekend! We had so much fun with the aquarium, site seeing and Cade's Cove! Emmalyn did so good too. As you can see her daddy had to rock the baby carrier all weekend- and let me tell you we love it!!! She did too apparently, cause she would be happy and dancing in it one minute then passed out asleep for the next.

My husband is now 33 years old and this was his first real trip to Gatlinburg. Cause no one does Gatlinburg, TN, like me. Seeming how I went so much during high school and college I knew every great shopping store (which W wasn't a fan of) and the great eats!

We got there really late on Friday so we just went to bed, which I wasn't happy about! But in Heine sight now was a great thing because we wore ourselves out on Saturday. We tried to fit everything in- like the aquarium, the shopping, the museums, and food! We got lucky because we hit it at the right weekend with the annual Arts and Crafts festival there that day too. So there was plenty of mountain music and lifestyle shows to accommodate.

On Sunday, we went hunting (searching) at the National Park for a black bear. Let me tell you that we did not plan on leaving till we saw one. Six hours later in Cade's Cove and no black bear to be seen we ended up heading home disappointed. However, Cade's Cove was so unique and interesting.

I love history stuff and so does Wilkins, so, seeing these historic homes that have been there since the 1800's and how they lived way out like that was fascinating. No neighbors, grocery stores, phones, or TV...is crazy to imagine. We would all probably have a melt down if we had to do that these days!!!

The picture below is a wheat mill that still operates today. They make tons of cornbread, wheat, and more in bags to raise money for the Cove. Isn't it just gorge...

This picture is of me and Emmalyn at the aquarium. I don't know who had more fun me or her! She loved being somewhere new and having so much to do too.

I love Gatlinburg and I hope that my family will too. Wilkins said it was "fun and okay for a weekend" in other terms, not coming back for a little while. However, my family has rented a cabin during the holidays that we will be attending for a whole week, lol!!! He thinks I'm crazy about the mountains wait till he sees my whole family in Gatilinburg!!!