Sunday- 8/19/07

We woke up feeling refeshed and energized. Milicent/Meredith arranged breakfast at the Freymont Inn for us. We packed up, said goodbye to our posh furnishings, and ate breakfast. Our waitress was great. She made Evan laugh and gave him several coloring sheets. Chris colored Thomas the train while Evan & I colored "Annie" the horse. Evan gobbled up his breakfast- good boy.

We drove down the 74E to the Tuckaseigee river outfitters and bought tickets to kayak down the river. We were warned there would be level 1 & 2 rapids, the river was low, and we would paddle 5 miles down. Good start- we got stuck on a few rocks but wriggled out easily. The first few rapids were fun. As we headed down we found out how low the river was. Chris kept getting out and pushing us off rocks- tough job considering a pregnant lady was weighing down the kayak.

About 1/2 way down, as Chris got back in the boat a furry catepillar jumped up on Evan's face. He cried in pain and brushed the stinging bug into the water. He whimpered as his right cheek started turning red. We paddled and struggled down the second half of our trip as quick as possible as Evan held a cool bottle of water over his face.

When we arrived back at the outfitters, Bubba (yes, his real name) got Evan a popcicle which seemed to really help.

After changing into dry clothes, we began our trek to Gatlinburg. I stopped for lunch at the best place in the world for a bacon cheddar burger- Backyard Burgers. We ate ravenously- it was soooo good! Evan fell asleep in the van after we gave him a couple of Tylenol. His face was still red. I drove the exausted guys through the Smokies to Gatlinburg.

Saturday Night- 8/18/07

That night we drove to Maggie Valley in hope of an entertaining musical dinner. We are met by a long line of traffic due to a moonlight road race. Weird. After 20 minutes of inching along we stop at the first restaurant we see- Butts on the Creek! What a great name for a restaurant and it really stuck with Evan throughout our meal. They serve BBQ and a very good peach cobbler. I got ribs- they were also good. Our butts sat at a table overlooking the creek-purdy.

After dinner, traffic was still at a standstill, so we decided to head in the opposite direction- Lake Junaluska. This was the best decision of the day- we walked around the peaceful lake- Evan got to run around and we reminiced about memories of visiting Lake J. Chris filmed some hungry ducks and got bit on the finger. He visited the lake every summer as a child. After the walk we cruised through Maggie Valley slightly faster than the foot runers.

We fell asleep in our fancy room satisfied after our first day of vacation.

Vacation Memories - Saturday 8/18/07

Slept in a bit since we were up so late the night before. Our room is very nice- king bed with a butterfly bedspread that reminds me of Grandma Dora. Our room is connected to a lavish living room full of too many antiques. Three couches, two china cabinets, table, chairs, coffee table, fridge, microwave, etc. The decore also reminds me a bit of Gail and Grandma Davis. Our bathroom is off the living room. There are several doors sealed shut. A second bedroom is off the living room, but our neighbors won't arrive until later that night.

After showering we go eat at a diner with breakfast paid with our room. The diner is closed. After a lengthly apology from Meredith?Milicent? we eat a greasy breakfast from Bojangles. Evan and I order milk which is horrible. Everything was good except that which I almost puked at the table.

We drive to main street and browse 2-3 stores. We buy Evan a train puzzle to appease him from buying the expensive Lionel trains.

We drive to Deep Creek and hike to the falls where people are tubing. The water is low. The tube man discourages us from going down as he eyes my pregnant belly. Evan, Chris, and I settle on eating hot dogs.

Disappointed by not going tubing, Chris drives us on the road to nowhere. Evan pukes up his lunch. We roll down the windows and drive to our room for a very long nap.

Vacation Memories- Friday 8/17/07

We left Holly Springs for Bryson City tonight. I went ahead and drove first, and ended up driving the entire way. This was Chris' last day at work! He ended up staying there until 5:30pm. :-(

Evan fell asleep in the van around 9:30pm. We arrived at the West Oak B&B around 12:30am. Exausted from the trip, we all collapse in our ornately decorated bedroom.