The Hawkins Family: May 2016

We decided on Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge for our spring break trip this year. We rented an amazing cabin with pool, Foosball, air hockey, hot tub and much much more! We really enjoyed the cabin!

Day 1: Maggie's birthday and traveling. Maggie had a soccer game at 11, so we had to go to that first. We FINALLY arrived at our cabin well after dark. But we made it! We celebrated Maggie's birthday with cupcakes after the game and lunch at Dairy Queen with the team. They won 2 -0, despite being short a player on the field. It was a great game!

Day 2: I got up early and got groceries. We spent the first half of the day relaxing and resting. After lunch, we hit up the Tanger Outlets and went shopping! We also explored the area around our cabin and found a playground! We took lots of selfies too :) We had dinner at the Chophouse and it was fantastic! We all gave it 5 stars.

Day 3: We spent the morning at The Track, which is a go-kart and putt putt place. I found a deal online to get tickets for really cheap, so we got to do a ton of stuff for really cheap! We even had leftover credits to come back again another day. After the track, we ate lunch at Mellow Mushroom and then headed over to Dollywood. We had to make sure not to get there before 3:00 pm. (This is another money saving tip). If you buy a ticket for Dollywood and enter after 3 pm any day- you can come back the next day- all day- for free! Well considering tickets are pricey, we decided this was the way to get the most out of our tickets. We LOVE it at Dollywood! There were hardly any lines since it was April, so we rode all the big rides with no wait! We stayed until they closed at 7 pm. For dinner we had crab legs and homestyle oven potato fries for dinner back at the cabin.

They even had a small go cart track for Kennedy!

Day 4: Dollywood is closed on Tuesday's in April, so we couldn't go back for the full day until Wednesday. So we went into Gatlinburg. We all did the Mountain Coaster first. You are pulled up to the top of the mountain and you get to race back down in a cart you control the speed of. Very cool! After we road the coaster we spent the afternoon walking through the shops in downtown Gatlinburg. For dinner, we gave the Alimo Steakhouse a shot. We were NOT impressed. But we made up for it with ice cream at Marble Slab!

Day 5: This was our free day back at Dollywood. We rode all the rides and shopped and had a great time! We ate lunch at one of the all you can eat buffets with delicious country cooking. I highly suggest Aunt Granny's! We headed back to the cabin for dinner. We had baked potatoes and Salmon filets for dinner. Kevin started feeling bad that night and his allergies got the best of him. He went to bed early and was in bed all day the next day! After dinner the kids and I hit up the hot tub. We got in the hot tub every night. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the week. We got to hang out and spend time together and enjoy each others company!

Day 6:

This was the day we had planned to spend in the Smoky Mountains! I have been planning this day for weeks. I had a whole list of things I wanted to see and hike in this one day. I had high expectations. Unfortunately Kevin was sick, so I had to do this day by myself. We started the day off with a big breakfast at the 3 Little Bears Pancake House. It was yummy. I had peanut butter banana pancakes and the kids had chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast we headed to Cade's Cove. This was over an hours drive. It is a 7 mile loop through a beautiful area of the Smoky Mountains. We stopped at the old Baptist Church and the Homestead sites as well as the grist mill and information center. I was very, very determined to see a bear on this trip. It was almost comical with the kids because I said it so many times and had so many "is that a bear!?" sightings. Well, I did get see a bear! Actually we saw several, including a mama and baby. We got out and watched them (from a distance) and took lots of pictures. After Cade's Cove, we hiked to a waterfall called Spruce Flat Falls. It was a 2 mile hike that was pretty intense, but the views were AMAZING! We made it to the waterfall and enjoyed some time hanging out at the falls. We decided to have our picnic lunch in this area and then headed back toward the center of the mountains to Clingmans Dome. This is the highest point of the Smoky's. It is over 6,000 feet high! I seriously felt as though I was at the top of the world! It was super cold up at the top and very windy. The temp in my car said 49. With the wind, it felt more like 39. It was 80 degrees back at our cabin! We made it to the trail for the Dome and climbed the 1/2 mile to the top. We could see for miles! It was pretty awesome. I had wanted to do Laurel Falls also, but we ran out of time (I over planned apparently). But that's ok, we got to do that Saturday as you will soon find out. After our long day in the Mountains, we headed back to get Kevin (he felt better) and go grab dinner. Kevin picked our dinner spot- Calhouns. They claim to have the best ribs in the world. Kevin said they do not. They rank at the bottom of the list of good rib restaurants. (He is a rib fanatic). I had a smoked chicken, not impressed with that either. So we give this place 2 thumbs down. This day was my favorite I think!

We saw several turkeys.

Black bear on the side of the road.

Black bear walking across the field!

The baptist church in Cade's Cove

Inside of the church

Checking out the gift shops...

Grist mill in the cove.

Deer in the cove.

Map to Spruce Flats Falls

Beautiful views, crazy straight up hiking!

About half way up I had to make Kennedy hold my hand, she didn't put up too much of a fuss since she could see how far down she could fall!

Beautiful Spruce Flats Falls!

Almost at the top of chilly Clingmans Dome!

Amazing views from 6000 feet up!

Day 7:

We had bought tickets for the Dixie Stampede this night. We also got deeply discounted tickets for the Wonder Works hands on center! We went to Wonder Works early in the afternoon. We had a GREAT time! The kids loved this place! It was so cool. It had tons of hands on activities and games for kids and adults. We stayed here for hours. After Wonder Works we headed to the dinner show. We chose the 8:30 show since it was cheaper than the 6:00 show. We absolutely loved this show! The food was great, the service was great and the show was spectacular! I highly recommend this. It is definitely expensive, but worth every penny.

Earthquake! The kids got to experience what an earthquake feels like!

Playing mind ball. Battle of the brains here...

Dinner at the Dixie Stampede!

Day 8: My birthday! We packed up and left the cabin by check-out time. We went and ate a huge breakfast at Sawyer's Farmhouse. It was YUMMY! I see why people say this is the best breakfast in Pigeon Forge! We will definitely go back here. After our huge breakfast we headed back the mountains to hike Laurel Falls. This was a very quick and easy hike up a rough paved path. It was a pretty hike, a little dangerous with the drop offs, and a beautiful fall at the end. I was not impressed with how busy it was here. It was a Saturday though, so I expected crowds. After the hike we stopped by the big welcome center before we headed home. The girls got to participate in Jr. Ranger training and do lots of crafts before we left. They enjoyed that! Hooper was very tired and very fussy by this point. It was after 2. He doesn't travel well in the evening, so we decided to grab a hotel and stay one more night then leave first thing in the morning. We had such an awesome trip! Can't wait to go back.