Mother/Daughter Getaway

Marissa and I got back yesterday from our mother/daughter getaway to Gatlinburg.  This is only about 30 min. from our house, but is a different world.  For those not familiar with Gatlinburg, it is a tourist town---many would say trap!--nestled literally at the foot of the Smoky Mountains.  You drive straight out of the town right into the National Park.  Most of the town is along one main parkway, and you park and walk everywhere you go.  This is a picture Marissa took of a section of the parkway.
We had such a GREAT time.  It was really special spending that time alone with her.  Also, as you can see, it was not crowded at all.  She was the only school age child in the whole town, and there were only a few babies and toddlers.  In about 3 weeks, you won't be able to budge on that sidewalk for several weeks!  The weather was perfect--a little cool at night, but beautiful. 
  We got there Sunday afternoon around 4:30.  This was the view from our balcony just after sunrise the next morning. 

After getting settled in the room, we hit the parkway window shopping, mostly.  I bought her and Daniella new outfits for their Wacky Bears (like Build-a-Bear), and she bought herself a couple of things.  We had a nice dinner, and just strolled around. On Monday, we went to a couple of stores and played 2 games of putt-putt, with a break for ice cream in between! 

This is a neat putt-putt.  It's up on the side of a "mountain", overlooking the town.  It's super shady and pretty, and also has markers at each hole telling about the history of Gatlinburg, the National Park, and the settlers of the area.  Marissa loves history, so she read every one. 
Lunch at Quiznos

Some of the fall decorations

We liked the window full of striped candy.  It was cool looking.

  After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel and rested for about an hour, then hit the indoor pool.  We ordered pizza in the room for supper while we showered and got ready to go back out.
  We decided to ride the sky lift, and were surprised we knew the lady working that night.  She gave us comp tickets, so we got to ride for free.  Marissa had never been up the Sky Lift before, and she loved it.  We like seeing all the lights at night. 
Marissa at the top of the Sky Lift


Afterwards, we walked around until the shops closed at 10:00. 
Tuesday morning, we walked up the parkway for breakfast, then packed up.  We drove just a few minutes to the Sugarlands Visitor Center for the National Park, and went to the nature museum.  This has taxidermy animals native to the park, along with native plants. 
Black Bear

 We also browsed the bookstore.  I got Marissa an If You Lived With the Cherokee book and a Step Into Reading book ---The Trail of Tears. 
And our last stop was driving a few more minutes to the river, where we sat and enjoyed the quietness for a few minutes.  We would have enjoyed that longer, but Marissa had reached "worn out" by that point.

I am so glad we took the time for this trip.  We built forever memories, and it was special to spend it with her. 
(The only things I didn't mention were the Cinnamon Melts, the caramel apple with nuts, and the chocolate fudge!)