travel
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Parrot Mountain, Pigeon Forge
During our spring break in the Great Smoky Mountains, I wanted to do an activity that did not involve hiking. After briefly looking at the prices of Dollywood (that a budget friendly place for a family of 6), I looked up animal or zoo places nearby. Parrot Mountain popped up and reading about them online, I decided that our family would love it: I was not wrong! Parrot Mountain is actually 2 min from Dollywood and a mere 30 minutes from where we stayed near Townsend, TN. It is a family owned business on 4 acres and has a variety of birds. Tickets for adults are 24.95 and 12.95 for…
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Cades Cove: Great Smoky Mountains
I think this was my favorite nature outing of our spring break. It mixed history, views and wildlife and I plan to come back next trip since you never know what animals you may encounter. Cades Cove is a 11 mile one way loop in the Smoky Mountains near the entrance in Townsend, TN. There are historic buildings you can visit, many side stops where you can pause your car and take pictures of the scenery and depending on which part of the day you visit more or less wildlife to observe. We went on a rainy and windy afternoon since I knew we would spend most of our time…
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Laurel Falls: Great Smoky Mountains
Laurel Falls is an 80 ft tall waterfall and is divided in an upper and lower section separated by a walkway. The Laurel Branch falls trail is paved and 2.6 miles long roundtrip. It was an easy trail for us to walk (children ages 4 to 15) and there were several rock formations on the side that the boys enjoyed climbing. I didn’t let the boys climb this particular one as the other side was a very steep drop but there were quite a few they enjoyed. I do recommend bringing snacks and water especially if hiking with kids as that does keep them happier! I made the mistake of…
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A Picnic and a Hike
I am sharing some pretty pictures from last week today but I wanted to share how the back story is not as idyllic as the pictures. I really try to be out and about several times a week to enjoy the outdoors but sometimes the pictures are more beautiful than the reality or its aftermath. A Picnic I decided to take my youngest to the “duck pond” for a picnic thinking it would be fun and it was. We enjoyed lunch by the water, walked around the pond, too some pictures and looked at the ducks, geese and turtles. What I didn’t think of was the pollen associated with those…
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Signs of Spring
It feels like it has been a while since I wrote a non fashion post. I have kind of missed it but we have really traveled or gone on any special outings. Weekends have been busy or relaxed depending on our mood but one thing we have done is enjoying the sunshine when the sun is out. A couple of weeks ago, the youngest and I had a picnic by the river and I took these pictures. Most days we just eat on our porch or go outside in the afternoon to enjoy the mild weather but sometimes it is nice to have some pretty scenery to enjoy. I don’t…
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Zoo Atlanta: Animal Close Up
During our small winter break mid February, we took advantage of a pretty day and our zoo membership to spend a couple of hours at Zoo Atlanta. The operating hours change from 9 am to 10 am so we arrived just a few minutes before it opened and we were in for a treat! All of the animals were very visible and active which is not always the case. Zoo Atlanta is not a big zoo but it does pack quite a few animals in its space and the exhibits have been updated over the years. The pandas are always a draw but they often nap so it was exciting…
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Weekend: Key Ingredients to My Perfect Weekend
There are Sunday nights where I just exhale a soft sigh of happiness and contentment for having had a wonderful weekend. Today I am sharing which things I consider key to having a satisfying fulfilling weekend. Of course, this will look different for each person as we all have different likes and dislikes, families and schedules. Saturday Morning Run For the past few weeks, I have been running with a group of ladies (in their 40s to 60s) for 6 miles at 6 AM. It is an easy pace, we do different routes and we get to see the sunrise! It’s a great way to start the weekend! Breakfast and…
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Savoy Car Museum
A few weeks ago, we decided to visit a new car museum that opened in the area as it was a cold Saturday afternoon. The Savoy Car Museum opened in December and displays an assortment of automobiles and works of art. It is located between Chattanooga and Atlanta just of off I75 in Cartersville. According to the website, the exhibits will change which I think is a great idea since these focused on a few eras and we were disappointed not to see some other time periods. This rusted 1954 Plymouth Savoy was discovered on the grounds during construction. The current exhibits include American Racing, the Great American Classics, Woodies…
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Grandfather Mountain, NC
The week after Christmas we took a short vacation in North Carolina and per usual planned some outdoor adventures. First on the agenda was snow tubing which was really fun despite the warm winter and it not being natural snow. Next was a hike at Linville Gorge (see post here). On our 2nd day we visited Grandfather Mountain. All of these places were chosen from my internet search for things to do near Morganton, NC where we had booked our hotel. The day was windy and a little windy but not especially too cold. After being unprepared for one hike in the fall. I now keep extra windbreakers and hats…
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Linville Gorge and Falls, NC
We took a short vacation after Christmas in search of snow. Well, snow we did not find however we did enjoy a half day of snow tube in North Carolina on some fake snow! We booked our couple hours of fun at Jonas Ridge Snow tubing and had a ball. Since it was a warm week, I knew it would be pleasant to hike to I looked up a few places near where we were staying (Morganton, NC) so we could enjoy the outdoors. It was fairly busy everywhere we went as others had the same idea but we were still able to enjoy our surroundings and fresh air. Linville…