The First One Down...Many To Go

I suppose I should finally sit down and tell you guys about my trip to Tennessee this weekend for our first anniversary.  I got a few reactions at work when I got back, which included, "When did you go?"  And, "Oh, I didn't even know you were gone."  I think I can safely come to the conclusion that no one at work cares about my whereabouts.

To get back on track, we arrived in Pigeon Forge at about 7:30 Thursday night, and we made a stop to WalMart to pick up a few things, which included a couple Freschetta pizzas and a couple packages of muffins (Chocolate Mocha Chunk for him and Orange Creamsicle for me).  We couldn't leave without me embarassing myself, as I stumbled in the parking lot in front of several locals.  They all ran over to ask if I was alright with their obligatory southern accents.  I'm still so embarassed, in fact, I'm not so sure I should have even told you guys, as I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life...or you'll make me regret it.

Friday was spent going to Ripley's Aquarium like we did last year on our honeymoon.  Everything looked about the same as when we were there last.  The music was the same, the sawfish were still there, and I could still touch a manta ray with a lot of effort put forth.  However, there was an upset with the obvious disappearance of the Jewfish.  I'm wondering if it had to do with those racist Ripley's employees.  I certainly don't mean to be racist, but the Jewfish needs to return!

On Saturday, we took a trip to Ripley's Museum, which I wanted to try out last year, but we never ended up going.  I'm glad we got to do that for our anniversary.  It had been a little chilly and sprinkling, so we picked a good day to go.  It was really interesting to see the different displays.  They had everything from a shrunken head to the tramp chair to a giant pig hairball.  I've never seen so many creepy/disgusting/interesting things in one museum.  Jon even got a wax mold of his hand in the shape of something that's an inside joke among friends.

As we walked out of the museum, we noticed that it was sunny and much warmer than when we had gone in, so we walked around the strip on the way back to the parking garage.  We stopped in a couple shops along the way.  He wanted to check out their martial arts weapons, and afterwards, we stopped to buy sunglasses.  Mind you, we look really awesome in them.  Chew on that for a while.

On Sunday (our actual anniversary), we played miniature golf at Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure Golf.  I have to tell you that they have really elaborate miniature golf courses in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  In Erie, all we have are Putt-Putt and a couple other places.  These put those to complete and utter shame.  Although, that's not really hard to do if you think about it.
They had waterfalls and little ponds for ducks to float around in all day long.  They had a huge replica of an old-school airplane and several caves that had you searching for the hole before you took your shot.  We even got our picture taken before we started our game, and when we came to the end, we could buy the photo for $10 and get two free games.  That was a steal since it was $17 for both of us to play one game, so we couldn't pass it up.  We joked that what we didn't know is that they were planning on closing.
Next time, I want to try their Fantasy Mini Golf.  That looks off-the-hook.

After mini golf we drove over to Gatlinburg National Park.  Let me tell you, that's quite a drive.  It took us nearly 40 minutes of driving through the park to get to the walkway to Clingman's Dome.  It was a really beautiful drive, which we happened to document some of it on film.  I spoke ingenious words during that trip:  "I can't see the scenery through all the trees."
I got quite a sunburn walking up that trail to the dome.  They supplied people with benches along the way in case they couldn't make the tread up in one shot.  Jon and I stopped once for a few seconds.  The air is thinner at that elevation, and it's coupled with a steady incline for quite a ways.  Once we made it to the top, we got to enjoy the beautiful, 360 degree view of the mountains.  At the chalet, we only get one view, but at this dome, you're able to look all the way around.  It's really neat, and it's so beautiful up there.  I couldn't even describe it to you.  You have to experience it yourself.

On Monday morning, we left to come back to Erie, but it wasn't before stopping at our old chalet to sit on the swinging chair and briefly reminisce about the time we spent there on our honeymoon.  Even though the chalet we were in was nice, it didn't hold the memories from last year, so I hope next time we can get this chalet again.  The trip just didn't feel complete without it.

We made it home safely in Erie at about 5:30 on Monday, but ever since I've been feeling the post-vacation depression, so I'm hoping I'll snap out of it soon and get back into the swing of things.

If you guys want to take a look at all our photos, I made a set on Flickr, so just click here to see them.