Beautiful dinner and great dining at the lodge. Happy Anniversary

Happy 7th Anniversary ~Sept. 1, 2007  Celebrated at the Buckberry Lodge in Gatlinburg TN. We got all dressed up and enjoyed a beautiful dinner with a view of the mountains.  A nice bottle of wine to go with dinner and and then back to the cabin.

Buckberry Lodge Trail

Found a great place to sit and relax at the lodge called Sunset Landing.

While we were listening to some music that Marlon had brought with us, some people came up and joined us.  We had a nice conversation with them.  They were here vacationing from Florida and come here several times a year.

     

Later we decided to go look and see if the Buckberry Lodge Trail was open.  Earlier when we had checked it was closed, the people we met told us a siren sounded which means a bear was spotted near the trail and that's why it was closed.  It's now 6 pm and the trail was to open at 6.  The sign was hanging but I removed it and removed the chain across the trail.  Marlon went in and wanted to make sure it was alright to go on trail.  I on the other hand went down the trail a short distance and started taking some pictures of wild flowers.  Marlon returned and said it was ok to hike the trail.

When we reached the bottom of the trail which ended up at a creek .  We looked over and saw the most beautiful place in the woods.  The lodge had set up an area to come and relax or groups could come and have class or just come and hang out with friends.  Since we were the only ones there we checked out the surroundings and enjoyed the serine place in a hammock right down by the creek. 

The trip up the trail was pretty much curves and straight up.  It was a hard climb for me, I got out of breath several times and had to stop to rest.  I am so HOT.....sweat is pouring from me.....looks like I need to get in shape.  

Back at the lodge I can't go any further.  Marlon went to get the car and come and get me. LOL  I cannot climb the hill to get to our room.

Dinner tonight will be a bottle of wine and a cheese tray left for us from Honda (Marlon's Work Place), and some bread and dipping oil.  Great ending to a beautiful day at the Buckberry Lodge.

Smokey Mountain National Park~Cades Cove

  Great morning to tour around the Smokey Mountain National Park.  We have marked to our schedule for today to go see Cades Cove which is a part of the Smokey Mountain National Park.  The beauty I saw today still has my jaw dropped.  I saw bear, turkey,log cabins, running grist mills, and the natural beauty of nature.  Thank God for all the beautiful things when there is so much bad in this world.  While I was in Cades Cove I forgot about everything and just enjoyed the beauty.  The road leading out to Cades Cove was called Roaring Fork Rd.  The road was like driving through the forest and the beauty was unbelievable.  We stopped several times to look at all the rivers and cascading waterfalls.  What a lovely drive .....More stops along the way to  Cades Coves.   I got pictures of the beautiful flowers, forests with hanging vines, and beautiful views of the Smokey Mountains as we traveled down Roaring Fork Rd.

We have made it to the entrance of the Smokey Mountain National Park and stopped to get some information on Cades Cove.  It's a driving tour which offers great opportunities to see wildlife like deer, turkeys, and black bear. The journey through Cades Cove was spectacular with beautiful views and history of running grist mills, churches and log cabins.  We got out at each location stop and read the signs telling us about the history of the buildings.

  We did spot a mill along the river and stopped and hung out for a while ......Most of the mill was still in tack

Met some wonderful people in the park. Conrad was a radio broadcaster for Eagles 104. The state of TN had raised over 1 million dollars to fight child abuse. These people have a heart of gold.

There were so many small waterfalls in the park. I could spend hours just watching and listening to the rush of the water. We got back to the car and found a wooly worm snaking across our windshield. His legs looked liked rollers.

Stopped at a store in the woods that had an ole pick up truck in it. Oh the beauty of seeing so much in a few hours.

Arrival to Gatlinburg TN

Arrived in Gatlinburg early and went to the condo we had rented. When I entered the condo I was wowed by its size and view. It was the perfect size and the view was magnificent.

Summit Manor Condos

It's time to check out the town of Gatlinburg TN and find a place to eat.  We found The Smokey Mountain Brewery which was directly behind our condo.  The wait was going to be 45 min wait but oh well we are in no hurry. I did get some shopping and found some great deals on jewelry. The wait if finally over and we are being seated.  As we sat down the entire wall facing our condo is all glass.  Awesome view of the trees and our condo is in the background and further behind that is the beautiful Smokey Mountains. We tried there craft ale beer and ordered pizza.  The beer was just ok but the pizza was very good.   

  Marlon had bought us tickets to go up in the Gatlinburg Space Needle before we left for trip. We had decided to visit the Space Needle when it was dark out....and we are so glad we did because the view was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. No picture will do the view justice. We rode up in glass elevators over 400’ to the observation deck, yikes.  Once up to the top the view showed us just how many people are  visiting in Gatlinburg over Labor Day weekend. The traffic is horrible around here.  Once we saw this we decided that the car would stay parked and we would walk everywhere we went.

    Time to come down the elevator and finish touring the town. 

Our next stop was the Sugarlands Distilling Company. We sampled 9 samples of different varieties of Moonshine, out on the back porch a band was playing. 

After our 9 tastings of a variety of moonshine samples we bought a jar of the apple pie moonshine.  Now its time to go outside and find the band we hear playing.  I really liked listening to the lady playing the violin.  She was making me feel like tapping my toes and getting up and doing a little dance.

....Starting to sprinkle so we are heading back to the condo for the evening.  By the time we found out way back to the condo it was pouring down the rain.  No problem, Marlon put some music on and we sat out on the balcony and watched the rain come down.......Good Night...

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