The weekend getaway

We finally had our much awaited vacation.
On Friday morning, we drove to Cherokee, a Native American Reservation about 3.5 hours from Charlotte. There are about 13,400 Eastern Band of Cherokee members, most of whom live on the Reservation. Properly called the Qualla Boundary, the Reservation is slightly more than 56,000 acres held in trust by the federal government specifically for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

We spent an easy Friday afternoon, strolling the streets and shops in Cherokee.


Saturday morning, we woke up and found snow!! And it was darn cold!! Temperatures up there never got warmer than 35F (2C). The nights were between 18-22F (-5C). We didnt get snow on Christmas but snow on Easter??
We wanted to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains and across the Tennessee border (about an hour) to Gatlinburg. Unfortunately, we saw signs on the road that US441 was closed to traffic due to bad weather conditions and a Park Ranger told us that US441 had about 6 inches of snow on the mountains so they had to close the roads on the parkway. We were determined to get to Gatlinburg so we took a different route and a much longer drive there and still saw plenty of snow on the way. It was a good thing we took Jason's truck and not my car. The truck has better tires.


Gatlinburg is nestled in the valley of the Little Pigeon River’s West Fork and surrounded on three sides by the majestic Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The town is only 2 miles long and 5 miles wide. Unfortunately, the nine million annual visitors have transformed this picturesque town into a tourist trap. It looked like a replica of Myrtle Beach except being on a mountain. There's Ripley's Believe It Not Museum, Ripley's Haunted House, Ripley's Aquarium, Hard Rock Cafe and a dozen shops all selling the same t-shirts and souvenirs.

We took the aerial tramway up Ober Gatlinburg which is a Ski Resort. No skiing because there was no snow up there. The view from the tram was rather awesome.
Leaving Gatlinburg, we wanted to see if US441 was back in business again so I called the Visitor Center, but somehow I ended up calling the Park Ranger's emergency number. Anyways, I was told US441 is open, or atleast I think that was what he said in his deep Southern drawl.

We didn't make it to Dollywood . You'll find out why later.

Once back on NC soil, I had this itch to go walking on some nature trails. Heck, we were on the Great Smoky Mountains for crying out loud! So Jason and I got all bundled up and took a short (very short) walk on the Oconaluftee river trail. It was soo cold I told Jason if he saw my fingers on the path, please help me pick them up. My hands and face was so numb I could barely feel them. The view was just breathtaking and everything was so serene. Now, that's what I call a vacation!


We also wanted to buy this neat vacation home. It comes with live fowl! Free chicken and eggs!! :)
Then we saw a sign that said it was a Mountain Farm Museum. Ahh well.
Here's where we spent most of our hours (and money) for 2 nights.... at the Harrahs Casino in Cherokee, hence losing $95 between the two of us, which was equivalent to the entrance fee to Dollywood.