In early March this year we did our first family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We had such a great time and the kids did so good traveling that far. Now I'm ready for many, many more family vacations, it's hard to decide which one to do next!
We started by leaving after work on a Friday. We were hoping to get a large chunk of the driving done while the kids slept. They both fell asleep much later than they normally would, but eventually they passed out. We had smooth sailing the rest of the way the next day. Driving that long in the car with the kids is what I was most worried about, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did. We stopped the car a couple of times to stretch and run around a bit, but other than that screen time and snacks that were above and beyond what they normally get helped to save the day! We arrived mid afternoon, got settled into our cabin and picked up some groceries. We stayed in Cherokee, which is just on the other side of the GSMNP from Gatlinburg and I totally recommend it! Much calmer and quieter than Gatlinburg.
Our first adventure was hiking near Bryson City. We did the Tom Branch, Indian Creek and Juney Whank waterfalls trails. It ended up being 6 miles total and took us about 3 hours with the kids. There was a section in the middle that was pretty tough and we ended up having to take turns carrying Ada (Fritz was already on Ben's back). The trail was well marked, there was only one spot where we got a little confused on where to go. The waterfalls were so great, looking back I wish we would have spent more time viewing them. It got to the point where we wanted to be done and just kind of breezed by the last one.
After the hike we went into Bryson City to find some lunch. We picked up some delicious pizza and found a cool brewery. If I could do it all again, I would totally stay in Bryson City! It was such a cute town with lots of little shops and restaurants to visit!
The next day was the day I was most excited about...visiting Biltmore! This place has been on my bucket list for a long time. Ada and I did the tour while Ben and Fritz explored the grounds. We paid to do the self guided tour with a speaker mechanism that gave you information about each room. They had a kids version too that Ada could use. My favorite part was the basement! The bowling alley, swimming pool, gym, kitchens, pantries....everything was so cool!
We had packed a lunch so after the tour we had a picnic on the grounds. Then we headed into Asheville for a sweet treat and found a gelato shop. Asheville looked so fun and I would love to go back and spend some more time there someday!
That's a lot of photos and information so I'll finish the rest of the trip in another blog!
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