We're back from our anniversary weekend

Well, we got back tonight from our much anticipated anniversary celebration and it was wonderful!

We stayed at Gracehill B%26amp;B in Townsend. We just wanted to go a little nicer for a special celebration of 25 years of marriage and it was truly that! Kathy, the B%26amp;B host, was great! She is very personable (sp)and so nice! We took a route through the park to get to Gatlinburg from the B%26amp;B and it was great! There was almost no traffic at all. On the way to the B%26amp;B the first time, we saw a lot of cars parked on the side of the road. When we got to them, we saw what was going on. There was a black bear up on the ridge. My first thought was of one of you that had said you saw deer, but no bears. Adn that is what you had hoped to see. Here we were just driving down the road and there was a bear! And we hadn%26#39;t even given any thought to seeing any!

Friday night, we went to the Foothills Milling Company for dinner. IT WAS FABULOUS!!! Someone asked about it. GO!! We had pecan encrusted green tomatoes. If you like fried green tomatoes or if you think it sounds good at all, GET THEM!!! If I had known how good they would be, we would have each gottne out own plate (6) of them and skipped our salads. That%26#39;s how good I thought they were. We had the flat irn steaks and they were excellent. Some other guest that stayed at the B%26amp;B Saturday said they had the salmon and it was the best they had ever had. The service was as we had heard. Nearly flawless. It was a slow start, but once the appetizers came, the servers never missed a beat. If you want wine with your dinner, take your own. It is dry where the restaurant is.

We went to the Aquariun Saturday. It was nice, but I know my husband enjoyed it more than I did... Fish jsut aren%26#39;t my thing. But I did like the coral room a lot. We mostly just strolled around after that. I liked the Village the best. I liked the old world atmosphere in there. Saturday night, we ate at a place called the Trout House. My husband had gone there with his grandmother several times years ago when it first opened and it was jsut nostalgic for him. It was a nice meal. We walked around looking at the lights after supper. My favorite was back in the Village. It was a small atmosphere and had the trees strung with lights nad the shop windows with lights and wreaths and garland. It was truly lovely. We went to the Donut Frier on someone%26#39;s (from this forum)suggestion. I had a pastry since I swore off doughnuts about 4 years ago. It was good. But the best was the hot chocolate! Best I%26#39;ve ever had by far!! I had two hot chocolates Saturday! I never had the chance to get anything at the Desserts %26amp; More because of timing and time frame. My husband promised me we%26#39;d come back again and go there. After all, we are only 2 hours away. It%26#39;s jsut that the traffic keeps us away... and I wanted to go to Davy Crockett miniature golf, but didnt%26#39; get to do that either. That%26#39;s mostly due to the one bad moment of our weekend. Leave it to me... I hit a dip in the sidewalk while looking across the street at something and stumbled and fell. Oh, the embarrassment! I fell flat onto my stomach, but partially broke the fall with my hands. I messed up the palm of my left hand, but kept my knees and face from making any contact on the cement. I%26#39;m very sore in the left shoulder and the muscles in my stomach are sore tonight. All I could think as I was falling was, %26#39;Why doesn%26#39;t Ken (my husband) catch me?%26#39; And, %26#39;I%26#39;m going to rip my brand new jacket!%26#39; Well the jacket is mostly OK. I think there is the tinyest hole, but maybe it will be OK. Mostly, it is my pride that was stomped on! It gave my husband the opportunity (later on) to say his patented, %26#39;Can%26#39;t take you anywhere!%26#39; Creep! LOL! So anyway, if any of you was ther Staurday night and was a large 50 year old in a pretty pink jacket belly flop on the pavement, it was me!...

Today, we just strolled around a little while I took pictures of the places we had been to 25 years ago on our honeymoon. I have to say this, though... We ate at the Pancake Pantry Sunday afternoon. Why does everyone love it so much? Come to my house. I%26#39;ll show you what good pancakes are! Truly, they were OK, but the bacon was the best part of the meal... OK! I%26#39;m ready for the backlash!! Bring it on! Ha!

So anyway, except for my %26#39;fifteen seconds of embarrassing fame%26#39; the weekend was great and I am sad it%26#39;s over. But as I said earlier, we live close by, so I will make my husband take me back sooner next time!

Sorry for any mistakes. The post is just too long for me to spellcheck!

We're back from our anniversary weekend

Sorry I missed the show, but I%26#39;m glad you%26#39;re ok! I hate when that kind of stuff happens. I keep watching America%26#39;s Funniest Home Videos to see if I show up on it!

Nice summary and congratulations on 25 years. That%26#39;s terrific!

BTW, can you really take your own wine into the Foothills Milling Company?

We're back from our anniversary weekend

klm, realy glad you enjoyed your trip, except for the road rash incident! We are headed down a week from today.

We too enjoy The Village. The Donut Friar does have good hot chocolate, their lattes are pretty good too.

I have just recently heard of the Foothills Mining Co. restaruant, sounds nice but also heard it is expensive.

I think everyone knows my biased opinion on the Pancake Pantry and I am suprised anytime someone does not enjoy it as much as I do. I just have one thing to say...if you truly can make better pancakes than the Pantry...you should open a restaurant because you would be a sure success! I would be your first customer !

Anyway, glad you enjoyed your trip.

KLM, thanks for sharing your story. It sounds like your anniversary was almost perfect ;-) Hey, I%26#39;ve taken a header too...and I%26#39;m sure a lot more folks have as well. I%26#39;m just glad to hear that you didn%26#39;t require any medical attention.

Thanks for the review of the Foothills Milling Co. I%26#39;d like to take my husband there in the spring when we celebrate our 24th. Sounds perfect, even if it is BYOB.

(They really do allow you to bring your own wine?)

I%26#39;ll be going down to decorate and work on the cabins next week and you%26#39;ve got me all geeked now, even though I won%26#39;t get to do much sightseeing. I must be weird or something because I get a thrill just painting or cleaning or putting new DVDs in the movie collection. Just bought Disney%26#39;s Madagascar last week and I%26#39;ll probably pick up War of the Worlds this week. It%26#39;s always nice to offer new releases to guests...most don%26#39;t expect them.

I love the Village too and will definitely try the hot chocolate...yum. I agree that Pancake Pantry is more atmosphere with it%26#39;s beautiful woodwork and windows, than pancake perfection. Good but not enough that it%26#39;s on my gotta-go list each visit ;-)

Klm, I%26#39;m so glad to hear that you had a great time (most of it anyway!). I could just imagine strolling through Gatlinburg with my hubby enjoying the beautiful lights! Maybe by the time we%26#39;re married 25 years, we can do that without any kids. By the way, I agree about the Pancake Pantry....we went in August for the first time. It was good, but I guess maybe I was expecting more than that. Anyway, congratulations on 25 years %26amp; hopefully you%26#39;ll be back there in 25 more!

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone. It was, indeed, a lovely time with no kids!

Road rash... That%26#39;s a good one! Luckily, I got out of that one with no rash! Ha!

Yes, yoyu can take your own wine. Their website encourages you to since they cannot sell it. That is the way it works in our town, too. Dry counties cannot sell it, but they can serve what you bring yourself. The meal was on the expensive side. It%26#39;s not a restaurant I would go to any ole time. but definitely one that I would go to for very special occasions. Our meal included the appetizer I described, two house salads, two flat iron steak entries, and one dessert. We did not order anything to drink since we had our wine. The meal with tax was $83.00 plus change. For a special meal like we had with the atmosphere and service the restaurant had, I was surprised with the total bill for our meal. We have paid more for less in the past. I just plan ahead, knowing what I want to do, and save for it. That%26#39;s how it becomes affordable for us...

Thanks for the review of your trip. Was wondering if you could tell me where the Foothills Milling Company is located.

Don%26#39;t feel too bad about the fall, a woman fell in front of my husband and I crossing the street at Ripley%26#39;s museum a few years back and my husband helped her up. Plus my mom slipped and fell on the sidewalk one year when she was up there, it was in the winter and there was a drippy outdoor faucet attached to a building. She smacked her head pretty good and was lucky not to have a concussion. Said it was the only patch of ice on the whole street and she had to find it.

Foothills Miling Company is on 321 in the Wears Valley area. I can%26#39;t tell you how many miles from Pigeon Forge it is because we did not get there from Pigeon Forge. All I can tell you is that it is on the right as you are coming up from Pigeon Forge and it is two big red barn-like looking buildings connected together by a passageway. It is two miles short of the Blount County line.

Maybe someone else can tel you how many miles up on 321 it is using those facts...

And your mother has a kindred spirit. I can find the only problem in a particular area, too. It never fails!