Three hours later we found ourselves in the eastern time zone and in Columbus, Ohio. A lot of people have asked me why we fly into Columbus when there's an airport closer to my mother's house. We fly into Columbus because it's the closest airport that Southwest Airlines flies into and since we have a companion pass that allows my husband to fly for the bargain price of $11.20 round trip, we will take the time to drive those extra miles.
After a few hours drive, I was reunited with my mom in West Virginia. We stayed in town for three nights and hit up some of my favorite restaurants while I was in town. While their some of my favorite places, they were new to my husband. I tried to take him to different places than his last visit. This time he got to try out Stewarts Hot Dogs and Cams Ham. He loves Stewarts and can't wait to go there again on our next visit.
While we were in town, we also visited my mother's business and hung out with her for a little bit on the one day that she had to work while we were in town. I spent many hours there before/after school/summers/etc.
In addition to visiting my mom, we all drove through Kentucky to get to our favorite place, Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This is our happy place. Each time we go there we stop at our favorites and always find something new to do as well. My mom and I determined that we've been here at least 50 times. This was my husbands second visit and he can't wait for his third. It makes my heart fill full that he loves going there.
This time while we were in town we went to the Dixie Stampede, The Comedy Barn, The Christmas Place, visited The Islands, shopped Book Warehouse, Christmas Collectibles and tons of other shops! We even stopped and saw an impromptu Elvis show.
The new attraction that we did in Pigeon Forge was the crime museum, Alcatraz East. In the winter we had seen it being built and knew that we wanted to visit it on our next trip. This place was really interesting. They had tons of artifacts from serial killers, modern criminals, Gangster days, outlaws and terrorists. One thing that was I was most excited to see...
The Ford Bronco used in the O.J. Simpson car chase. This day will always connect me with O.J. seeing as how it happened on my 10th birthday. I remember sitting in our living room as a kid and watching this unfold. We were mesmerized by the events unfolding on tv and couldn't stop watching until we knew how it was going to end. So when I was able to see the bronco up close, I was in hog heaven.
In Gatlinburg, we weren't able to ride our beloved SkyLift due to the fires that took place in the winter. It was badly damaged and had to be repaired and replaced and wasn't opening for another week. So we did something we hadn't done in years and rode Ober Gatlinburg. When we got to the top, we did some things we had never experienced and enjoyed the wildlife encounter. We got to see black bears feed, encountered raccoons, owls and even reptiles.
We also rode the Ski Mountain Coaster and it was a blast!
Much to my husbands disappointment (he's not a fan of heights) we rode the Chair lift to the top of the mountain. When we got to the top we were rewarded with amazing views. While the fires did major damage in areas all along the mountains, this place will always be wonderful and it will come back in time. #mountainstrong
When our time came to and end and we had to leave, we travelled back to Columbus and this time flew into Las Vegas, Nevada for our layover. By that time we were tired and maxed out with our luggage quota. While it's good to be home, I can't wait to get back to see my mom and be in our happy place.
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