Things to do in East TN when you're dead...

So between my 8:10 a.m. Contracts class and my 2:15 p.m. Torts class I have nothing. NOTHING!

We kid, we say, "what are we to do with 5+ hours to kill?"

Today we came up with the answer...R-O-A-D-T-R-I-P!!!!

Gatlinburg, TN...




We left Knoxville at 10:15, and arrived in Gatlinburg at 11:15. We figured we needed to be back at campus by 1:45 for our 2:15 class. So we needed to be back on the road by 12:30, just in case.

11:15 - Aaron and I are in awe. I've never seen anything quite like this before. "It looks like a little Las Vegas" says AJK. "Except its for children?" I reply. Its nothing but mini-golf, dinner theater, museums of the bizarre, and gift shops. Its like nothing I've ever seen...

11:30 - We enter the Mecca of breakfast foods. The PANCAKE PANTRY. Let me say, if you like IHOP, you're living in a fantasy world that doesn't even include good pancakes. When you open the menu, there are over 25 types of pancakes for your eating pleasure. But wait, there is something even better. The "Morning Star", a.k.a. SATAN! It is two mounds of hashbrowns, each topped with cheese, a sunny-side-up egg, and a mixture of sauteed onion, mushroom, ham, pimento, and green pepper. Served with a stack of 3 delicious pancakes. It was a surreal experience. It is not often that I leave food on a plate, but I couldn't even make a dent in this beast. It was delicious. While we are eating, Holly goes to the gift shop next door and purchased a disposable camera. Priceless pictures will be added to this blog soon.

12:10 - Depart the Pantry, and spend the last 20 minutes taking pictures in front of things and with people on the strip in Gatlinburg. Most importantly, a stop at the CANDY KITCHEN. Taffy, chocolate, rock candy, candy apples, oh my! I got my first taste of "Clove" flavored taffy, which interestingly taste just like you'd expect the smokeable clove to taste if you ate it. We got a candy apple for Abe, who has been talking about them for 6 months, and we got a box of taffy to bring back and pass around class as a trophy of our accomplishment. We snap a few more great pictures, and head back to Knoxville.

12:45 - So between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, there is a 5-mile stretch of the National Forest that you have to travel through to get from one to the other. Running through this road is a beautiful river/creek (I'm not sure what size it becomes a river) and you're surrounded by the mountains. Truly breath-taking. We had 7 pictures left, so we decided to stop and take some pictures by the water. The pictures were good, but I was wearing some slick-soled shoes, and tried to venture down a pretty steep hill. The result is a bloody palm. But as Aaron said "its not a good trip without blood."

1:30 - Back at the law school, snapped the last few pictures in class to prove we made it back in time, and share the stories of our adventure with our classmates.

Now I've shared them with you. I hope you enjoyed it.

Our goal, to have lunch in: Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and of course TN. We believe we can reach all of them in our 5.5 hours. I'll keep you posted!


Stay Tuned...