Fields of the Wood

One of our last days of Christmas vacation was spent at Fields of the Wood Bible Park in Murphy, NC.  Now this is a place that apparently EVERYONE in my life knew about except me.  I have never, ever heard of this place, but every time I mentioned it to some one they say “Oh yeah, Fields of the Wood?!  Yeah, I’ve been…[ several times, last week, yesterday, when I was a kid, etc, etc.]”  But somehow I have NEVER heard of this place.  I’m not sure how that’s possible.

Anyway, it was pretty interesting.  There are several Bible statues and replicas.  It was deserted so we practically had the whole place to ourselves.

We love that little girl!!!

My favorite part of the entire day (possibly the entire week) was when Halie and I walked into the empty tomb replica – she looked around and said “What is this place?”  It was so funny!

The tomb is empty!!!

We had a Subway picnic on top of the hill.  [Here I have to admit that I did *not* walk up all of those stairs but took the road that runs up the side of the hill (in the car).  You know, my back, etc.  Right. Brent & Halie did walk them. I will not disclose whether Arlis & Thelma walked the steps or drove. :)] At the top of the hill it was COLD!  But the picnic was so good!  And the view was great!

After we left FOTW, we drove the scenic to Chattanooga to eat with the Anderson fam at Lilly Maes.  We were going to try to make it down to the Health Department to see Kourtney at work, but we couldn’t make it in time (we told her we definitely weren’t going to be able to make it but were still going to try…and didn’t waaah waaah).

Lilly Mae’s was really good!  I will definitely get the catfish next time.  And then after we left, on the way home, there was a GORGEOUS winter sunset.  Maybe the most gorgeous one I have ever seen.

This was the best I could do out the window of the car.  There were people stopped along the interstate, on the overpasses, etc, taking pictures of this sunset.  Truly remarkable.  I would have loved to be on the walking bridge in Chattanooga while this was happening!

Gatlinburg 2011

In an attempt to make up for our cancelled September beach vacation and a failed trip at Thanksgiving, we took a weekend road trip to Gatlinburg for some Christmas shopping and general relaxation.  It was so fun!!  We had a great time!

We left Thursday night and drove all the way to Pigeon Forge.  We spent the night and got up the next morning to go shopping.  After shopping, we drove up into the mountains – all the way to the NC border - and stopped at all of the scenic overlooks.  There was snow and it was SO COLD!  I was not dressed appropriately AT ALL.  It felt like real winter!

 

 

This picture was taken shortly after I took the mandatory vacation fall.  Every time we go somewhere I manage to fall down.  Not just a stumble or a trip, but an all-out, spectacular, fall-all-the-way-down. Three of the best examples are the time I fell off the ledge at Rock City, the time I fell off of the rope tow in Breckenridge, CO (in my defense, I was wearing skis), and the time I fell while crossing the road in downtown Fairhope, AL, during our Orange Beach vacation.  It is really sad that I still have so much trouble with balance.  Lucky for me (and my back), this time I fell in the snow, so the landing wasn’t too hard.

The view of the Gatlinburg strip from the space needle.

Downtown Gatlinburg is so pretty with all of the lights! 

On the second day we drove to Cades Cove.  It was so beautiful!!  The weather was perfect.  Every time I go back, it seems more beautiful and striking than I remember. On this day, it was so overwhelming because we wanted to take pictures of everything. It just never gets old!  We stopped and went in some of the old houses and buildings, which was really interesting.  It was just and absolutely gorgeous day.  We saw lots of deer, but no bears!

I love that it is so untouched. Just being here makes you feel like you could imagine what it was like in the 1800s.

(This last one is Brent’s work!)

After Cades Cove, we rode the little gondola up to Ober Gatlinburg.  It was FREEZING up there.  You will note that we had to go BUY hats & scarves because we did not pack appropriately…we are totally spoiled by these Alabama “winters.”

Once we got up to Ober Gatlinburg (it was nearly deserted), there was a chair lift ride even further up, so…obviously!!!

It was so cold on the top that it was physically painful.  In this picture, you can’t tell but my eyes were tearing and my nose was running and it hurt so bad to stand still.

The view coming back down in the chairlift.

And the view(s) coming back down in the gondola.  I LOVE the mountains!! And the views!

LOVE this guy, too!

After we came back down into Gatlinburg, we had dinner at the Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant.  It was our first experience and it certainly won’t be the last.  Best. meal. ever.  We ordered the four-course meal with cheese fondue, salad, the main meal, and chocolate fondue for dessert.  It was all spectacular, but when we go back, we will probably just go for the cheese & chocolate.  Especially the chocolate.

On Sunday it was time to leave.  This is what I thought about that:

But then this is how I felt about the trip overall.  Not going to lie, in some ways Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg (esp Ober Gatlinburg) reminds me a bit of an abandoned amusement park, especially in the winter, especially when you get away from the nice, new areas. Kind of sad and wistful.  I think that part of that impression comes from the mixture of old and new -  instead of updating, they just keep adding new things on top of the old.  It has that whole off-season feel, like the way if feels at the beach during the fall/winter, even though Christmas is hardly the off-season.   Anyway, it is weird to see or visit attractions like the Track, some of the putt-putt courses, that old multi-level mall in Gatlinburg  and them be essentially the same as you remember them from childhood.  It is strange to go into a store that is in the exact same place and set up the exact same way you remember it 25 years ago [thinking specifically of that open-air store on the strip in Gatlinburg that sells jewelry by the chain and has the chain gates that slide up and down when it closes – I bought some pink cat sunglasses there when I was 6 or 7 years old and I can remember the exact location of the display case – that store has not changed!].  So many memories!!

And then, on our way through Pigeon Forge, we saw a bald eagle.  IN THE WILD.

CRAZY!

We had so much fun!  It was the perfect pre-Christmas holiday excursion.