Gatlingburg Wishes, DollyWood Dreams

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It's moving time. After one year, one week and one day working for Coglan Air in Manassas, VA I have been transferred to Pinnacle, the parent company, headquartered in Memphis, TN. A quick search of the driving route from DC to Memphis turned up an obvious rest stop in East Tennessee's wonderland known as Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. Sensing the perfect opportunity for a road trip of epic proportions I phoned up Miss Kari Sheanshang and flew her up to DC to make the drive down to Memphis with me.

You might think "wow, that's quite a friend" to drive 14+ hours in a PACKED OUT Volvo with no room for any extra luggage save for a ziplock baggie....but then that would mean you don't know Miss Sheanshang. For those of you that are acquainted with the force of nature known as Kari you probably would say "wow, Kevin is quite a friend for inviting her" on an adventure that will inspire epic poetry the equal of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Our road trip started out as most do with the exchanging of gifts. Kari received a custom made t-shirt that might have included some puff paint (remember that stuff?) and I received a squirrel figurine named 'Consuelo'. Gifts out of the way we set off down the road taking up residence in the uber-luxe 'Budget Inn' located in idyllic Christianburg, VA several hours south of the Nation's Capital. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but let's just say the it was probably the BEST $42 (which INCLUDED tax) that I've ever spent. Thursday's driving was at a leisurely pace as the towering mountain peaks known as Dolly Parton's heaving bosom lay not too far off the horizon.

Christmas may come only once a year in the rest of this great nation but not so at Pigeon Forge's "The Inn at Christmas Place" where Santa reigns in year-round glory serenading guests with a weekly fireside guitar session and Christmas carols are piped through the halls. If you know either Kari or me well at all then you'd know that while other people might consider this quaint or tacky we see this as the pinnacle of entertainment and the resulting photo shoot can attest to this fact. So taken are we with the holiday theme that we now greet fellow guests in the hall with "Merry Christmas".

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg hold a myriad of people watching opportunities however the winter season slump and the financial crisis have hit the tourist traffic hard and we took great pleasure in being the only patrons for lunch at a restaurant that had seating for 200+. We had hopes of making a run down the alpine slide on the mountain top of Ober Gatilinburg but the traffic slows so much mid-week that they don't have the resources to run ancillary attractions. Instead we satisfied ourselves with strolling the streets of Gatlinburg turning down offers for time-share presentations and haggling for airbrushed t-shirts, hand-stamped leather goods and made in China Mexican ponchos. Funnel cakes rounded out the evening before turning in to the Christmas Inn for hot cocoa and cookies with Mrs. Claus.

So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

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