Gatlinburg-Summer Vacation #1

I was going to wait to post these until I got more pictures from Jaret's phone, but I'm not sure when that will happen, so the previous pictures are the only ones I have of a lovely time with my family in Gatlinburg. Avi was the photographer, and we were at the Ripley's Aquarium.

Chad was with us, and it was so fun to feel what our family is like with all the in laws. It just makes me smile, because such great spouses have joined our family. It's a wonderful thing.

During the winter we found a themed hotel for families when we were looking for little getaway ideas. We never went at the time, but when we realized we were going to be going through Cincinnati, we decided to stay on the way home from Gatlinburg. It was extremely expensive, but it looked awesome, so we can splurge for one night, right?

Well as we headed home, I was so exhausted that I was really just wishing we were going home instead of extending the trip. But I knew the kids would love this amazing place, so we stuck with the plan. (The fact that we couldn't get our money back if we cancelled was influencial, too.) :)

So as we are driving there, I begin to feel like we aren't in the nicest part of town. I tried to comfort myself by thinking that various parts of our hometown look similar and aren't dangerous, and plus, this was an expensive hotel, so it had to be super nice, right?

Wrong...
As we drove up and saw the sights above, plus the whole building sided with dark glass-some broken-with doors hanging open everywhere, I had all I could do not to panic. Definitely not a high class joint. I sent Jaret to check in. I didn't think I wanted to see any more of it than I had to.

I began to wonder what reviews of this place said, and in retrospect, why hadn't I searched for them and read them before booking the place? Because I thought any place that expensive had to be nice, that's why. Quickly I pulled up tripadvisor and saw that many other people had been sadly displeased as well. I began bracing myself.

In all thankfulness and fairness, the room was clean. We had chosen the pirate ship room, and the artwork was really awesome.





The kids were acting kind of weird-they obviously sensed the oddness of the place but we valiantly tried to act like it was fun and wonderful. I went into the bathroom and beheld these lovely towels, arrange delicately for our arrival. I began laughing until I was sobbing, then laughing again.
My level of hysterics escalated when I read the following sign on the bathroom wall...
With such attractive towels, I can see why they'd need this sign. "Don't tempt me!" Was all I could think. :)

Anyway, in the morning we were rested and the kids did enjoy pretending to be pirates. If they ever look back and think they want to take their kids, though, we'll set them straight.