Over the mountains and through the backwoods to Fall Creek Falls State Park we went. Tennessee for those of you who don't know where that is...Pikeville, Tennessee. And backwoods is no exageration. Our journey began on Sunday, August 8th and we arrived in Tennessee around 2:00 that afternoon.
As we trekked through the state on a winding mountain road (Hwy 127) on our way to Fall Creek Falls, we came across yard sale after yard sale (later to find out that they were part of the world's longest yard sale - total of 675 miles of yard sales - although we did not drive through the entire 127 Corridor Sale). This is no joke and is an annual event that stretches as far north as Michigan. Needless to say, we didn't stop. (I don't care much for yard sales and I have enough junk of my own that I don't care to pay good money for someone else's trash even if they do label it an antique.)
So we continued on and finally arrived at our destination around 4:30 that day (actually it was 3:30 central time) and had reserved a landside cabin. A little background info...Fall Creek Falls has an Inn, landside cabins, lakeside cabins (fisherman cabins), Villas, and campgrounds (for those willing to really rough it - although I wouldn't consider a tourbus size camper roughing it for the folks who owned that nice vehicle and they probably had much nicer living quarters for their stay then we had for ours). The park also had two swimming pools, and a lauderette. Before we decided on this parked, I researched all the state parks in Tennessee and had some preferences. First, the park had to have cabins with air conditioning, a kitchen, and a "real" bathroom. I've used an outhouse before at a state park and using it in the middle of the night out in the woods is a bit creepy...Friday the 13th creepy, so a bathroom with a shower was a must. And the place had to have horseback riding (my daughter's wish). So, as you may now have guessed this park had all of the above mentioned.
The cabin wasn't ready when we got there, so we decided to eat an early dinner while we waited and went to the restaurant in the Inn. To give you some perspective, this Inn isn't a bed and breakfast and was obviously built in the 70s (very contemporary 70s look, complete with pebble and brick walls). The inside was a bit musty and the restaurant very cafeteria-ish. There was a buffet (surprising), which included salad, southern food, and dessert (and very delicious yeast rolls - I know, fattening). What was also surprising is that the food was rather good, especially the fried shrimp (I know, also very fattening, but yummy and I had seconds...and thirds). So the food made up for the lackluster ambience.
After our early dinner, our cabin was ready. It was at the end of the landside cabin road (kind of like a cul-de-sac) with a little playground across the street (yay...for my daughter) and the cabin was large - sleeps 8. We had our own picnic table and grill (normal park grill - metal box grill atop a metal poll). The inside of the cabin was a bit musty smelling as well and we had already prepared for that (brought a large yankee candle and air freshener). The beds lacked the comfort and beauty of those you get in a nice hotel, but hey, we weren't sleeping on the ground or on an air mattress in a tent, so I didn't complain. I did have to wipe down the fridge before using it since the tenants before us left behind some remnants of their stay but once again I had prepared for that and brought cleaning supplies. In the end, the cabin had a Motel 6 feel but it was nice as far as state park rental cabins are concerned.
The cabin wasn't ready when we got there, so we decided to eat an early dinner while we waited and went to the restaurant in the Inn. To give you some perspective, this Inn isn't a bed and breakfast and was obviously built in the 70s (very contemporary 70s look, complete with pebble and brick walls). The inside was a bit musty and the restaurant very cafeteria-ish. There was a buffet (surprising), which included salad, southern food, and dessert (and very delicious yeast rolls - I know, fattening). What was also surprising is that the food was rather good, especially the fried shrimp (I know, also very fattening, but yummy and I had seconds...and thirds). So the food made up for the lackluster ambience.
After our early dinner, our cabin was ready. It was at the end of the landside cabin road (kind of like a cul-de-sac) with a little playground across the street (yay...for my daughter) and the cabin was large - sleeps 8. We had our own picnic table and grill (normal park grill - metal box grill atop a metal poll). The inside of the cabin was a bit musty smelling as well and we had already prepared for that (brought a large yankee candle and air freshener). The beds lacked the comfort and beauty of those you get in a nice hotel, but hey, we weren't sleeping on the ground or on an air mattress in a tent, so I didn't complain. I did have to wipe down the fridge before using it since the tenants before us left behind some remnants of their stay but once again I had prepared for that and brought cleaning supplies. In the end, the cabin had a Motel 6 feel but it was nice as far as state park rental cabins are concerned.
I had brought some food from home, but items such as milk, eggs and meat had to be purchased once we got there. So after we unpacked we headed into Spencer, Tennessee (the closest grocery store) for a little grocery shopping. Now this was an experience. Spencer is a very small town and very is putting it mildly. The only grocery store in Spencer was a Save-a-lot. If you've never shopped at a Save-a-lot, I wouldn't start now. But since we had traveled 16 miles on a winding back road to get there just 10 minutes before they closed (at 7:00 p.m. on a Sunday night), we didn't have a choice.
I have to admit the Save-a-lot did have some good prices, but the selection was less than desirable. And as we climbed out of the car to go inside, my husband made a comment about me walking in there with my Coach purse slung over my shoulder. And I have to say I did feel a bit at out of place.
As we walked through the doors, David took note of the closing time and I literally tore the grocery list in half, so that we could haul ass in two different directions in order to finish in time. Did you every see the show Supermarket Sweep? Well, that was the speed in which we had to shop. My seven year old even helped out.
As I mentioned, their selections were limited and as you may know I am a healthy eater (or should I say, like to eat healthy). That doesn't mean I don't splurge from time to time or relax on my diet, but I do try to make good choices. That was not easy to do here, but we did the best we could. Surprisingly, we managed to complete our shopping in the alotted time and only spent about $70 dollars. And there were only a few items on my list that we couldn't get.
By the time we got back to the cabin it was 8:00 and we were tired and ready to settle down for the night. If you read my previous blog, you will know that I've had problems sleeping and on the first night there I had hoped that I would get a restful nights sleep...but that was not to be the case. Although the bed was comfortable and we each had our own full size bed, I still had trouble getting to sleep that night and staying asleep. Could have been the excitement of being on vacation or maybe just sleeping in an unknown place, but I think what really kept me awake was the little critter inside the wall. Yes, that first night we discovered that we weren't the only ones occupying that particular cabin. Somewhere in the wall between the two bedrooms was a rodent of some kind (hopefully a squirral, they were everywhere in the state park). Whatever it was, it was active at night. And it was so loud that my husband had gotten up in the middle of night to see if he could find it and at one point had actually thought the creature was behind him. (thankfully we never saw it). So, for the remaining nights we shut the bedroom doors so as not to hear it moving.
We spent our mornings hiking, which became a substitute for my normal workout routine that I had also vacationed from that week. Yes, it was hot there, but not Hell hot or muggy like Florida. This heat was at least tolerable. (and in the afternoon we cooled off in the pool.)
We also went horseback riding (which cost us $75 - when did horseback riding become some expensive?) But I will say this, the horses were pretty and seemed very well cared for and the trail was about 2 miles long. My daughter especially enjoyed seeing the horses poop along the way. (Seven year old humor...go figure) General, Stumpy, and Bacardi were our horses names and we were the only ones on the ride through the woods, which was nice.
The park was full of animals you don't see everyday like deer, raccoons, and wild turkeys (yes, wild turkeys). And we saw so many deer (and took some many pictures of them) that by the time we left, they no longer held their appeal nor did we stop our car in the middle of the road to get a better look. Animals weren't the only creatures in abundance there. I saw more Daddy Long Legs in 4 days than I think I've seen in my 39 years. They were everywhere and everywhere you looked they were crawling outside the cabin and all over the trails we hiked. It was like a breeding ground. Thank God we didn't get any ticks or see any snakes. (that would have really freaked me out). But when you're out in the woods what can you expect? You're on their turf now.
We did visit some local restaurants. Top of the Porch was one right near the park. It was a family owned and operated Italian restaurant (and David made the comment that he had never had the entertainment get him a refill before - one of the owners also sang and played the keyboard). Top of the Porch had good food and great desserts (yes, I ate dessert and drank a some regular Coke too - no Coke Zero was to be found).
One night we went into Dunlap, Tennessee (another small town nearby) for dinner. But at 8:00 at night Dunlap about shuts down and the only place we found open was a place called Andy's Pizza and Steakhouse. The name nor the outside appearance does this place justice (as you can see from the picture). And we sat in the car for a few minutes debating on whether or not we wanted to go inside. At first, I thought it was a bar and I didn't want to take my seven year old into a dirty, dingy place like that for dinner. However, we had just seen another family go inside (with a baby carrier), so we decided to take a chance. And I'm glad we did.
As I mentioned the look and name of this place did not do it justice. And it wasn't a dirty, dingy, bar. Andy's Pizza and Steakhouse was clean, neat and smelled good. The salad bar was well stocked and clean, the wait staff was extremely friendly and the food was very good. (I had the pizza - I know another fattening meal - remember...I am hiking every day) I even checked out the bathroom, which was clean and smelled nice. The prices were also reasonable. Needless to say, I was impressed and would eat there again. You know the saying...don't judge a book by its cover. Well, when you're in rural Tennessee you should keep that in mind.
For those of you who know me well, you know that my husband and I are huge Tennessee Titans fans and so taking a trip to Tennessee is not out of the ordinary for us (we try to go to at least one home game a year). As a matter of fact, we love Nashville and did take a day trip there while on vacation, mainly to go to the Titans training camp and to meet a few of the players. The day we chose to go was Tuesday and that day Chris Johnson was suppose to sign autographs (him and two others). Nashville is about an hour and a half to two hours from Pikeville and just as we arrived we noticed something was amiss. We soon learned that due to lightening and possible inclimate weather the team was moved inside and the fans were asked to leave. Even I was disappointed. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet the players that day but decided to take advantage of our time in Nashville and walked around downtown.
As a consolation prize for my husband, I agreed to have a drink or two at Hooters. (Who the hell chose those ugly orange shorts and those horrible tan pantyhose as part of the uniform? What they heck were they thinking? And no I don't have photos of that). Hooters wasn't so bad though and the waitresses were very nice. And, they seemed to pay more attention to me than they did my husband. But I did notice there were very few women patrons in the place. As you will see by the pictures we spent most of our time in Nashville taking photos of my child.
After spending 4 days at Fall Creek Falls, we headed to Chattanooga to stay a night there and this time we stayed at the Hilton Double Tree downtown (much nicer than the cabin). On our way, we stopped to tour Cumberland Cavern (interesting experience) and very cool inside (natural air conditioning). But this cave is not like others I've been to. They actually hold concerts there as well as weddings (I can't imaging getting married inside a cave - seems like a dark way to start off your marriage), parties, proms, you name it and they are held deep inside this cavern. What's kind of scary (and makes me some what claustrophobic) is that the biggest event held there had 900 people. (I didn't see how that was possible and my husband commented that without fire exits that had to be some sort of fire hazzard.)
And so we moved on to Chattanooga. While there, we went to a minor league baseball game (Chattanooga Lookouts won), went to the aquarium (much nicer than the one in Atlanta), and went to the discovery museum (great place for kids). The discovery museum had a traveling display called Grossology (among lots of other things) and you got to learn all about gross things in your body. And yes, when I say gross things in your body I am talking about smells, goobers and all sorts of bodily functions. Needless to say my daughter loved that.
On Friday morning (and our last day there) we ate at Aretha Frankenstein's (featured on Rachel Ray's travel show $40 dollars a day or whatever it's called where she travels around and eats off of $40 dollars a day). Aretha Frankenstein's had great food and yes it was very fattening as you will see by my plate of pancakes. And yes that is my plate a pancakes. Told you a splurge from time to time.
We finally headed out of Tennessee around 4:00 that afternoon and got home about 10:30 p.m. that night...wore out, but oddly enough well rested. Despite the oddities and bugs on our trip it was a good one. And ever since, I've been sleeping well again. Maybe it was the woods (backwoods) and getting back to nature, maybe it was all the activity...or maybe I just needed a vacation.
I have to admit the Save-a-lot did have some good prices, but the selection was less than desirable. And as we climbed out of the car to go inside, my husband made a comment about me walking in there with my Coach purse slung over my shoulder. And I have to say I did feel a bit at out of place.
As we walked through the doors, David took note of the closing time and I literally tore the grocery list in half, so that we could haul ass in two different directions in order to finish in time. Did you every see the show Supermarket Sweep? Well, that was the speed in which we had to shop. My seven year old even helped out.
As I mentioned, their selections were limited and as you may know I am a healthy eater (or should I say, like to eat healthy). That doesn't mean I don't splurge from time to time or relax on my diet, but I do try to make good choices. That was not easy to do here, but we did the best we could. Surprisingly, we managed to complete our shopping in the alotted time and only spent about $70 dollars. And there were only a few items on my list that we couldn't get.
By the time we got back to the cabin it was 8:00 and we were tired and ready to settle down for the night. If you read my previous blog, you will know that I've had problems sleeping and on the first night there I had hoped that I would get a restful nights sleep...but that was not to be the case. Although the bed was comfortable and we each had our own full size bed, I still had trouble getting to sleep that night and staying asleep. Could have been the excitement of being on vacation or maybe just sleeping in an unknown place, but I think what really kept me awake was the little critter inside the wall. Yes, that first night we discovered that we weren't the only ones occupying that particular cabin. Somewhere in the wall between the two bedrooms was a rodent of some kind (hopefully a squirral, they were everywhere in the state park). Whatever it was, it was active at night. And it was so loud that my husband had gotten up in the middle of night to see if he could find it and at one point had actually thought the creature was behind him. (thankfully we never saw it). So, for the remaining nights we shut the bedroom doors so as not to hear it moving.
We spent our mornings hiking, which became a substitute for my normal workout routine that I had also vacationed from that week. Yes, it was hot there, but not Hell hot or muggy like Florida. This heat was at least tolerable. (and in the afternoon we cooled off in the pool.)
We also went horseback riding (which cost us $75 - when did horseback riding become some expensive?) But I will say this, the horses were pretty and seemed very well cared for and the trail was about 2 miles long. My daughter especially enjoyed seeing the horses poop along the way. (Seven year old humor...go figure) General, Stumpy, and Bacardi were our horses names and we were the only ones on the ride through the woods, which was nice.
The park was full of animals you don't see everyday like deer, raccoons, and wild turkeys (yes, wild turkeys). And we saw so many deer (and took some many pictures of them) that by the time we left, they no longer held their appeal nor did we stop our car in the middle of the road to get a better look. Animals weren't the only creatures in abundance there. I saw more Daddy Long Legs in 4 days than I think I've seen in my 39 years. They were everywhere and everywhere you looked they were crawling outside the cabin and all over the trails we hiked. It was like a breeding ground. Thank God we didn't get any ticks or see any snakes. (that would have really freaked me out). But when you're out in the woods what can you expect? You're on their turf now.
We did visit some local restaurants. Top of the Porch was one right near the park. It was a family owned and operated Italian restaurant (and David made the comment that he had never had the entertainment get him a refill before - one of the owners also sang and played the keyboard). Top of the Porch had good food and great desserts (yes, I ate dessert and drank a some regular Coke too - no Coke Zero was to be found).
One night we went into Dunlap, Tennessee (another small town nearby) for dinner. But at 8:00 at night Dunlap about shuts down and the only place we found open was a place called Andy's Pizza and Steakhouse. The name nor the outside appearance does this place justice (as you can see from the picture). And we sat in the car for a few minutes debating on whether or not we wanted to go inside. At first, I thought it was a bar and I didn't want to take my seven year old into a dirty, dingy place like that for dinner. However, we had just seen another family go inside (with a baby carrier), so we decided to take a chance. And I'm glad we did.
As I mentioned the look and name of this place did not do it justice. And it wasn't a dirty, dingy, bar. Andy's Pizza and Steakhouse was clean, neat and smelled good. The salad bar was well stocked and clean, the wait staff was extremely friendly and the food was very good. (I had the pizza - I know another fattening meal - remember...I am hiking every day) I even checked out the bathroom, which was clean and smelled nice. The prices were also reasonable. Needless to say, I was impressed and would eat there again. You know the saying...don't judge a book by its cover. Well, when you're in rural Tennessee you should keep that in mind.
For those of you who know me well, you know that my husband and I are huge Tennessee Titans fans and so taking a trip to Tennessee is not out of the ordinary for us (we try to go to at least one home game a year). As a matter of fact, we love Nashville and did take a day trip there while on vacation, mainly to go to the Titans training camp and to meet a few of the players. The day we chose to go was Tuesday and that day Chris Johnson was suppose to sign autographs (him and two others). Nashville is about an hour and a half to two hours from Pikeville and just as we arrived we noticed something was amiss. We soon learned that due to lightening and possible inclimate weather the team was moved inside and the fans were asked to leave. Even I was disappointed. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet the players that day but decided to take advantage of our time in Nashville and walked around downtown.
As a consolation prize for my husband, I agreed to have a drink or two at Hooters. (Who the hell chose those ugly orange shorts and those horrible tan pantyhose as part of the uniform? What they heck were they thinking? And no I don't have photos of that). Hooters wasn't so bad though and the waitresses were very nice. And, they seemed to pay more attention to me than they did my husband. But I did notice there were very few women patrons in the place. As you will see by the pictures we spent most of our time in Nashville taking photos of my child.
After spending 4 days at Fall Creek Falls, we headed to Chattanooga to stay a night there and this time we stayed at the Hilton Double Tree downtown (much nicer than the cabin). On our way, we stopped to tour Cumberland Cavern (interesting experience) and very cool inside (natural air conditioning). But this cave is not like others I've been to. They actually hold concerts there as well as weddings (I can't imaging getting married inside a cave - seems like a dark way to start off your marriage), parties, proms, you name it and they are held deep inside this cavern. What's kind of scary (and makes me some what claustrophobic) is that the biggest event held there had 900 people. (I didn't see how that was possible and my husband commented that without fire exits that had to be some sort of fire hazzard.)
And so we moved on to Chattanooga. While there, we went to a minor league baseball game (Chattanooga Lookouts won), went to the aquarium (much nicer than the one in Atlanta), and went to the discovery museum (great place for kids). The discovery museum had a traveling display called Grossology (among lots of other things) and you got to learn all about gross things in your body. And yes, when I say gross things in your body I am talking about smells, goobers and all sorts of bodily functions. Needless to say my daughter loved that.
On Friday morning (and our last day there) we ate at Aretha Frankenstein's (featured on Rachel Ray's travel show $40 dollars a day or whatever it's called where she travels around and eats off of $40 dollars a day). Aretha Frankenstein's had great food and yes it was very fattening as you will see by my plate of pancakes. And yes that is my plate a pancakes. Told you a splurge from time to time.
We finally headed out of Tennessee around 4:00 that afternoon and got home about 10:30 p.m. that night...wore out, but oddly enough well rested. Despite the oddities and bugs on our trip it was a good one. And ever since, I've been sleeping well again. Maybe it was the woods (backwoods) and getting back to nature, maybe it was all the activity...or maybe I just needed a vacation.
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