Honeymoonen in Tennessee: Our Love Adventure

“Take me back!” Excluding the long road trip (there and back), having to spend most of our time in traffic, and never being able to find reception, our Honeymoon was a dream! Ha I know those three things are pretty big on the “not a good trip” list, but I enjoyed even those moments because they brought about laughter in-between the aggravation and frustration. Our week in Tennessee we traveled to Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, a few small towns, and up/down the Great Smokey mountains that brought us to a breath taking water fall and views that only God could have made possible. Spending this week alone with my new Husband has been something that I looked forward too for so many months prior, forget the label HONEYMOON, I was just unbelievably happy and grateful to spend this much needed quality time with my man!

  KEEP SCROLLING AND READ ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST ROMANTIC AND FAVORITE TRIPS THAT I HAVE EVER TAKEN… OUR HONEYMOON!

  When Brandon and I first started to plan our Honeymoon it looked much different than the Honeymoon we actual took. Two months after my now Husband proposed we booked a week long cruise to the Caribbean, but as we all know these plans changed drastically and became very dim once COVID-19 hit. For the longest I was in denial thinking that everything was going to be okay, I blamed it on optimism instead of reality, although I was honestly waiting for my refund in its entirety before I canceled the trip. I was struggling with my plans having to change and pick an alternant location, I blame this on my sentimental side. I am very glad that I waited to cancel the cruise because an announcement went out closing the ports to an even further date giving us an automatic complete refund! I am happy with the second choice on our list because Brandon nor I had been to Tennessee in quite sometime, this gave us the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves and to also create some amazing first time memories as a couple! (Although if Carowinds happened to be open, you bet we probably would have went there, that is OUR thing!")

DAY 1

  We left Augusta later than intended due to oversleeping and packing schedules. We had lunch with Brandon’s immediate Family (My family now!) and headed to Tennessee! The drive there was not bad at all… not until we actually got into the heart of our Tennessee location. As we trekked the first mountain we lost service several times, making it particularly hard to find our cabin and then to find out that the cabin’s address actually did not exist! Finally finding a stopping point with Service we made the call to our Cabin rentals and we were given the correct address, why we were given two separate address’s I do not know. It took us a pretty lengthy amount of time to figure out where we needed to be going because we had yet again lost service. The dark windy, hilly Mountains did not help in the slightest either! I remember Brandon getting so frustrated as he always does, the red head showed its bright colors in the dark of that Friday night! After we found ourselves on the Parkway, our moods instantly changed. We speculated at wonders outside the car windows! I pointed and he pointed out attractions and fun locations that we wanted to try while we spend our week long Honeymoon here. We settled for Burger King that night as our dinner because we were more than ready to get in our cabin! It was around 10pm I believe when we finally made it back up the correct mountain and made our tour inside our cozy romantic cabin! It was definitely the perfect fit for just the two of us, the bedroom was huge, the fireplace and flat screen in the living room made for a combined comfy and warm setting for late nights and a movie. Ultimately my favorite item on our Honeymoon rental was the HOTTUB!

  Brandon and I finished our warm dinner while watching a movie, popped open a bottle of Champagne that was specified to this time in our relationship, and then took a late night dip in the scorching Hot tub, which made for the most perfect romantic setting! Our first night started pretty rough, but after a few laughs, much needed food, ALCOHOL, and quality married couple time in the Hot tub, our night could not have ended any better than it did!  

DAY 2

  Of course we slept in! (we had a pretty rough road trip) After getting beautified and making myself glow like a NEW WIFE, we headed down the mountain, which was so much easier to navigate in the daylight! Parkway was in our sights! The morning started off really good, we barely noticed the horrible traffic while we picked out a few places that we knew we intended to try and also figure out which side we were going to park on! As we furthered down the right side of the Parkway The Hollywood Wax Museum came into view! I do not want to say that I freaked, but I definitely got excited! I had never been and everyone we had spoken too said that it was a must when going to Pigeon Forge! Naturally that became our first stop of the day! Thankfully the line was not long at all, but boy did it wrap around as we came out! We purchased the All-Access Pass that got us into the Wax Museum and the three attractions held in the Museums sister building behind us. We took a few photos and then social distanced as we made our way into the Wax Museum. The replicas were uncanny to the real breathing human Celebrities! I definitely had fun with this walkthrough experience! What absolutely made my day was seeing a replica of the original PHANTOM OF THE OPERA himself, I almost cried and had the time of my life as I pretended to be Rose on the Titanic’s Bow and Jack exhibit!

After making our way through the Wax People we checked out the gift shop and walked to the sister building where we Played in a 3D shooting game about a circus and killer clowns! The only highlight of this attractions was the fact of beating Brandon’s score on a shooting game! It was some good friendly competition, NOT! I know Brandon’s favorite attraction for this stop was the Zombie Walkthrough! I will say it was a spectacular setup, but zombies are definitely my least favorite other worldly creature! My new Husband could not keep a smile off of his face and the giggle from his throat as he watched me freak at every corner and flesh eating monster that came near us! He loves it when I am scared! Our last stop for the museum was a mirror maze, that you would think would be mainly for kids as it was titled “Hannah’s Maze of Mirrors” (she is a princess) I was thoroughly  surprised at this reflection maze because it gave both Brandon and I a run for our “HANNAH”! (we had to save her)  Every twist made it seem like you were right there at the clue you needed to be at, but it was only a decoy glass mirror that showed its reflection form around yet another corner! We did make it out and was given a spectacular Firework celebration! I think my favorite part of the entire Maze was the rainbow Staircase that led to the entrance of the Mirror maze! We grabbed our pictures from the gift shop and walked a distance to our lunch spot, Mellow Mushroom! (we did not realize how far the walk actually was, but ultimately we both believe that the walk getting there had to be shorter than the drive through the traffic) We chose to sit at the bar so we could avoid the 45 minute wait and feasted on a salad, a calzone, and peperoni pizza!

  I think where I messed up was wearing very fashionable booties, but not very practical shoe wear for walking a great distance because the trek back to the car was painful for my poor feet! We really could not figure out where to go after this because we did not make a plan or schedule for the Honeymoon because we were both so consumed with WEDDING and making sure that we had everything together that we completely forgot about planning the Honeymoon! (Or rather I was consumed and focused all on the WEDDING) This is probably why the day started to go down hill from this point on. We drove up and down parts of Parkway multiple times, and I mean multiple times trying to get juice for Brandon’s awful vape! That took up a ton of time because we were stuck in traffic, it felt like we sat at red lights and going 10 miles per hour longer than we were enjoying all the attractions the Wax Museum had to offer! I was becoming a bit agitated at this point, I was also still calling different Floral Boutiques in an attempt to have my Wedding Bouquet dried, this did not help my mood at all! I love my Husband so much because he knew exactly what would cheer me up! We both saw the replica of Titanic coming into view when a smile appeared on my face! I was extremely giddy and was half jumping out of the car by the time we parked! Brandon took his dear sweet time as I ran up to the entrance of the Museum to find a lady dressed as a handmaid for that time era. She looked at me and asked for my ticket, my heart instantly dropped. I was still waiting for Brandon to meet me at the front of the line when the dressed maid relayed that we had to book a time slot and unfortunately they were booked for the rest of that day and until 5pm the following day.  I stepped out of line and met Brandon on the sidewalk where he saw my disappointed eyes. I told him the predicament and he scurried me over to a gentlemen where we booked tickets for Monday morning. I was still a bit down about the situation, especially since I was in such high spirits and then immediately crashed. It felt like a sugar high that instantly has you screaming one minute and asleep the next! Brandon continued to reassure me of my Titanic fix coming in two days, this was as he silently laughed at my dilemma. We got back on the heavily traffic filled Parkway and tried to figure out where to go next. Thanks to google we crossed the line of traffic a little ways down and entered a place called Beyond The Lens. It took us back in time with some of the gamer electronics and brought about some highlighted celebrity deaths and arrests. The attraction was definitely interesting, but I still would have loved to be interring into the World of Titanic. My favorite part was the human sized BALL PIT! I know I sound like a 7 year old child, but it was for sure one of the coolest things that I have gotten to do in my adult life! That and enter into a Human sized Kaleidoscope tunnel, this was freaking cool! Brandon and I played a huge Word search puzzle, which is my cup of tea; we played Pac-man on a huge screen, this took me a bit to understand because apparently I have been playing it wrong my entire life; Brandon beet me at some kind of generic spaceship shooting game; we both became very proud to have escaped from a 2 minute miniature Escape room game with almost a full minute to spare; and we laughed as I dropped my phone through the Minnie kaleidoscope that allowed you to snap a photo of your partners face on the other end! As we left I began to feel pretty tired and finally got myself a bottle of water that quenched the thirst I had been feeling for an hour.

We headed out and Brandon was dying to try this place that one of his work buddies had told him about that apparently had indoor skiing. Ya he was mistaken… the indoor snow room was just tubing down 3 separate hills. We both decided not to participate in this activity because the prices were a bit much to do the same thing over and over for an hour, it would get boring pretty fast. Plus neither of us are big on snow. At this point I started to get aggravated because we were stuck in the car and traffic again, my feet were killing me, I felt that Brandon did not have fun at the Beyond Lens Museum because he barely stoped to enjoy and read and press buttons on the walls filled with information, but Brandon really is not the museum type I guess; I was pretty hungry, and I really really wanted Mr. and Mrs. shirts made! Brandon of course noticed that there was something wrong and continuously asked me what was wrong, which made me want to cry! Yawl I was a mess at this point, it was nearly 7 and I was done! My loving caring spoiling Husband brought us too a shop where we ordered our newlywed shirts and he got a hoodie, of course! (this man is obsessed with hoodies!) As we waited Brandon also knew that his new Wife was starving! We once again drove down parkway to a delicious Italian restaurant that had one of the best Alcoholic strawberry lemonades I have ever had! The food definitely helped my mood and my stamina. Although we did go back pick up our shirts and head back to the cabin where we enjoyed a salt bath instead of the Hot tub because Brandon made the mistake of turning the temperature down thinking that is how you turn the water machine off!

Our first day started amazing, began to tred downhill because of my bad choice In foot wear and hormones, but ended on a high note because I got to spend the entire day with my man! Something we have not been able to do in a long time! I believe the day was so hard for me because I am an organized person. I had such a high when it came to the Wedding and it happening with literally know mishaps, that when it came to the Honeymoon I expected the same thing, I was sadly mistaken. Although we did learn from our mistakes and that is where the rest of the week comes in!

DAY 3

  I absolutely loved this day! It definitely takes the cake compared to the day prior! We had made a schedule and plan for the rest of the week which ultimately had me feeling so much better! The drive to our first destination was pretty lengthy and had a few traffic jams in there, but it was SO worth all of it! We drove past mountain scenery and through cute little towns that you would see in a movie, all this to get to our hiking spot, Laural Falls in the Great Smokey Mountains. The 2.6 mile hike was breath taking in every sense. The views on both the way up and down were like new at every corner. I barely noticed the cold and actually became hot as we made it further up the mountain. (I had the blood pumping!) This is where I got some of my favorite photos from the entire trip! The Waterfall wasn't as huge as some may have liked, but I thought it was perfect! The little wooden bridge that covered a path to a rock landing was a perfect addition to the scene that was laid out before us, underneath us, and above us! We stayed and enjoyed the smell and the breeze of the water until it became a little crowded for everyone on the rock slab. We made our way back down the mountain and tried to remember where to go from there because we once again had no service, which was not my priority or focus in that moment! We followed the beautiful scenery of changing leaves on trees and creeks back down to one of the small towns we had passed on the way up the mountain when we stopped at a shop because we had seen a few magnificent wooden carvings along the side of the road. What caught my eye was the 3 tiered wooden pumpkin that Brandon asked, “I wonder how much it is?” that caused us to pull in. Of course we had to get one! We then wondered into this antique looking shop in the same parking area as the Wood carver. This shop was beautiful inside, you could definitely tell we were in the mountains with the merchandise for sale and the overall look and architecture of the store.

We then headed back into the city where we once again landed on the Parkway and followed it down to the bottom to eat a hardy lunch at the Hard Rock Café! I had never eaten at this one so I am ecstatic I was able to cross this location off of my list! This particular Hard Rock had a tag maker where I proceeded to make my kitten Anastasia a name tag because we had yet to get her one. Brandon and I also purchased Hard Rock T-shirts and then headed back up the mountain to stop at the store for some Cabin essentials, and then dropped everything off at the cabin while we waived at some turkeys that lurked onto the mountain road. During the late afternoon evening we made our way back down the mountain where we found ourselves at a Gem Mining Structure on the Parkway. Here we purchased a bucket, brought it to a spot along the makeshift wooden river, and placed our shovels of dirt mixed with hidden gems in a strainer and began sifting through the leftover pieces that the water did not wash away! We walked away with a bag filled with gems and rock that were absolutely stunning. After emptying our bucket of sand and gems alike we entered the store to look at the stunning merchandise the stone store had to offer. Our shopping did not stop there, we sat down with a Gem specialist who went through our bag of goodies and placed them on a labeled laminate sheet and relayed to us what special pieces of jewelry we had the opportunity to create. I chose a pair of studded earrings made from Amethyst because purple is my favorite color! While leaving the building I noticed a wood carver next to the Gem Mine that carved out signs for homes, business, you name it he could have made the sign. It was perfect because I have always wanted to make a family sign to place in my home and now that I am finally MARRIED I was able to purchase this item for our family home!  

  We walked down to the parking lot over where a huge colorful Arcade stood and used all of our one dollar bills to purchase a game card! We went around playing different games that we both wanted. We had challenges and Brandon even hit the jackpot on the light game that is extremely hard to win! We ended up with a good amount of points and were able to get two games for the house. It was dark at this point so we knew that it was time to head to THE ISLAND at Pigeon Forge! We drove over and instantly snagged two tickets to the Sky Wheel! This is something that my Husband does out of love for me because he is not a heights person in the slightest! The view was of course fantastic! Everything was lit up, the lights that show through at night could not have been more pretty. When we got off of the ride we walked around a bit and shopped on the islands strip. It reminded me of a smaller version of Broadway at the Beach located in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. The Island had a lot of hidden stores that we found intriguing! By the time we finished we realized most of the restaurants were around closing time so we made our way to a Wendy’s and trekked the dark windy mountain to our couples cabin. We watched Cat in the Hat, ate our dinner, and I sat in the hot tub for a while before going in to shower and climb into bed with my HUSBAND!

DAY 4

  Titanic Museum here we come! It was finally the morning to attend one of my favorite things! Brandon and I woke up early, dressed in our matching Mickey and Minnie Hoodies (that he got as a gift for our fist Valentines together), and went down the mountain to fight the traffic on the Parkway. This time when I showed up in front of the lady I made sure I had my ticket ready! (It was a man this time actually!) Unfortunately I do not have any photos for you guys, except for a couple, because we were not permitted to take video or photography while inside the museum do to copywriting structures. But it is all intact in my memory! The museum was definitely one of the coolest museums I have been to! (This one and Washington D.C.) Brandon even seemed to be more interested in the artifacts than in the other museum we had gone to the days prior, although I was very into everything and listened to the stories through our “phone” contraption and he did not. I think the three coolest parts of the entire museum was the replica of the main staircase that was a huge highlight of the actual ship, the real iceberg we were able to touch along side the freezing cold water that was set to the exact temperature the water was the night of the sinking, (it was freezing and it hurt after leaving your hand in the water for not even 30 seconds! Even though Brandon tried to be a big tough guy, you could see the water was killing him!) and a demonstration of how fast the water filled the ship. The demonstration included a clear wall with a metal gate that replicated the ones in the 3rd class part of the ship and a stairwell. You watched as the water spilled from the top of the stairs and pooled at the bottom. I think the best part was the sound effects they had to go with the scene, that and the lights flickered as the electricity actually would in that situation.  I am also very grateful that we were able to see the largest Lego replica of the Titanic that was made by an 11 year old boy! I say that because at the end of this year the Lego Titanic is being moved to another facility, so we caught it just in time. One of the most intriguing things about this Museum to me is when you are in line waiting to enter the historical museum you are handed a card with the name and sometimes a picture of an actual voyager on the ship. There are a few key points and notables about this person on your card and you are supposed to walk Titanic as the person on the card. At the end of your visit a room is set aside for these people and you get to see whether your person lived or died on that fateful maiden voyage of Titanic. I believe this has to be one of the coolest things a museum has ever done and the fact that it is true history makes it even more special!

  Titanic was the first sighting of many on this very busy day! We stopped for some lunch at the Sunliner Diner a little ways down the parkway. I always love going to these restaurants because they remind me so much of Grease! I know that is so beyond cheesy but it is so true! They even had a pink and Turquoise car that were tables in the middle! I highly enjoyed the food and the small shop they had. Brandon was a little iffy because I bought a $15 silicone cup that was colored like a candy cane with the Diners logo on it. What can I say, it was our Honeymoon I had the right to splurge! And I love my cup! As we headed back down the parkway I made Brandon stop at the Christmas Place Shop because I really wanted a personalized Ornament for our Christmas tree. Not just any Ornament, a glass ball that stated “ Mr. And Mrs. Est. 2020” I had been looking for this specific Christmas Ornament before we were married because I wanted this for our tree our first year married, I was struggling to find it because know where had it! I finally found the perfect ball, we stand in line to get it personalized, and then head to a complete separate line for checkout. (Can you tell how sentimental I am?)This place was huge! I got lost so many times! The shop had so many areas dedicated to so many different areas of Christmas! All I know is that my sister would have “died" if she had been in there!

  After unexpectedly stopping Brandon and I finally made it to the originally planned destination, Speedway Nascar! (We stopped at one other place before coming here and that was the wood sign carver that had made the Family sign for our home) This was another attraction that multiple people told us to try while in Pigeon Forge. I highly enjoyed the Go Cart racing, especially because I beat Brandon 4 times on multiple races! Of course he blamed it on having a slow car! Which is probably true because I lost the first race for that same reason! I definitely recommend doing a racetrack no matter the vacation spot (as long as they have one) because this was absolutely so much fun! Although the stay at the race track ended fairly quickly, at least it felt like it. Brandon said we were there for almost 3 hours, but it honestly did not feel like it. We made the stealthy drive back up the mountain to our cabin because both of us were pretty tired, we had already had a pretty busy full day and had gotten up pretty early (for us) that morning. We had some time to spare before our Dinner and a Show that night at 8 so we both enjoyed a soak in the hot tub for a few and then accidentally took a much needed hour nap.

  The nap was definitely welcome, after waking we changed into sophisticated dress clothes as to use this night as our Romantic fancy dinner. The Dolly Parton Stampede Dinner Show was amazing! Brandon and I had been calling around all morning in search of two tickets to any dinner and show. Dolly Parton’s was our last chance (well that and the Comedy Barn that I haven’t been too since I was 5) at a Dinner Show. I am so grateful that we were able to snag a couple of the last tickets for that nights show! I took a few photos during the show, but for the most part I was focused on spending time with my Husband and the fascinating hilarious show being preformed in front of our eyes. With that being said I have to speak about the food! When I tell you that they provided us with an entire chicken, a WHOLE CHICKEN, I am not lying! On top of the deliciously seasoned juicy chicken we were given corn on the cob, a potato which was also seasoned incredibly well; another piece of meat which I am unsure as to what it was, but Brandon seemed to enjoy it because one minute it was there and the next it was not; a roll, and some kind of thick soup that we had to drink instead of spoon. I believe that was the only thing I barely touched. I think it was more the texture that felt like watered mashed potatoes rather than the taste that deterred me, my Husband seemed to enjoy it though, needless to say he made a happy bowl! (get it… happy plate… happy bowl) I must say that both Brandon and I’s favorite part of the meal served was the desert, an Apple Turnover! The warm piece of pie had a crunchy and flaky cover with an added glaze, the inside was scrumptious with the perfectly cooked apples and the cinnamon swirl, all I can say is that our taste buds were dancing! I might have been full from the WHOLE CHICKEN, but God knows I finished that turnover! As the show closed we made our way into the gift shop where we purchased the pictures that had been taken at our arrival and then found ourselves outside where the cast had brought their Horses to the dedicated stable. We were able to watch a few be de-saddled and tried to figure which horse was who, I wish I could have pet them!

  Our fourth day and third full day of our Honeymoon trip quickly came to an end as we enjoyed a very full day of new adventures for the both of us. If I remember correctly we arrived at the Cabin, showered, and knocked out! This was probably the busiest day of our entire trip. A good nights rest was exactly what we needed for the crazy day we had ahead of us in GATLINBURG!

DAY 5

  Good Morning Mountains! It was our last full day on our Honeymoon and we had big plans! knowing the weather was kind enough that day we sported out new Mr. and Mrs. shirts around the town of Gatlinburg! I am so excited we decided to wear them because I love attention, the shirts definitely brought about CONGRADULATIONS and a few looks of passersby. We even found ourselves behind a newlywed couple (they said I Do the day after Brandon and I) at our first Gatlinburg attraction, RIPLEY’S AQUARIUM OF THE SMOKEY’S! Which we finally made it to after almost two hours of traffic! It was fine and going steady as we headed out of Pigeon Forge, but entering into the Gatlinburg town the traffic became as far as the eye could see. Fortunately we were able to park in the aquariums parking garage for the duration of our time in the heart of the Gatlinburg city. As we entered the masterful Aquarium we were first greeted with a beautifully put together Christmas Tree dedicated and fully decked with Fall décor. After which we accidentally started the Aquariums footprint backwards and realized it after not finding an outlet. So we backtracked to where we were actually supposed to be, snapped a photo, and made our way into the heart of the fishes. At first it started off a little boring and the place was crazy crowded, especially in light of COVID. All in all it was a great experience, especially because the only aquariums I have visited were a Colorado Fish exhibit in Denver and of course the largest Aquarium in Atlanta, home to a lot of School Field Trips. The thought crossed my mind that this particular aquarium could possibly be aimed for the kids enjoyment, a few major attractions inside the fish bowl gave that away. As I am a kid at heart, I had a great time and Brandon enjoyed watching my face light up at the smallest things. We went through different corridors and rooms that appeared in different lighting depending on the atmosphere the room had dedicated to a sea creature. The largest attractions and I believe my favorite was the tunnel under the huge fish tanks. We made our way on  a flat escalader that slowly took us around corners and straight away’s never leaving the fish surrounding us. I got some amazing shots and videos of the mysterious water life. Brandon has already stated his highlight of the aquarium, which I find pretty grouse… but MEN! We neared the end of the tunnel tour when he looked down in a crevasse of the tank and the wall and found a dead fish in the space, he watched as other fishes came by to snag a piece of fish meat! Immediately after we noticed what was happening a little kid behind us begins to ask her father what the fish are doing just as Brandon blurted out laughing! That was mean! Another section of the aquarium that I would have loved to enjoy was the baby penguin exhibit, unfortunately they did not have any babies out that day, but I was able to watch as Penguins flew through the water under my feet with a glass square cut out of the floor, that was pretty cool!

Finishing up at Ripley’s Aquarium Brandon and I were starving! Back tracking a little ways Brandon wanted to try a place he had seen on our way in named The Landshark. First the scenery on our walk was beautiful! The City had so many Fall decoration’s out lining the streets, walkways, and seating areas! This is what I imagine a small town would do for every season just like in the movies and TV shows! The Landshark wasn’t too far down and today you best believe that I wore the correct shoe wear! You would think that in a cramped busy tourist town of Gatlinburg we would have to wait to be seated, to our surprise we walked in and were immediately taken to a table! (It is even harder with the Social Distancing mandates) The place looked like it should be located on a beach somewhere, the bar food restaurant will always be a great find in mine and Brandon’s food book! I ordered a chicken wrap with the restaurants special sauce, that I was a little nervous to try, but it turned out being a great decision; Brandon ordered a Shrimp Po-Boy that he stuffed down even though it looked like he was about to pop! The food was more than amazing, knowing this was the only location ever (we asked our waiter if there were anymore Landshark restaurants, she informed us that there are not) we knew we needed to get our fill! The Landshark was an inviting place to stop for lunch, but now it was time to start walking off the food we had just gobbled down. On the way back to the car we stopped at a place I had been dying to step foot into since I saw it as we slowly made our way through Gatlinburg’s traffic. The Gatlinburg Wine Cellar was displaying their famous Cotton Candy Wine, I was caught by the sight of so much bright pink that I could not stop. And I mean Cotton Candy who wouldn't! My taste in Alcohol is very singular and I absolutely adore anything sweet and fruity. I have had a hard time finding drinks, like Wine, that are not hard liqueur, to have for the house and an occasional drink that is poured and done. (no mixed drinks, just easy and simple) We entered the wine store and went straight up to the counter. (which again is super surprising considering the crowd of the city) I mentioned my preferences to the lady and she focused my attention to the list of Wine products on the laminate sheet on the counter. She relayed that the bottom wines were their sweetest, so I naturally chose the last three wines provided as my samples. ( I was allotted three free samples) They were Birthday Cake, Cotton Candy, and Niagara. Birthday Cake somewhat tasted like a Birthday cake, it was definitely sweet and had my taste buds asking for more, it was also a sipping wine, for sure not something to down. Niagara was considered one of the sweetest and tasted exactly like pure grapes! It was strong and fruity and had been a wine that I was looking for ever since turning 21. (You can ask anyone, I have said I want a wine that taste just like grape juice! Although this wine tasted like straight GRAPES and not grape juice) Cotton Candy was literally COTTON CANDY! It went down smooth and the after taste brought about the sweet flavor. If you haven’t already guessed, I took home a bottle of COTTON CANDY! I could not help but want more of the sugary taste so I had too! I am very grateful to the lady that helped us with our purchase because she handed us a sheet with a list of their popular seasonal wines and has the website printed at the bottom as to use if we want to order the bottle or other flavors that can be shipped to our home considering we are not local in the slightest!

  While at the aquarium we bought a special kind of ticket that would get us into two other Ripley’s Attractions. We purchased this specific ticket because I wanted to attend Ripley’s Haunted Attraction and Brandon wanted to Play Minne Golf and fortunately there was a Ripley’s Minne gold course on the way out of Gatlinburg so we thought it was perfect. WRONG! Brandon and I walked back to the car to place the new delicious Bottle of Wine we had just payed for when I realized what google was telling me. Ripley’s Haunted Adventure was closed on that Tuesday! The disappointment I felt was tangible. But it was okay because there happened to be a Haunted House around the corner. It happened to be one that I had come across while searching for Haunted attractions in the Tennessee area we were staying in. (That was one of the most important things for me to be able to do because Halloween and spooky things are my favorite!) I had chosen Ripley’s because that happened to be the one that Brandon had chosen also off of the list I provided for him. I was kind of deterred from the Haunted house we actually went to when I saw it on the google page because it looked like a random house that was supposedly haunted in that city and not an actual haunted attraction that is similar to say Plantation Blood. To my surprise and great excitement it turned out to be an amazing Haunted House that I would absolutely love to attend again! We waited in a small line for maybe 10 minutes when we were ushered inside to pay and stand in what seemed like a circular foyer that on one side held the beautiful staircase that led upstairs (you also pass by the opening again while actually taking the haunted tour through the spooky house) and on one wall held an old fashioned couch to seat the waiting. After paying Brandon, myself, and another couple went through a turnstile in the miniature hallway connected to the foyer. Our group continued through a medieval door into what the director called a waiting room. There was something on every wall. In front of us was a large Fireplace and mantel. On either side of the stone forum was a birdcage and another contraption. The wall to the right of us had another grandma looking couch and an end table, next a window came into view as we turned to the far wall. The only wall left was the one we entered into. There was a book case on one side, the door we came through, and a rocking chair with a photo above it on the other. The four of us continued to speculate where and how we were going to get out of this waiting “living” room and make our way through the Haunted House. The bookcase had hinges on it so I though maybe that, but then I realized that must be the door that the director uses to check if we had all left the room once the tour began, I figured this because it was directly connected to the office on the other side of the wall. I kid you not we were probably in that room a little bit nervous and freaked for what felt like 10 minutes before a spooky voice came over the speaker and told all of us to push on the Mantel connected to the fireplace to open the hidden door. (The creepy voice also happened to be the director of the Haunted house. Brandon and I know this because he showed us when we went back to buy a souvenir) Once through the door we started to make our way through the different rooms. I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite haunted Attractions I have been to because it was not too jump scary. This gave you the ability to look around and enjoy the set up of every haunted room. I can distinctly remember most of the rooms because I was not overly scared that I was unable to take in the entire experience. I even told the director my exact thoughts on his Haunted house! A few highlights I remember would have to be the distinct fowl smell that came from some of the rooms. (I was glad we actually had to wear masks!) The bathroom and the dining room scene both smelled atrocious, yet I could not have asked for a better sensual experience because the scene laid out for us called for that effect. Of course photos and Videography was prohibited so I only have a few photos of the foyer. (the only room allowed to be photographed) Something that everyone in our four person group found very helpful was the supposed creepy killer man that appeared in certain rooms. We definitely appreciated him because there were multiple ways you could get lost and choose the wrong door or path in the maze like dark horror house. The grotesque man was there to show you the right way when you hit a wall… literally! The only time this killer masked man actually semi scared us, more Brandon than anyone because he was the chosen leader of the group, (the men were on the ends and the women in the middle) happened to be in a room that seemed to have multiple corridors, the room was pitch black dark except for the constant flashing dim light companied by red laser beams striking at every corner. When entering the room we saw him in the middle and the lights flashed, low and behold he was gone. Brandon lead us to the far end of the room when we saw him again moved, a split second later he was gone. My new Husband continued to etch forward when he bumps into the really tall killer man! “OH S***” was all I heard until I looked up and saw him starring down into my mans eyes! talk about creepy!

  All four of us made it out alive and very well entertained! The couple that joined us seemed a little more freaked by the entire experience than this Newlywed couple were! I proceeded to go in and let the owner know what we thought and purchased an intricate shot glass while he let us in on a secret and mentioned that the weekends there were intimidatingly frightening. (he adds more actors and such) We spent most of the trek back to the car talking about what we had seen and fawned over the beautiful fall scenery once again. Not far out of the heart of Gatlinburg’s attraction center was the Ripley’s Davy Crockett Minni-Golf course Brandon was hyped to “beat” me at! Choosing the more complicated and strategic course Brandon and I started the first couple of holes, which to his disappointment I happened to be winning! It did not last long because the game started to tie up after one tragic par, that hole was impossible to get for me! The course had a great deal of character, especially when it came to creating the course at each hole. I loved the different looks and interactions the courses had with multiple structures that made it more difficult, yet fascinating to the eye. At one of the par’s an outhouse was part of the game. The same out house ATE my golf ball! (I had to get another one from the man inside because it had fallen off of the track laid out inside the outhouse feature. Apparently it happens a lot because we saw a ton of balls inside through the crack in the wood) At the end of the Course the last hole had a sign that informed you if you made it into a more difficult hole you get one free game. You bet I went for the hole and guess what… I GOT IT! Brandon tried, but… um… unfortunately it did not go to plan for him. We entered the office and let the man at the desk know I had gotten the Free Game hole. Brandon purchased another game for himself and we proceeded onto the same course, that we made it halfway through just to abandon it to see what the easier course was like. I mainly wanted to try it for the aesthetic purpose, Brandon just wanted to beat me. (although he claims that the game we never finished when we left the course he had won) The second game ended and we were more than ready to head back into Pigeon Forge. Both of our feet hurt!

  We stopped at a dollar general close to the entrance of our mountain and picked up a frozen pizza, marshmallows, a lighter, and a few drinks as to end the hunger for both dinner and desert. Getting back to the cabin we of course had to have dessert first, Brandon went outside to start a fire in the quaint firepit provided for our stay in the Honeymoon cabin while I started to pick up and pack a little as to limit the time spent getting our stuff together the following morning. As they used to do it, we grabbed a random stick and plopped a marshmallow on the end, acting as our branch to roast the fluffy marshmallow of deliciousness. We each made a marshmallow while enjoying each others company as the fire burned and warmed our cold appendages. The fire added a nice gateway for the two sparklers left inside my car from our Wedding almost an entire week prior! We took a few somewhat cute photos. Afterwards I went to jump in the Hot tub one last time while Brandon sat and watched the fire as it burned out. I believe I made a few Instagram stories for both my personal and Blog page as an update of the Honeymoon week. A little later Brandon came outside to join me in conversation when I convinced him to play a couple games of checkers with me. We ended the night with a tied score, 1 to 1. I expected to go back out and finish the battle after I had showered and we had eaten our dinner of frozen pizza, but we both ended up cuddled on the couch watching a movie.

  Our last night in our cozy romantic cabin could not have been better than it was. The enjoyment of playful competition, a warm fire and sweet marshmallows; a movie and cuddles, was more than I could have ever asked for! It definitely made for a great leeway into the hardest day of our trip so far… OUR DRIVE HOME!

DAY 6

  Thankfully to our organized packing the night before Brandon and I were able to get out of the cabin with almost an hour to spare before checkout. We needed to make today’s excursion pretty fast because we needed to be on the road no later than 1 to make it to the Floral shop that is currently Drying my Wedding bouquet as I type, by 5. As most of you already know that did not happen. Our plan was to finish souvenir shopping for our families and then head to lunch at Dick’s Last Resort. (I really wanted to go there because Brandon has never been. I absolutely love this funny sarcastic restaurant. It became a family tradition to attend every time we went to Myrtle Beach which Brandon has also never been. That is okay because we are fixing that problem in April!) To my surprise Dick’s did not open until 12 so that was now out of the question, so we ended up eating at Margaritaville on Pigeon Forges The Island. This happened to be another well known place that was a must eat when told by family! It was a great second choice. Especially the large Margarita mixer in the opening of the restaurant. Our outside seating went from bad to good when we asked to move from the very sunny area to a more shaded atmosphere. (we later laughed because we realized that was the devils table when two other guests asked to be moved from that seating area as well) To Brandon and I’s surprise The Landshark (The amazing restaurant we had tried the day before) happens to be the sister restaurant to Margaritaville. But again we were told it was the only one in existence. Brandon got Shrimp Tacos and I generically ordered Buffalo chicken strips. I was happy with the time we were making as well, that all changed about 2 hours later. After leaving the beautiful city we had stayed in for the week full of adventures and romantic excursions we became stuck on a highway because a Tanker truck had flipped and caught the woods on fire. So hundreds of cars fought to make it out of this one exit. We stopped to get gas right off of the exit that took us 45 minutes to get through. I am so glad that we did because the next four hours were spent in mostly stand still traffic on a mountain with no RECEPTION! I was freaking because I was in the middle of writing two other Blogs that our now posted. Thankfully they saved and I did not have to start all the way over!

  While on the mountain we realized part of the problem was coming from an 18 wheeler who had taken a turn completely wrong and was now stuck in a ditch! So not only was all the First Responders located at the Tanker fire, but we had no reception to call 911! This began to back up the opposite side of the road so now both lanes were in stand still traffic. The people in the cars on the opposite side of the road were so confused as to what was going on, others and myself screamed through car windows to inform each other of the issues that lay ahead on both sides of the mountain! A little while later Brandon is complaining that he has to pee atrociously bad, but has to hold it. Around the same time we see the car behind us open the drivers side door, swing two legs out of the door with pants down by the persons ankles, and fluid begin to seep down the concrete road. We both looked at each other and started laughing at the disbelieving action that the lady behind us was preforming. “Is she peeing?!” An hour passed and we had barely moved. I was getting super uncomfortable so I got out of the SUV, opened the trunk, and began unzipping my suitcase when traffic began to move, it did not stop me though because I crawled to the backseat and continued to open my suitcase until I could pull out a comfy hooded sweater and matching shorts provided by Typically Blush! I changed and was prepared to take a nap when we began to move again. We began to realize part of the Traffic issue. The Mountain roads were so steep and narrow that 18 wheelers that would not normally take this route (but had no choice because of the highway being closed) had to stop and allow the other side of traffic to go through first and then was able to make their way through. I remember one particular scene that was around an extremely curvy part of the mountain, the stopped 18 wheeler came into view as we rounded the corner. I noticed that it was pulled up against the bare rock wall of the mountain and half way on the narrow wooden bridge and half on the concrete way. This was scary because of the bridge! What if it collapsed! We made it around the truck just as it started to move again and the traffic behind us come to a stop as to let the gigantic truck pass by.

  I will say that I enjoyed the beautifully colored mountain scenery that surrounded us while on the mountain. It had seemed we had finally made it off of the mountain, but not through the traffic. At this point Brandon could not hold his bladder back any longer, so we switched places while sitting in traffic. I took over the drivers seat and he climbed to the backseat where he pulled down his pants and peed in an empty Tea bottle we had purchased the day before. He filled the entire thing up, but still hadn’t emptied his bladder! LIKE WHAT! We kept trying our reception which said we had service and bars, yet the only thing that would not work was MAPS! The one thing that we needed because we had know idea where we were going. There were no signs because we were in the middle of no where just following the line of traffic ahead of us, but we made it people! As soon as we hit the Highway we stopped at the first rest stop to use the restroom and Brandon wanted to drive again. Needless to say we did not make it to the Floral Shop! it was already passed five at the point! For the next three hours I finished writing my blogs and Brandon listened to his music while getting us home! It was almost 10pm when we finally pulled into our driveway!

  Even with the Road trip from HELL I would not change anything about our Honeymoon! Yes, we both became aggravated at one point or another with the traffic in the city or the amount of people or lines we had to wait in, but we laughed and enjoyed each others company even more! I will definitely have this trip go down as one of my favorites not just because of the Title, but because I got to spend it with the most important person in my life, My HUSBAND!  

  Thank you guys for tuning in! I know today’s post was pretty lengthy but it covered every inch of the best Honeymoon ever! Stay tuned for more content next week!     

ANNNDDD a surprise coming soon!