Day 1 (Friday): Ashley and I picked up our sister from the Chattanooga airport at 9AM. We went back to my house to get ready then headed to Atlanta with Emily. We went to one of the malls (Perimeter I think it was) and met up with Shelly and one of B's best friends since childhood - Kate. We all spent the afternoon hanging out, catching up, and having a little retail therapy. By the end of our shopping spree, we decided it was time for dinner.
We went to put our new purchases in Ashley's car and someone noticed that one of her back tires was completely flat. We got out the spare and I jacked up the car. With the help of a very nice lady, we changed the tire and drove Ash's car to the closest GoodYear to get a new tire put on.
While it was being fixed, we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM :) I had "macaroni balls" and they were delicious.
We then went to pick up the car and we parted ways with Shelly and Kate. Exhausted, we headed home to get in bed for our early rise the next day.
Day 2 (Saturday): Ash, B, and I got up early to get ready so we could meet up with Cody (our brother) and Dad. We headed to the Ocoee Inn to go white water rafting. It was Ashley's first time rafting so we kept telling her things to make her nervous. We even tried to get her to sit in the front, but she was too smart to take the bait. Cody and I ended up sitting in the front. Dad and Ash were behind us and B was in the back with guide (Matt B.) and the trainee. On the first rapid, the boat tipped on Cody/Dad's side and they both fell out, and I fell on top of them. It was hilarious. Cody was pretty sure he only fell out because my dad pulled him in when Dad fell in. And then, he pulled Cody out of the way so he could get back in the raft first. It was hilarious. Cody was second in. They pulled me (a girl!) in last! Such gentlemen. :P From that point on, Dad "hit the deck" (sat in the floor of the raft) whenever we went over a rapid. He was cracking us up.
A couple rapids after the first, I fell out again! Besides this trip, I have been rafting two other times and have never fallen out before, but I just couldn't seem to keep myself in. HA! It was actually fun falling out. I didn't feel in danger or anything, but the way the guides frantically pulled me in both times, I guess I should have been.. there were large, pointy rocks all around.
I loved it when our guide would explain the rapid we were about to go on. He would tell us the name (i.e. Broken Nose, Double Suck, Tablesaw, Witches Hole, Diamond Splitter, Powerhouse, etc) and describe what would and could happen.. the look on my dad's face was hilarious! You could see that he was nervous. It made the trip. :D
Ashley got to "ride the bull" for the picture taken by the company we were with. Riding the bull means sitting on the very front of the raft. The pictures are hilarious. If you would like to see them, they are on my Facebook. Cody and I rode the bull together later on the last rapid. It was a blast!
After we were done rafting, we went to the Ocoee Dam Deli for lunch. Delicious! They fried pickles were amazing.
Later that day, all five of us went to my Mawmaw's to hang out and have dinner. We then went to see A-Team. Awesome movie! It was SO FUNNY! I completely recommend it.
Day 3 (Sunday/Father's Day): B, Ash, and I skipped church (sinners, I know :P) and got our things packed for Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. We went to give our Father's Day presents and to say goodbye to my brother and dad, as they were leaving that morning to go home. Soon after, we left for Gatlinburg with our mom.
After checking into the hotel, we made our way to the Tanger Outlet mall in Pigeon Forge for a little shopping until 6 or 7. It was a good day for shopping because EVERYONE had awesome sales going on. After shopping, we ate dinner at Tony Romas and talked about how much Ash and B wanted a candy apple and our plans for the next day. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by The Three Bears gift shop to see if we could find a candy apple for my sweet-toothed sisters. Turns out they didn't have any so we looked around the shop for a while. This place has a creepy bear mascot walking around that would appear everywhere we were. I wasn't too fond of him. They also had live bears on the second floor. They really were all about bears. We left there and decided to go to the hotel so we could swim. Not too long after swimming, we went up to the room and layed down to watch whatever was on tv. Ash found a scary movie so we made my mom and B watch it with us. xD It was pretty creepy and had a great twist! And I don't even know the name of it... it was never said while being shown.
Day 4 (Monday): Still in Pigeon Forge, the Smartt ladies got up and got ready for the fabulous day we had planned. Our first stop of the day was the newly built Titanic museum. The outside of it is a replica of (most of) the ship. They even had a huge ice burg on the starboard side. Before you go in the museum, you get a boarding pass with the name and story of an actual passenger that was on board when it sank. I got Marian Thayer who was a 39 year old 1st class passenger from Haverford, PA. Everyone got a different person and as you were walking through the museum, you could look for things from or about your person. At then end of the tour, you would find out if you lived or died. All four of our people lived.
It was so amazing to see artifacts from the Titanic. There were letters, tools, silverware, plates, pictures, furniture, clothes, and so much more to look at. I absolutely loved learning more about it.
My favorite part was the collection of photos taken and owned by Father Frank Browne. He had the only collection of pictures taken of the Titanic during the passage from Southampton to Ireland. His photos are quite amazing. Very beautiful. He has the only picture of Captain Smith aboard the Titanic.
The Grand staircase was another favorite part of mine. It was an exact replica. It was gorgeous. In that room, they had the music from the movie Titanic playing... I felt like Rose. :D
One room we went in was the steering room (is that even the right term!?). There was a guy in there telling us all about what happened the night it sank. He explained what happened in every part of the ship and why it wasn't as unsinkable as the engineers thought. Brandy and I got to talk to him and ask a few questions also. When you leave this room, you walk out onto what looks like the deck of the ship at night with stars above. There was a huge ice burg that we got to touch and water that was 28 degrees.. the same temperature in which so many people died that night. The water was awful. It hurt to leave your hand in for only a few seconds. I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to have your whole body thrown in for hours.
There was so much to do and see in this museum! It took us about an hour and a half to go through the whole thing. It was so worth it.
After the museum, we drove up to Gatlinburg. We ate at a place that I cannot even remember the name of right now. Then we walked up and down the street going into various shops. Ash and B finally got the candy apple they wanted. I got a caramel one drizzled in white and milk chocolate. Not as good as I thought it'd be. I'm not big on candied fruit - I like my fruit natural. After a little shopping and shade-sitting, we got in the car to head home.
We stopped at the Bass Pro shop for my brother-in-law... B had to look at boats for him. Then we stopped at some mall so B could go to this specific shoe store to find a certain pair of shoes. It was her goal for the whole weekend. haha
When we finally got home, we layed down and had a Princess Diaries marathon until we fell asleep.
Day 5 (Tuesday/B's last full day): We slept in as long as we could and just lazed around until we went swimming. It was just a relaxing day, not having to keep to any kind of schedule. Ash and I then took B to McKay's so we could, of course buy movies, but also so Ash and I could find Titanic. Then we decided to have a National Treasure marathon at my house so naturally, we went to buy our favorite movie candy: Bunch-a-Crunch (or as Kate puts it - blobs of crunch. haha!).
Day 6 (Wednesday/Brandy's departure): Ash and I had to go back to work :/ but B and mom came to eat lunch with me before Mom had to take Brandy to the airport. It was quite a depressing day.
Love and miss you, B!
You and Mat come home soon!!
No comments:
Post a Comment