Blacklight Golf

You wouldn't believe how many miniature golf options there are in the Gatlinburg area. I don't understand how so many stay in business. Well, I didn't, until I realized that Maury would have done nothing but play golf if we had let him. And, he didn't care about variety. On the first day out, we went to a blacklight golf place and he asked to go back several times.

The Block Heads

Before we went out to dinner on our first full day, Steve and Maury changed into their "Old Block" and "Chip Off the Old Block" shirts that Papa had given them before we left town. As you can also see, they played 9 holes of golf...right there on the property in front of our building.

The Thrill Seeker

On Thursday, we drove over the mountains to Cherokee, North Carolina, where Steve had spent five days observing at Cherokee High School. We decided that Santa's Land was a perfect stop while we were there. It's a kid oriented amusement park with rides, a petting zoo, and a small lake you can paddleboat around. Once we got Maury on the ferris wheel, he loved it. I had to take him back on a second time immediately after we got off from the first go round.

And the Not So Thrilled

While Maury and I were going around again, Steve talked Lizzie into riding the Rudicoaster. How scary can a roller coaster with Rudolph on the front of the first car be, anyway? Pretty scary, I guess. After the ride, Lizzie looked up at Steve, giggled, and then started to cry.

THE Man

Right as we were leaving, we spotted Santa Claus himself. Lizzie wanted to go see him, but Maury clung to me and hid behind my leg as I took the picture. I think I would have been like Maury when I was his age.

The Sliders

You must know that for all the things there were to do while we were gone, the kids were most often asking to go play on the playground. The one right outside of our building. So, when we were in Santa's Land and they saw a slide...oh, they had to go up and down that one several times.

Stompin' Spiders

On Friday, we took the kids to Pizza Planet. No sign of Buzz and Woody, but we ate some pizza and then played games. This game was cute. It was like Whack-A-Mole, but the kids had to stomp spiders when they lit up to win tickets. The final total won: 100 tickets. The chosen prizes: 10 Tootsie Rolls, a popper (don't ask), and a Sweet Tart sucker. I think we could have gotten that cheaper at CVS, but what do I know?

Nemo and Dory

We said we were going to the aquarium on Wednesday, but we didn't actually make it there until Thursday. It was an amazing one, too. They have a huge tunnel you move through on a moving sidewalk with sharks and rays swimming all around. And, they have a big interactive area for kids, including two tanks the kids could stand up in the middle of. They look like they are right in the water. When Lizzie spied the eels in this tank (not pictured, but believe me, they were there), she screamed like she was auditioning for a horror movie and was out of there QUICK.

NASCAR Speedpark

Last day. After racing to get checked out, we ventured to NASCAR Speedpark which was very close to where we stayed. We knew we were in the right place when the car they had on display in front was the Home Depot Number 20 car of Tony Stewart. Maury loves the Home Depot car. I see that as ironic given Tony Stewart's reputation in NASCAR.

Mom Gets to Ride, Too

The speedpark had a bunch of different go kart tracks for bigger "kids", but they also had a nice section that we bought passes to for just Maury and Lizzie. We got to ride a few rides with them, like this fun roller coaster.