Not as Romantic as We Remembered

Not as Romantic as We Remembered

Between ending my job at St. E and starting my job at St. Joe Dave and I took a week off so that we could go on a vacation.  We had not been on a vacation in such a long time we were really looking forward to it.  We had so much trouble picking a place to go, since Dave and I hold different interest, and there are so many limitations on activities when you are pregnant.  =(.  Unfortunately about a week before our vacation our upstairs air conditioner died and in an odd way this helped us make up our mind on where we would go on our vaca.  Since replacing an air conditioner is so expensive, we decided to keep the vacation small and short and just went to Gatlinburg for a few days. 

Gatlinburg wasn't really how we remembered it as kids.  It was nice, but so redneck and there really wasn't anything for us to do after the first night. Our first night we spent walking the strip, eating at a brewery that had some unbelievable pretzels and beer cheese dip and buying and eating lots of candy, and caramel apples.  The next day we decided to go hiking in the Smokey's.  Unfortunately this didn't go as planned either.  We quickly choose a trail that led you to a waterfall.   At first it seamed very promising we didn't see anyone else on the trail, and we saw a turkey and deer at the trail head.  We hiked for about 2 miles but besides the beginning of the trail it was very disappointing.  We were constantly hiking right along the side of the road and it finally got so old that we both decided we were fed up and started to hike back before getting to the waterfall.  Dave was really irritated and was kicking himself for not doing more research and picking a better trail.  I on the other hand was definitely disappointing but also thought it was kinda funny.  

When we got back we took a  nap and then set out to eat at a restaurant that was on the creek and looked romantic.  We took the trolley to the restaurant only to find out that it didn't open for a few more hours.  Strike out again.  We headed over to do some wine tasting which was fun.  I just took small sips of each wine and let Dave finish the rest of all my glasses.  We picked out three bottles, one of which I LOVED and we are planning on saving for after the baby comes.  

We then decided to just abort the Gatlinburg strip and head back up to our room and order a pizza and movie.  All in all it was a short trip that didn't involve to much excitement but it was really nice to just get out of town together and celebrate the end of us living apart.  The next day we came back to Lexington and despite deciding to go do things and not work on the house, working on the house and getting stuff done is exactly what we did.  We got organized, started to get used to living with each other again and really just enjoyed each others company regardless of what we did.  

Outside our hotel

Farthest anyone has traveled for a craving; gotta LOVE pecan Caramel Apples

17 weeks in the Smokeys

Other activities on our week off included:

Bryan and I heading out to do my registry.  Some may think it was weird that I didn't take Dave but seriously think about that.  Dave would have no desire to register, and I could just hear him telling me how all this stuff is so ridiculous and "We don't really need that do we?"  So I decided to go with my friend Bryan who has had 3 kids and is an expert in a area I am very clueless.  We had a blast and I feel really good about the stuff I picked out.  p.s Don't tell Dave but I did register for the expensive car seat that he has made fun of in the past, but you can't argue with safety right??  

Peggy even came down on Friday and we took her out to Talon winery where there was live music.  It was really hot but surprisingly in the shade we were pretty comfortable.  I even made a cantaloupe salsa that was delicious!!!  Ill post the recipe below.

Cantaloupe Salsa

1 cantaloupe-diced
1 small red onion-small dice
1/2cup of fresh parsley-chopped fine
Mix in separate bowl:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4cup honey
1/2cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Mix with cantaloupe mixture...taste for seasoning...sometimes if cantaloupe is not sweet enough add honey or if too sweet add vinegar.

French loaf of bread cut in 1/4 inch thick pieces and brushed with a little olive oil.
Toast in oven 400 degrees-5 minutes on each side until lightly brown.