Stephanie sells Lilla Rose hair jewelry (Click if interested) and there are several Celtic Festivals that we work each year. One of the biggest is the North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas.
The Irish Rogues
BEHAN! One of our favorites. I have been listening to these guys at NTIF for almost 20 years!
Deloreans to view. Cool, but wouldn't want to park one.
It is a hard festival with long hours, and the reality of scheduling meant that we could not leave for Tennessee until early Monday morning. We did most of the packing on Sunday night and was on the road by 7 the next day. Sadie was staying with her grandparents in Athens during the Irish Fest weekend, so we picked her up and Stephanie's parents fell in behind us. They were going to.
Day 1& Day 2 - Monday & Tuesday: Outside of Hope, Arkansas, Stephanie took over the driving. It had not been half an hour when the dashboard warning lights came on. A quick stop at an Autozone told us that it was the fuel line sensor again. This is the second time we have had issues with this on our 180K miles Outback. We had debated trading it early but hoped to drive it another year. We probably could but agreed it was time for something more reliable. After a stop for the night in Dickson, TN, we stopped in Knoxville and left with a new 2020 Subaru Forester. It is a nice car, but I am not looking forward to car payments again!
We arrived in Gatlinburg around 7 ET, We usually have some time in the afternoon but the car shopping robbed us of that. It is a nice house (Endless View, in the Black Bear Community) with an awesome view!
Day 3 (Wednesday): We got up early and had breakfast, then set out for Cades Cove. We have been there before, but others in the family had not. It was crowded as expected. We stopped at the John Oliver cabin, then had a picnic lunch at the visitor center and Cable Mill, then Steph, Sadie, and Steph's sister and brother in law hiked to Abram's Falls (5 miles round trip). It was a tough one, and probably should not have been our first hike after 2 days in the car. It was a beautiful hike, however.
John Oliver's Cabin. He and his wife were the first white settlers in Cades Cove
Just one of the churches on the Cove loop road. The family singing in the old building brought chills! Thank you for sharing your talent!
Cable Mill and the millrace that powers the wheel. It was not yet open since it is still early in the year.
Happy hikers!
Abram's Falls. It has the largest volume of water of any waterfall in the park.
Upon return to the cabin, it was our turn to cook. We fixed "breakfast for supper," with eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, and biscuits. A good hearty meal after a physically taxing day, to be sure!
Day 4 (Thursday): Kathleen and Matti wanted to do something "nature-y" today again, so we picked an easier trail called the "Old Sugarlands." We have hiked it before! It is a long one if you go all the way to its end, but we chose to hike to the old CCC camp about 1.3 miles in. We had planned to meet Mom and Dad, as well as Stephanie's parents at the Old Mill Restaurant! It is one of our favorites, with a fantastic lunch menu that includes their southern fried pork chops. Guess what I got! We also bought a headstone for Salem (our cat who died last year) at the Sandman's Workshop nearby.
Some scenes from the Old Sugarlands Trail - Deer and Turkey were cool to see so close!
The Old Mill Restaurant was great! The waitress who served our table was phenomenal!
After supper we Stephanie, Matti, Kathleen, and I met Brandon downtown. He wanted to listen to the bluegrass bands in Old Smoky Holler (outside of Old Smoky Moonshine). Together we sampled the different whiskeys at Sugarlands and the Barrelhouse. Some also sampled the ciders at a new cidery on the parkway. After our shopping, we listened to a band called Monroeville. They were very, very good!
One of Monroeville's official music videos on YouTube! They may have to go onto my Spotify playlist!
Day 5 (Friday): Today was to be a quieter day, but it wasn't to be. We all met for breakfast at Crockett's Breakfast Camp. I had the Cathead Biscuit Stacker (Huge) and Sadie had the pancake (cake was right - it was every bit an inch thick!).
Brandon and his family left out for Charleston, SC, this morning. The conference he was supposed to speak at has been canceled by the Corvid-19 panic. They did put him up in a nice resort for a few nights, however.
Stephanie, Sadie and I drove up the mountain to see Mom and Dad's cabin. It is a brand new one, but very open and would be difficult if you struggle with noise. One the way back Steph called her mother and sister, who was about to go on the Craft Loop. They waited for her, and while they were out the visited a little tea room on the loop. Sadie and I met Mom and Dad and we played golf, then had ice cream at Baskin Robbins. We stopped at the visitor center, then went to the parkway to buy some items Brandon had forgotten. We got back about the same time as Stephanie.
Mom and Dad came over to help eat up the rest of the groceries - we had hotdogs. It was a good visit! After they went to their own cabin, we started packing. We left early the next morning and planned on a straight-home drive.
Day 6 (Saturday) - We left at 7 am and took the I-20 route home. Except for construction over the Mississippi at Vicksburg the trip was uneventful. We arrived home around 11:15, and in spite of the fact that we all left at different times (Mom and Dad at 6; us at 7; Michael and Valerie around 7:45) we all arrived within 15 miles of each other by the time we reached Athens.
It was a good trip, but certainly not long enough! Over the last few days we began receiving word of schools shutting down due to the Corona Virus panic. Spring Break just got interesting, so I am glad we had this time to travel to one of my favorite places!
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