Stephany Writes

Categories: Travel

Our Tennessee Vacation | What We Did

I’ve been back from my Tennessee vacation for three weeks now, and I’m just now getting around to finishing up my recaps. Sorry for the delay—2023 wrap-up posts took priority. I gave everyone a peek into our cabin life earlier this month, and now I’m going to show you guys the fun things we did while out and about! If you love to have the best vacation experience, then you might want to try the best things to do in St. Louis.

Horseback Riding at The Deer Farm Riding Stables

One of our first adventures in Tennessee was horseback riding! I’ve been horseback riding a few times (mostly on cruise excursions) and it’s always a good time, so I booked a reservation for the three of us on Thursday morning. It was cold that day (I think in the 40s) and I forgot my gloves at the cabin, but once we were moving and in the sun, it didn’t feel too bad. We were on a group with three young girls and our trail guide took us all around the backwoods. We went up some really steep hill and also went down those same hills, and I’m glad it was my horse that had to get me up and down them because I don’t think I would have made it! My mom was on a super slow horse who just wanted to meander and never wanted to get very close to my horse (I was in front of her), so I made up a great story about the lover’s quarrel these two horses were in. You wouldn’t believe what happened! My mom said she really loved having such a slow horse, though. It felt safe!

Smoky Mountain Deer Farm & Exotic Petting Zoo

After horseback riding, we zipped over to the exotic petting zoo located in the same farm area. I have family that goes to this petting zoo on their trips to Gatlinburg and have raved about it, so we had to give it a try! It was one of the best experiences of the trip, I think! We all got a huge cup of seeds and other random mishmash that we could feed to the animals and we also bought a bag of apples that certain animals were allowed to eat. We saw all kinds of animals here! Goats, deer, bunnies, a zebra, a horse, a camel, reindeer, cows, ostriches… and probably so many more that I’m forgetting! We were able to go into the deer area with our food, but whoa… they went crazy! I had a deer nosing into my bag of apples to take some for themselves and at one point, I was fully surrounded by the deer who wanted me to give them all of the food. Little adorable savages! We left the deer area before we totally ran out of food (although they did take all of our apples!) and were able to feed a few more animals before we were all out of the good stuff. Once we had finished giving out our food, we strolled around the area to see the other animals and then my mom and I went into the goat encampment to hang out with them. They were mainly interested in the people feeding them, though, so they didn’t give us much time of day sadly. It was a fun time and I’m glad we went!

Gatlinburg SkyPark

We spent a day in Gatlinburg, and boy was it busy there! Apparently, everyone comes to Gatlinburg for NYE—who knew?! We had a very early lunch (we planned to have a late breakfast at Crockett’s Breakfast Camp but it was a two-hour wait!) and then headed over to Gatlinburg SkyPark. We went on a very cold day (for us Florida gals—it was in the low 30s) and we had the most wonderful snow flurries so it really felt like a magical experience. We had to take a skylift over to the park, which was actually kind of scary?! IDK, I didn’t feel very safe so I just tried to stay as still as possible, haha. The park itself was wonderful! There were many different paths to traverse, including the SkyBridge, which is touted as the “longest pedestrian cable bridge in North America.” It was a pretty gray day so we didn’t get the full view of the Smokies, but it was still amazing! There were tons of photo opps, some fire pits to stay warm by, and a great shop located on the SkyDeck where I bought some souvenirs (a hoodie, Smoky Mountains mug, and Christmas ornament).

Gatlinburg Trail

There are two dog-friendly trails in the Smoky Mountains and thankfully, one of them was less than 30 minutes from our cabin! So one morning, we loaded up the dogs in the car and took them on a hike in the mountains. The trail was super smooth with only one or two uphill sections. There was a downed tree in the path at one point and it was cute to see the dogs hop over it with their little sausage legs. The dogs were definitely celebrities on the trail in their adorable winter coats, and one little girl tried to take Chip home with her, haha.

We only walked for about an hour or so; we didn’t want to tire out the dogs even though the trail is a 4-mile loop. But it was enough time to get some exercise, take some pictures, and enjoy the fresh air!

Ober Gatlinburg

We spent our last full day in Tennessee at Ober Gatlinburg, which is an amusement park that turns into a winter wonderland when the weather cools down. There’s not a ton to do here (the ski slopes are the main draw and there’s also an indoor skating rink) but I was super excited to go snow tubing for the first time ever. We took a tram up to the park, where they crammed us in with 100+ other people, and it’s a good thing we got there early because there can be a 3+ hour wait for the tram during peak time! Once at the park, we got our day pass + snow tubing tickets and then strolled around for a bit before deciding to do the mountain coaster. It was a long wait (probably an hour) and I passed the time by playing the only game on my phone that doesn’t require a phone signal, ha. (Ober Gatlinburg is a dead zone for phones.) The mountain coaster itself was super fun! I was zipping around so fast, I was scared I was going to fly off the mountain! (My mom hated it, as she mixed up how to speed and slow down the coaster in her head, so she was going AS FAST AS POSSIBLE and terrified—going at top speed would have terrified me as well!)

And then it was time for snow tubing! At first, I was really scared once I got up to the top of the slide because it looked much scarier from there than it did from below. But I calmed myself down by reminding myself of all the little kids who were doing this and I only had to do it once. If I hated it, I didn’t have to do it again. Thankfully, I loved it! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! It really wasn’t scary going down the slide and I was screaming with delight the whole way down. My mom and I ended up doing three runs total (eventually, we got super cold and needed to warm up inside—who knew that my fashion boots and Target cotton gloves weren’t going to keep me warm in the snow?!) while Robert was out there the whole time. He went down 7 times, so he definitely got his money’s worth on the snow tubing.

My mom and I got a cup of peppermint hot chocolate and found a table inside where we could rest and warm up, which was delightful!

And that’s what we did in Tennesee! There was also a visit to an indie bookstore in Gatlinburg, some yummy restaurants (including a moonshine tasting at The Calgary distillery that got me very tipsy one night), and a visit to the Apple Barn where I got to enjoy my first-ever cider tasting that was delicious! It was a wonderful vacation with my favorite people.

Have you ever been horseback riding?

Categories: Travel

Our Tennessee Vacation | Cabin Edition

The best way to start my recaps of our Tennessee vacation is to talk about our cabin. We loved our cabin. It was cozy and warm and spacious. It had all of the amenities we could have needed!

I spent hours scouring VRBO and Airbnb reviews to find our perfect mountain cabin for this vacation and when I came to this cabin’s listing, it immediately went on my favorites list because of the beautiful cabin and wonderful reviews. We were a little hesitant about the cabin when we learned there was no wifi connection, but we all have 5G on our phones and it was a strong signal, so we were fine.

We were situated in an area of Sevierville (which is a short distance from Gatlinburg) that is home to a ton of short-term rental properties (and most of them were bear-themed, as this one was). I didn’t love the twisty-turny mountain roads, that’s for sure, and I am very glad Robert was there to drive them for us. In general, it would take us almost 10 minutes to get from our cabin to the main road on an average day.

The cabin sleeps six, so there was more than enough space for the three of us (and two small dogs). I had the downstairs bedroom/bathroom and my mom/stepdad/dogs had the upstairs bedroom/bathroom. There was a spacious kitchen where Robert made more than a few meals for us. And there was a really great game room with a pool table and old-school arcade machine. On the large patio was a hot tub (we didn’t use it because the thought of being in the cold air to get into and out of the hot tub was too much for us!) and a grill that Robert used one night to make dinner. We also had a fireplace (so many kudos to Robert for being able to make a crackling fire every night and deal with the ashes the next day). Oh, and enough cannot be said about having a washer/dryer on vacation. On our last night, we stayed in and did our laundry so we came home with suitcases filled with clean clothes. AMAZING!

Here are some of the things I want to remember from this vacation and this cabin:

  • Spending the evenings reading with my mom – This is one of my most treasured memories from childhood and now I get to have the same one as an adult. Between the two of us, we finished five books on this vacation!
  • Lucy finding a squirrel nest in the tree and standing sentry by the window staring at it. She did not move from her spot for a long, long time.
  • Playing games of pool with my mom and Robert. “Chalk it up! Chalk it up!”
  • Waking up one morning, looking at my phone, and seeing “snow flurries” on my weather app. I couldn’t get outside fast enough! (There were no snow flurries at that time; they came a bit later.)
  • The way the dogs looked in their winter coats. They were so cute it hurt! (Lucy looked like a little Inspector Gadget in her khaki jacket, and I couldn’t help singing the theme song every time she wore it.)
  • Sitting outside on the patio on our first full day (it was the mildest day we would have) and reading my book while Lucy pattered around me.
  • Having a low-key day in the cabin halfway through our trip, which was so very needed and completely delightful.
  • Waking up every morning to the most beautiful views that took my breath away every time.
Categories: Travel

Charleston, SC | Day 3

Our final day in Charleston was on Sunday. Originally, we were planning on touring a plantation but my mom expressed interest in visiting the South Carolina Aquarium where they have a sea turtle rescue program. So we nixed the original plan for the new one!

We started our day around 10:30 with brunch at Virginia’s on King. I did not take any pictures here (why?!) but I had a delicious mimosa and my mom and I shared a huge cinnamon bun. I also ordered an omelet that was so, so good. Afterwards, we took a Lyft to the aquarium and spent a few hours exploring all of the different exhibits. The sea turtle exhibit was everything we wanted it to be. There were a few injured turtles swimming around in pools (they’ll be released back to the wild when they’re healed). We even got to use this interactive tool that took us through all of the different tests the aquarium does when they get an injured sea turtle to assess its condition.

The other exhibits were also very cool. Most of the animals at this aquarium have been rescued and are too injured to be released back into the wild. I love a mission like that! We saw a bald eagle, a pair of frolicking river otters, birds, fish, sharks, and more sea turtles. At the end of our visit, we got to feed sting rays! It was only $5 to feed them and it was very fun/weird. (There’s a video on my Instagram with my mom feeding a sting ray so you can see what it’s like!) It’s very slimy and slobbery!

After spending a few hours at the aquarium, we headed over to Rainbow Row. We kept seeing images of Rainbow Row when we were at the market the day before, and my mom thought I really needed to experience them in all their beautiful glory. I’m so glad she did! Rainbow Row is a cluster of Georgian row houses, some of which date back to the early 1700s! (They were originally built in the 1670s but a fire destroyed most of them until they were rebuilt.) The term Rainbow Row was coined because of the beautiful pastel colors they were painted in the 1930s and 1940s.

We meandered our way through Charleston after our rainbow excursion. We stopped into a bar for a mid-walk drink, and we would later learn during our ghost tour that it’s the most haunted bar in Charleston! Unfortunately, no ghost sightings or weird happenings for us.

Then, we finally found our next exciting destination: Buxton Books! I mean, if there’s an indie bookstore within walking distance of my hotel, I must find it, right? Yes. This was a fairly small indie and they were having an author event that day so it was really busy. (I wasn’t familiar with the author – Victoria Benton Frank – but I think I have read at least one novel by her mother, Dorothea Benton Frank, who has since passed away.) I left with a few books (Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan) and some stickers.

After our bookstore excursion, we continued our walk back to our hotel but did take a gelato pit stop, which was much needed! (The gelato wasn’t great—it was kind of gritty?—but it was fine for what I needed it to be.) And then it was home sweet hotel room, finally! I was so happy to plop my sweaty, smelly body on my bed!

We didn’t have a huge chunk of time before our dinner reservations, especially because I wanted to take a shower before we went out, so I mainly read my book and played games on my phone before getting ready.

We had dinner at Well Hung Vineyard, which was mainly chosen because of its close proximity to the ghost tour location. Our plan was to share this delicious-sounding pesto pasta dish along with a flatbread pizza, but the server informed us that they were all out of pesto and couldn’t serve us the pasta dish. Wah! Instead, we both ordered pizza but my mom’s was almost inedible for her, so it was a big, ole wash. (I enjoyed my pizza a lot, however!)

And then it was time for the ghost tour! We opted to do a carriage ghost tour rather than a walking one because we are princesses who wanted a tour that didn’t involve a ton of walking. Ha. I really enjoyed doing the ghost tour this way, though! The tour guide told us that the horse who was taking us around the city was a former Amish mule who was used to doing much more laborious tasks than walking around with a carriage. (I’m choosing to believe him!) I’ve said before that the best ghost tours also function as history lessons and our tour guide did such a great job at marrying both subjects. I felt like I learned a lot about the city but also was sufficiently creeped out by some of the stories.

The ghost tour was about 45 minutes long, which was the perfect length. We finished around 9 p.m., headed back to our hotel, and packed up. Our flight back to Tampa was leaving in the morning!

Thoughts on Charleston: I really enjoyed visiting Charleston! I don’t know if I would ever visit it again, but I’m glad we picked this destination for a quick weekend trip for my mom’s birthday. Most people compare Charleston and Savannah and I must say that I much prefer Savannah. (That’s a city I could visit over and over and over again.)

NOTES

Categories: Travel

Charleston, SC | Day 2

Day 2 in Charleston was my mom’s birthday! Yay! We had big plans for this day, so we were up and at ’em early.

My mom and I stopped at the Starbucks in our hotel for a quick breakfast before taking a Lyft to the harbor for our tour of Fort Sumter. You have to take a ferry ride to Fort Sumter since it’s not accessible by car/foot. The ferry ride takes about 30 minutes and one of the park rangers gave us a history lesson about the fort on the way there. Some facts about the fort:

  • In 1861, it was where the Civil War began with the Battle of Fort Sumter.
  • Most of the fort was built by enslaved men, women, and children. You can still see their fingerprints on some of the bricks.
  • The fort was supposed to be built within 15 years but it took more than 30 years and was still never fully completed.
  • When it was originally used, the fort’s walls were much higher than they are today. The fort was decimated during the Civil War and the damaged walls were re-leveled to a lower height.

We were the first tour group of the day, so we got to witness the raising of the flag. It was pretty neat! What I didn’t like is that the park ranger spent a good 20ish minutes continuing his history spiel when we were in the direct sunlight and BAKING on black concrete. I love listening to history, but not when it’s 90+ degrees outside, super humid, and the sun is directly in my eyes. I think all of us were grateful when he finished.

We were given about 45 minutes to explore the fort, and the first thing my mom and I did was escape into the air-conditioned museum to cool down. They had tons of artifacts and history in this museum, but it’s also tinged with the knowledge that these were Confederate soldiers/artifacts, so it feels a bit squicky at the same time. Then again, it’s a part of our history nonetheless and pretending it doesn’t exist doesn’t help anyone.

After we had sufficiently cooled down in the museum, we walked around the outside of the fort, viewing the cannons and seeing the way the fort might have looked at the time it was in regular use. One of the park rangers also pointed out the destruction of part of the fort by a cannonball.

We took the ferry back to Charleston and got a Lyft to the Charleston City Market, which was a little over a mile southeast of the harbor. First, though, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at Henry’s on the Market. I wish we had more time to explore this restaurant as it’s the longest-running one in Charleston, but alas. We were mainly there for sustenance. We ordered a chicken fingers appetizer and two drinks (I got a rum punch that was delicious!), which satisfied both of us. There was this interesting dog competition playing on one of the TVs and when I tell you that the whole bar was engaged in this competition… we were riveted!

After lunch, we spent the next few hours walking up and down all the stalls at the Charleston City Market. There was so much to see here! There was local art, jewelry, touristy tchotchkes, clothing, food, pet items, and on and on and on. I spent a bit too much money here and bought:

  • A gorgeous print of Rainbow Row
  • Two wood bookmarks (one to give to Elizabeth)
  • A Christmas ornament
  • Stickers for my water bottle
  • A magnet for my fridge
  • Two coasters with my beloved Miami Dolphins insignia

There was so much more I wanted to buy (so many beautiful handmade earrings that I was so tempted by!), but I had to stop myself at a certain point. Eventually, we left the market and made our way back to our hotel. It was around 3 p.m. at this point and our dinner reservations weren’t until 7:15, so we both had nice, long naps before taking showers and getting all fancy for dinner.

We had dinner at Oak Steakhouse, which is situated inside a historic bank building that dates back to 1848. There are a few locations around the southeastern U.S., but none in Florida, so this felt like an extra-special treat for us. We enjoyed our meals, although I wouldn’t say it was the best steak I’ve ever had. But the mashed potatoes we got to go along with our steaks were top-notch. So creamy and delicious! We capped off the evening with dessert—layered chocolate cake and a peanut butter pie. I couldn’t tell you which one I enjoyed more!

After dinner, we tried to go to a nearby dueling piano bar but the cover charge was a little steep for us and it was standing room only, so we nixed that plan in favor of walking back to the hotel, getting in our jammies, and playing a round of Yahtzee. We know how to party!

NOTES

Categories: Travel

Charleston, SC | Day 1

 

We had an early flight out of Tampa on Friday morning (7am) and flew for the first time on Silver Airways. (We booked through United, but I didn’t read the fine print that we would be flying on one of their sister airlines.) I’m not someone who gets nervous about flying, but I was a little anxious about using this airline since it’s a small, regional airline that doesn’t even have an app you can use to check in! Plus, the plane is so small that you get on straight from the tarmac. (There were 12 rows with four seats per row.) But all went well and we arrived in Charleston at 9am.

While discussing the convenience of hotel locations, another factor that plays a significant role is the accessibility to local attractions. One of the best examples I’ve encountered in this regard is the https://www.mandolay.com/. Perfectly situated in Guildford, it allows easy access to a variety of local sites and activities, making it an ideal choice for those looking to explore the area. The blend of convenience and quality here is unparalleled.

We took a Lyft to our hotel and were shocked that we were able to get our hotel room so early! We were thinking we’d have to wait until at least 3 or 4 to get our room. We dropped our luggage off and then walked to a nearby diner for breakfast. The biscuits were as big as my face! Breakfast truly hit the spot.

The only activity we had planned for Friday was a harbor tour but it wasn’t until 1:30pm, so we went back to our hotel room where we conked out for an hour and a half, which was much needed!

The harbor tour was a fun way to get a feel for the city. You get a little history, a little architecture talk, and beautiful views of the Charleston harbor. There is inside and outside seating and a bar where you can order (very expensive) drinks. It was a great way to kick off our Charleston adventure.

Some interesting facts I learned on the tour:

  • There’s an abandoned island off Charleston that was used to hang pirates.
  • Charleston’s port is one of the busiest in the U.S.
  • You can take a cruise from the Port of Charleston, but they are preparing to redo that area of the harbor and will shut down all cruising while construction is happening. They may or may not reopen the port for cruises.
  • Sullivan’s Island is one of the most expensive places to live in the southeast US and is reportedly where Reese Witherspoon lives. (We did not see Reese during our visit, unfortunately.)

After the tour, we headed to a local indie bookstore—Blue Bicycle Books—which had such a cute setup. At first, I thought it was a very small one-room bookstore with just a handful of books, but my mom showed me a hallway that leads to all of these interesting rooms. There were 3 or 4 different rooms off the hallway that held more books. There was a fun children’s room, a history room, and more. It was one of those bookstores that just kept going and going and going! I ended up buying a book (Just Us by Claudia Rankine) and a t-shirt.

We went back to the hotel after our bookstore excursion and got inside just as it started pouring rain. Good timing! We chilled in the hotel room until the storm was over and then headed out to Rusty Bull Brewing Co. for dinner. I had a cider that wasn’t very good but the meal itself was delicious! They also had games you could play, so my mom and I challenged each other to Phase 10 while we ate.

And then it was back to the hotel where I took a shower (I was so gross and sweaty and sticky) and then read my book in bed until I was sleepy.

NOTES