Gatlinburg Tennessee: Where Floridians Go for their Winter Experience

After Christmas in Delaware, Blaine and I hopped on a plane the very next day. We were meeting up my family in the touristy town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee this year, instead of going down to Miami. My aunt has been visiting Gatlinburg every year for New Years for the past 6 years. For some while now, she's been trying to get the whole family to go with her. We finally made it happen this year. We had a great time. The cabin that we stayed at was super cute. It had a very cozy feel and was very spacious. I don't remember exactly what we did everyday in order but here's some of the things that we did:

• Visited the Smoky Mountains

• Had Krispy Kreme donuts everyday (yes, we have a problem).
• Rode the Alpine Slide

The Alpine Slide was a lot of fun. Damaris went first than me in line and she was going extremely slow so that I could catch up. I was laughing the whole time. 

• Ice-skated

• Made s'mores using a fireplace

• Ghetto stockings. I say ghetto because we had to use Christmas hats as some of our stockings. We forgot to bring enough for the whole family. Also, this is the first time that my family did stockings. The whole thing was pretty much Damaris and I trying to force the tradition in our family. It's not a Hispanic thing. But we love the idea of stockings!

• Mini-golf
• Laser tag
• Glow in the dark mini-golf
• Go-kart racing. This was a lot of fun. Even Tia joined us!
• Laser maze. Ok, so all the boys in the family did the laser maze. No big deal. Before Blaine went I told him "Be careful. Don't get hurt!" I was kinda joking, since Blaine always gets hurt doing anything. But I honestly didn't think anybody could possibly get hurt in a laser maze. He went inside and was going super fast through the maze. He was trying to beat Papo's score. All of a sudden, we heard a loud thump. When Blaine came outside, he was bleeding from a rug burn on his forehead and was worried about his teeth. Luckily, his teeth were fine. BUT he did get a concussion. For those of you who know Blaine, this is concussion number 11. Yeah, 11. So we were all pretty worried. He hit a wall while diving through two lasers and since the room was all black, he had poorly estimated how far the wall was from him. Anyway, Papo took us back to the cabin and was really helpful in making Blaine feel better. I think Blaine should just walk around with a permanent helmet from now on.

This is Blaine fully recovered a day or two after the concussion. 

• Walked around downtown....a lot and ate really yummy sausages

• Visited Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum

• Went to Olive Garden & celebrated Papo's 17th birthday!

• Ate at Texas Roadhouse on New Year's Eve
• Ate the most delicious donuts (on top of our Krispy Kreme dose) and the most amazing hot chocolate ever at The Donut Friar on New Year's Eve. Seriously, if you ever go to Gatlinburg, this is a must-go-to place.

Gatlinburg was really nice. I loved it. You can get the cabiny, mountain feel but also have tons of stuff to do. It's not like you're in the middle of nowhere. The shops and restaurants in downtown Gatlinburg were endless. There were also a ton of attractions and things to do. I would definitely go back. It'd be a nice place to go for a summer vacation.

While we were there, Blaine couldn't believe how many cars had Florida license plates. As a result, there were also a good amount of Hispanics from Miami in Gatlinburg. Every year my aunt goes, she runs into someone she knows. I think it's funny that it's the winter getaway for Floridians. Gatlinburg was pretty packed. But I don't mind that. I like going to places where there are a lot of people. Anyway, the poor Floridians didn't see a lot of snow this year. If you wanted to see snow, you had to go up to the Smoky Mountains. My aunt said that this was the first time in her 6 years of going where the town hasn't been completed covered in snow.

Mami was intent on making a snowman.

It was so great to spend time with family, even though it was only for a week. We opened our Christmas presents from my family. I got a Kindle Fire, Flowerbomb perfume (best perfume ever), a Tiffany & Co. heart pendant, and a NorthFace Apex jacket. Blaine got a matching NorthFace Apex jacket, some seriously delicious cologne (best cologne ever for men), and a Miami Heat cap. We absolutely loved all our gifts. But we enjoyed our family's company more than anything. Bruce didn't join us till Friday evening so we didn't get to spend too much time with him. That was the lamest part of the trip. We love Bruce! Now, unfortunately, my sister's camera with all of the beautiful pics of Gatlinburg was stolen. I didn't take many pictures. The only pictures that I do have are from Blaine's little sport camera and my iPhone. It does no justice to how much fun we had and how beautiful Gatlinburg is. We definitely have to go back and do it all over again! One thing that we didn't do was have pancakes. Apparently, pancakes are all the rave in Gatlinburg. I've never seen so many pancake restaurants in my life. On their drive back down to Florida, my family went to one and had a pizza-size pancake. They said it was the most delicious pancake they've ever had. So yeah, now I really want to go back.

I really enjoyed just being with family. It was nice feeling the comfort and love that comes with family. We laughed, talked, ate too much, and just messed around. Mami did my hair almost everyday, just like when I was elementary school. Ulises didn't stop talking about food and Krispy Kreme donuts. Uli and Yuyo didn't leave Blaine alone. Papo was his usual funny and hyper-self. The girl talk with Tia and Damaris was endless. Something's never change!

Blaine caught us both on the phone. He said now he knows where I get it from.

New Year's wasn't our typical Hispanic New Year's. There wasn't crazy dancing and yummy food. We were all dead tired from walking around so much and just watched the fireworks from the cabin. We fell asleep pretty early, especially since we were all traveling the next day. The only thing that we did do was eat the 12 grapes within the first minute of 2012. It has always been tradition to do that. Each grape represents one month of the new year. If you can eat them all in one minute, you are guaranteed to have good luck throughout the new year! Another crazy tradition that we do (but didn't do this time around) is taking luggage and running around the block. If you do this, you will travel a lot in the new year. Our first New Year's together, Blaine participated in all these crazy traditions. He said that he believes in the traveling one cause we did travel a lot in 2010! Haha. But anyway, we had a great time celebrating New Year's with my family. Now I'm just waiting for the next time I see them. Hopefully, it'll be this summer! :)