Frozen Waterfalls

 On our last day in the Smokies, we decided to do two short waterfall hikes.  The first stop was Soco Falls, which was located right off of the main highway between Maggie Valley and Cheorkee, NC.  We arrived at the first viewing platform to discover that the falls were mostly frozen over.  There was still some water running, but not much.  I have never seen a frozen waterfall before, and it was beautiful. 

After a bite to eat and a quick stop at the Smokey Mountain Visitor's Center to get our national parks passport stamped, we traveled to the Mingo Falls trailhead.  This was another short hike, and when we reached the falls we saw that they were also frozen over.  The frozen Mingo Falls were tall and impressive.  Seeing these falls was a nice way to end our winter trip to the Smokies. 

Snow Skiing

While we were in Maggie Valley we went snow skiing.  None of us had ever been skiing before.  We chose the Cataloochee Ski Area because it was the closest ski lodge to our home.  We didn't want to go far and spend a lot of money skiing only to discover that we disliked it.  Not a problem- we all had a blast and want to do it again.

 We arrived around noon and purchased a lift ticket that would be good for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We did not know anything about the process of buying the tickets, picking up the rental equipment, putting on the boots, etc..; everyone who worked there was super helpful and made sure that we got what we needed.  After getting suited up, we went to our ski lesson.  The kids went with the kid group for their lesson, and Brian and I went with the adult group.  If there was an award for worst in the class, Brian and I would have tied for it.  We were on the struggle bus during our whole lesson.  I couldn't stop or control where I was going at all.  At one point I even ran into the magic carpet lift that was taking skiers up the hill.  Brian had skis that were too small for him and he couldn't stop either.  After an hour and a half of instruction, I did not feel like I had gotten any better.



The kids, on the other hand, were doing pretty well after their lesson.  They were able to control themselves and stop way better than we were.  We decided to try a "real" hill (it was still a green circle). Brian and Owen did great.  They went down twice in a row, and neither one fell on the second go.  I was by far the worst in our party.  I fell five times on the first go- one time running into the pole that holds up the lines for the ski lift.  I got so tired of falling that I finally took my skis off and just walked down the mountain.  Olivia had fallen a bit on the first go as well, so us girls decided to go back to the practice hill and practice some more.  Once we returned to the practice hill I felt like we were finally getting the hang of it.  We skied for several hours.  It was getting dark by the time we left.  Before leaving though, Olivia and I wanted another go at the "real" trail.  She did pretty well the second go round.  I did just as bad as I had the first time and once again ended up walking off the trail. 

Even though I was terrible at skiing, I still want to go again.  I think that this is a thing like swimming or skating where everyone is terrible when they first start but can improve with practice.  That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Christmas at the Biltmore

Everyone says that the Biltmore is beautiful at Christmas.  As luck would have it, our cabin was only about an hour from Asheville, so we made a daytrip to see the Biltmore at its finest.

 Before touring the house we had lunch at the Stable Cafe.  The kids and I had eaten here before when we went with my parents, and we wanted to make a return visit.  This restaurant is cool because it is in the old horse stable.  We sat in a booth that use to be a horse stall.  I like this restaurant because of the historic and unique atmosphere, but the food is also very good.  Everyone enjoyed their meal.

 After lunch we entered the house for our self-guided tour.  We decided not to do the audio tour, and we really didn't need it because there were workers in most rooms who were happy to answer your questions.  Some of our favorite rooms were the winter garden, the banquet hall, and the library.  It was also neat to see where the servants slept and worked.  The house had the whole upstairs/downstairs Downton Abbey thing going on.  You could see passages where the servants would go so that they could do their jobs without being "seen".  The opulence of the house cannot be overstated.  It is lavish.

 Early January turned out to be a great time to visit because the house was still decorated for the Christmas season, but the crowds were virtually non-existent.  The Christmas decorations included 55 decorated Christmas trees, the largest tree of which was 35 feet tall.

This was the first visit for Brian and Barb.  They were both impressed.

Included in our price admission was a free wine tasting at the Biltmore Winery.  The winery is located on property at the site of the old dairy farm.  We tried a few different types of wine.  Some of it was better than others.  The kids had grape juice.  They were excited that there was something there for them. 

Tallulah Gorge

On our way to North Carolina, we passed Tallulah Gorge State Park.  I have always wanted to visit this park, and we had extra time so we pulled over.  We hiked the North Rim Trail to the suspension bridge and back.  It was a short hike (1.5 miles total), but there were a lot of stairs so it was challenging.  The gorge was beautiful and was a  nice little pit stop. 

Maggie Valley

We spent part of the first week of January in the Smoky Mountains. We rented a cabin in Maggie Valley, which is on the North Carolina side of the national park.  We've only stayed on the Tennessee side in the past, and we found the North Carolina area to be far less developed and more quaint than the Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge area. Brian's dad and Barb drove from Delaware to stay with us. It was really cold all week.  I don't think the temperature was ever above freezing.   Even though it was cold, we still had a great time and did a lot of fun things.

Out With The Old, In With The New

Our Wild Adventures season passes have now expired.  We usually only get them every other year, but due to the kids having field trips to this park in back-to-back years, we were pass holders for both 2016 and 2017.  We have had a great time riding the rides, seeing the animals, and visiting the water park in the summer.  We even saw Andy Grammer and the Harlem Globetrotters here.  It is unlikely that we will visit in 2018, so we wanted to give our local park a proper farewell.  We attended the Christmas in the Park event to get one more go at our favorite attractions.  We also completed a scavenger hunt because we heard that they were going to draw a name from all completed scavenger hunt forms and the winner would get four 5-year season passes.  To complete the scavenger hunt, we had to locate four hidden hearts in the park.  We were given clues to help us locate the hearts.  It took us a while, but we found them all.  Who knows?  Maybe we'll win the drawing and get the 5-year passes.  Fingers crossed.

Since we won't be Wild Adventures pass holders this year, we decided to try getting Six Flags season passes.  The kids and I are in Atlanta several times a year with robotics competitions, so we would have the opportunity to visit enough times to justify the cost.  We can also use the passes at any Six Flags park, so we could visit others when we travel in the spring and summer.  Even though the passes are good at any park, the first visit has to be to your home park.  The kids and I picked up our passes after a robotics competition in November, but Brian did not have his yet.  He had a few days off after New Year's, so we headed to Atlanta to get his pass.  We arrived on the next-to-last operating day of the season, and it was below freezing temperature.  While there, we rode the Georgia Scorcher. The frigid air hitting our skin did not feel the best, so we decided that maybe we should put off riding the other coasters until the park reopens in the spring.  It's going to be fun.