Webb Family Vacation 2009

On Thursday afternoon we headed out of town for Payton's first Webb family vacation.  We hit the road around 3:00 and headed west on I-26 for Gatlinburg, TN.  Chad's family had already left Yadkin County and would be anxiously awaiting our arrival.  

I must admit I had never had the pleasure of traveling to the beautiful city of Gatlinburg and was not exactly sure what to expect.  We had heard a few different descriptions.  Chad previously joked that our honeymoon would be spent in Gatlinburg and at Dollywood.  Thankfully, we went to Aruba.  My friend Holly LOVES Dollywood.  She also LOVES Dolly Parton so that may explain the previous statement.  Several people I work with claimed Gatlinburg was beautiful, others turned up their nose at my vacation plans, and others compared Gatlinburg to Myrtle Beach of the Mountains.   I am happy to report that we really enjoyed our time in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville.  I do see the similarities between Gatlinburg and Myrtle Beach but I would consider returning.  There were several things I would still like to do in the Great Smoky Mountains.

More importantly, we had a wonderful time with Meme and Pawpaw, Aunt Chandra, Uncle Allen and Calyn and Carson.  Payton was spoiled by everyone and had his fair share of attention nearly every minute of the day.  He stayed up extra late and missed a few naps but overall he did great.  

We arrived late Thursday night and headed to a late dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company - yes, we were the tourists this time!  Carson loves Bubba Gumps and we always make excuses to keep us from eating at the Downtown location when they are here so we owed him one.  The shrimp and onion rings were actually very tasty and Payton loved his chicken tenders, orange slice and blue jello!  

Payton was up until about 11:30 on Thursday night.

Unfortunately, he didn't choose to sleep in on Friday.  Friday morning we started our day at the Log Cabin Pancake house across from the hotel.  Gatlinburg is apparently big on pancakes.  There is a pancake house on every corner.  I had waffles but I heard the pancakes were tasty.  Payton enjoyed a large serving of blueberry silver dollar pancakes and whipped topping.  After our "welcome" breakfast, we headed out to Dollywood.  

We hit the County Fair kid's rides first.  This was Payton's first amusement park and first ever ride.  His first ride was on the pigs, followed by the bumble bees and then the ducks.  He enjoyed "driving" with the steering wheels.  Later, we hit the carousel and he held tight to the "horsey" for the ride.  I attempted to get him to take a nap in his stroller without much luck.  Through the day the adults hit various attractions.  The water rides and water attractions provided the most laughter.  We all got a pretty soaked at the end of the day on the rapids.  Payton enjoyed playing in the water sprinklers with Calyn.  After his play time, he finally decided to take a nap.  Meme and Pawpaw stayed with Payton so we could finish off the day with a few rides.  My clothes would have stayed dry had I stayed with him instead!  After a long day at Dollywood, we headed back to get dry clothes and headed out to dinner.  Payton was up late again and enjoyed a little ice cream with mommy!

Saturday we headed out early for Dollywood's Splash Country, the water park.  I was concerned about how Payton would do outside in the sun but he did great.  He enjoyed a nap with Meme on the lazy river in the morning and a nap on Pawpaw chest in the afternoon.  

In between naps he enjoyed playing in the water and going down the small slide with mommy.  Part of us attempted every attraction.  Chad, Allen and Calyn did everything - including the water slide that dropped straight down.  We had a great time acting like kids with Calyn and Carson.  Saturday night we had a wonderful meal at the Alamo Steakhouse.  

Sunday we celebrated Chandra and Allen's 12th Anniversary at Dollywood.  I know they dreamed of spending their 12th anniversary with all of us and Calyn and Carson at Dollywood.  How romantic!  We had purchased tickets that allowed for entry for 3 days so we took the opportunity to hit a few more kids rides and the Dollywood train.  Payton loved to hear the steam engine and made his "shocked" face every time he heard the choo-choo.  We also rode the flying elephants and the carousel again.  Pawpaw made his debut on the sings on Friday but decided to step it up a notch on Sunday.  He rode the Twister with Calyn and Carson.  We ended our day in Dollywood early and headed to a wonderful lunch at the Old Mill restaurant....corn fritters with maple butter...yum yum!  Have you noticed the trend...we ate a lot....and then had desert!  

Sunday afternoon we all packed into the car and headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and into Cade's Cove.  Cade's Cove is an 11 mile loop where it is common to see wildlife including deer and black bears.  We saw our 1st black bear before entering Cade's Cove, we spotted another in Cade's Cove and we got to watch one eat after we left Cade's Cove.  We also saw several deer and wild turkey.  It was very interesting.  We all loved being able to see the black bear up close.  

Monday was made for shopping.  Our day including a trip to the world's largest knife store (yes, dad they had lots of Case knives and a museum!), headed to lunch at the Apple Barn....so GOOD!!...and then on to the outlet mall.  I started off by saying I would only need a little over an hour to shop because I didn't need anything other than a few pairs of PJ's for Payton.  We ended up spending the most and taking the longest!  I got a very nice birthday present and Chad got a pretty big father's day gift...or at least that is the best way to rationalize the spending!  

We ended the night with a great meal, swimming at the hotel, and a little more family time before starting to pack up and head to bed.  

We ended our trip on a good note...the Log Cabin Pancake house!  It was great to spend 5 days with Chad's family.  We were already talking about Webb Family Vacation 2010.  Our last family vacation was in the fall of 2005 so hopefully we won't have to wait another 4 years!  Payton loved every minute of every day.  He loves all the special attention he gets especially from Calyn and Carson.  

I'll post pictures of each day individually.