gallivanting around Gatlinburg

We had a lengthy list of places to visit while we lived here but as usual, time got away from us and we've only visited 1/3 of the places. This week we visited Gatlinburg and crossed one more place off our list.
 
I found a hotel deal on Groupon and congratulated myself for being so thrifty. I learned that Groupon is hit or miss with hotels and this one was almost a miss. I think the room we got was a smoking allowed room in days of yore. Days of yore being last month. The stench was not pleasant. Within a half hour of arrival,we got a call from the realtor alerting us to some problems with the house we were trying to rent, I found an ant in the bathtub and Sesame fell and smacked her head of the toilet. She had an indent the size of the Grand Canyon on her forehead. If it hadn't taken five hours to get there I would have gone home and never attempted vacation again. This hasn't exactly been a great traveling year for us.
 
The next morning we went to a petting farm. Annabelle was reunited with one of her top three favorite animals- goats. I don't know what it is about goats but she's liked them every since she was six months old. She has the time of her life when she's with animals.

 

When we got to the farm we were given a crash course on animal safety and how to feed the camel so he didn't bite off our fingers. The man said, "Camels like things that are small and shiny. Keep in mind that your child's eyes are small and shiny." Nothing screams "Welcome to a fun place for your kids!" like bringing them to a place where their eyes might be taken out by a camel. He also made a big deal about the deer being gentle and shy creatures. Meek and gentle, my foot. About as gentle as a pack of starving dogs fighting over one bone. The second they saw our cup of food they charged over like a swarm of bees. I'll never look at deer the same way again.

This is my "I just got stepped on by a deer" look. I didn't know I have that look in my repertoire.

That afternoon we walked around the downtown area. I've always liked those old timey photos and convinced Christopher we should seize the opportunity and have one taken that day. There is no time like the present to dress up in clothes worn by an untold number of strangers before you. The lady taking the picture told Christopher not to smile and it cracked me up because she really didn't need to tell him that. Having his picture taken is not his idea of a good time and he isn't smiling in most of our pictures. 

 The moral of this picture is that I need to make Annabelle headbands with feathers.

I liked visiting the downtown area but I loved the mountains.

I'll be a perfectly happy camper if someone Christopher ever wants to buy me a mountain by the beach.