If you’ve been following along for awhile, you likely know that I love traveling, and I love the south! So, I was pretty pumped when it came time to travel to the Smoky Mountains for Labor Day Weekend this year. Growing up, we didn’t have big plans on Labor Day Weekend. We likely went to a cookout, and I probably stayed up until midnight {I know, crazy plans! 😉 } In recent years, Hayden and I have put some actual planning in LDW, and it’s made it a lot of fun. This year, Hayden’s family decided to stay in Gatlinburg. I LOVE Tennessee, and my family often visited the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/ Sevierville area growing up. I was excited to be back and visit some places I still hadn’t been too!

Hayden and I drove from St. Louis to East Tennessee late Friday night and arrived early Saturday morning. I’ll admit, it was tiring, but it felt good to have two full days to spend in the mountains. Hayden and I are all about maximizing our time on vacation. We got up early Saturday morning {saw a bear outside our condo!!!!} and traveled to Cades Cove. It was suppose to rain all weekend, and we figured this would be a safe plan. If it rained, we’d just drive through the park and look out, but if it was nice, we’d stop along the way and take photos. Praise the Lord, it barely rained at all the entire trip! I hadn’t been to Cades Cove in awhile, and I forgot how gorgeous it is! It definitely takes a while to get through the entire loop, but it’s an easy sight-seeing excursion. On our way back to the condo, we stopped in Gatlinburg, and we walked the main strip. There are soo many shops, and you can spend a lot of time just looking around. For dinner, we went to one of my FAVORITE restaurants, The Old Mill. It’s such a fun experience, and I love how much food they give you! I actually split a plate with Hayden, and we were both extremely full! For dessert, we picked up a few gallons of Blue Bell ice cream. If you haven’t had this ice cream – YOU ARE MISSING OUT.

We got up early on Sunday morning and traveled 30 minutes up the mountain to Grotto Falls. It was an easy hike with a big waterfall at the end. The trail itself was pretty uneven, but if you’re looking for a short route, I recommend this one! Once we finished hiking, we headed back to the condo, changed our clothes, and jumped back into the car. We headed to the main event of the weekend – White Water Rafting! We rafted with the company Smoky Mountain Outdoors, and we had an incredible guide – Sean. I’ve never been rafting before, so I was a bit worried about it, but it was so much fun. Plus, Sean told us that he is also an EMT so I felt safe knowing he was guiding us! After our trip, Sean told us about a trail that led to a big jump off just a few miles away. We made our way to the Midnight Hole Falls (it’s off the Big Creek Trailhead in North Carolina). It was a long mile and half walk, but it was a lot of fun! The water was literally FREEZING. I didn’t feel like freezing for the hour drive home, so I took pictures and videos while Hayden and his cousins jumped off. The jump off is only about 10-15 feet, but the water is nearly 40 ft deep. We relaxed at the condo with tacos, more ice cream, a game of Ticket to Ride and Catan, and the first ever Klockenga Lip Sync Battle {luckily those videos will remain offline}.

Everyone was up early Monday morning to load the cars and head home. First, we stopped for a big breakfast at Crockett’s Breakfast Camp. It was amazing, and I will definitely be visiting on our next trip back!

I decided to keep my camera put away for most of the trip since we were around water so much, but here are a few of the photos I took on my “real” camera. The mountains sure are gorgeous!!

xoxo,

This adorable mug is from Keri Christine, and you can get 10% OFF your order with the code HALEY10. I love it, and plan to use it ALL winter. Gorgeous views from our trip to Cades Cove! Out to dinner at The Old Mill!Had to snap a few of Hayden’s parents – they’re celebrating 25 years of marriage this December. The view from our balcony!! OH MY GOSH. I realize all of these mountain pictures look very similar, but I just love them all!!