Our trip to the Smoky Mountains has been in the works for 19 years. Yeah, seems like a long time to plan for a trip, doesn't it? In April 2000, Matt & I traveled to the Smoky Mtns for our first vacation - it just happened to be right around our anniversary! After spending a week in the Smokies, we knew that we would be back someday...with our kids. We never anticipated that it would be almost 20 years later though!
We planned this trip with Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) being one of our first destinations. If you've followed our adventures at all, you know that this would be the first of many stops.
We rolled out of bed and hit the road at 0300. Yes, it was still very dark out! As we plan our trips, it always sounds good (in theory and on paper) to get as much of the boring drive done during early morning hours (IL/IA/IN). As we roll out of bed and in to the van, the idea doesn't seem quite as good!
We had a lot of miles to cover the first day - our destination for the night was Knoxville, TN.
As much as I'd love to say we all slept (except for Matt of course!), none of us did. We were all pretty excited and one child...not naming names...talked incessantly the whole time! I think we finally called for the Quiet Game! lol
We were amazed by God's beautiful display of color for the sunrise that morning. It was like a fire across the sky!
As the sun rose higher in the sky, the clouds continued to dazzle!
Our first stop on the day was in Louisville, KY. Home of the Louisville Slugger! The museum has a huge bat outside the building - holy bat, batman!
Also outside of the museum, we found metal bats (Maddie's trying to steal one here, I think!) and home plates with lots of baseball trivia. It was fun to look around during our quick stop. We didn't do the museum (I asked the kids if they wanted to go in to the gift shop but none were interested) - just there long enough to get some photos and see the big bat!
While in Louisville, we stopped at Cave Hill Cemetery to visit the gravesites of Muhammad Ali and Colonel Sanders (when we looked up pictures of the monuments online, there was a KFC bucket on Col. Sanders grave!). What a beautiful cemetery! If you ever get a chance to visit Louisville, stop at this cemetery.
Our last stop in Louisville was at Churchill Downs, home of the The Kentucky Derby!
Again, no museum tour. We tend to shy away from museums due to time constraints & finances. We enjoyed walking around the grounds though. It was very bright and very hot!
Lexington, KY - Thoroughbred Park
We had fun at this quick stop! Again, it was very hot so we didn't stick around too long. We were surprised to find this gem in the middle of a busy downtown area! To see pictures of the park, you'd think it was outside city limits with lots of open fields surrounding it!
We found lunch - we had originally planned to eat at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken. Because, you know, why not? As we were leaving Lexington, we realized that we wouldn't be eating for a few more hours if we waited to eat in Corbin (KFC). We opted to find a place in Lexington (even looked for a KFC with no luck). After a much needed refueling break, we were on the road again, heading south along Daniel Boone National Forest. We stopped in Corbin to see the Museum/Sanders Cafe.
We hopped back in the van and headed to Cumberland Falls State Park.
Before the trip, I found our scanned pictures of our first trip to the Smokies. It was fun to look through the few pictures we had and comparing them to what we hoped to see / do while on our vacation. Stopping at Cumberland Falls was a last minute decision on the way home during our first trip. We were so happy to show the kids this little spot! If you are ever in the area during a full moon, be sure to stop and take in the Moonbow. We literally missed it by a few days.
Here are 2 then/now pictures. One of the Falls and one of Matt (we were going off memory as to how Matt posed...not too bad, all things (our memories!) considered).
We came across this picture once we got home. I love Matt's expression behind Will. I believe he is playing out a "Napoleon Dynamite" scene.
We loaded back in to the van and finished the last two hours of our drive for the day. The scenery continued to get more and more breathtaking!
After checking in to our hotel and finding dinner, we all quickly fell asleep - looking forward to what the next day had in store - The Smoky Mountains!
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