the Paladinos

The kids are currently out on their 2 week Fall break for our year round school.  To me this is the biggest perk of year round school.  It’s my favorite month of the year with beautiful weather, changing  trees and fall clothes (aka no more shorts weather!!).  And a great time of year to take a vacation.  I’ve been telling Michael that we need to go somewhere during the fall break for about a year.  BUT I hate planning vacations.  I don’t know why but I put it off as long as possible.  Which this year was literally the week before we left.  We knew we wanted to go somewhere outdoorsy where we could enjoy the fall foliage and see some out of the norm wildlife.  So I asked some girlfriends for recommendations and one suggested Gatlinburg.  So off we went! 

It’s a 12 hour drive which we broke up into 2 days.  By far the longest road trip we’ve ever taken.  We went the scenic route which again was decided the night before with little research or thought.  It ended up working out perfectly though.  We stopped when we wanted to or needed to and just took our time. 

When we crossed the TN border we saw a sign for Patti’s 1880’s Settlement and thought we would pull off and check it out.  It ended up being the cutest/oddest little village and we stayed for a few hours.  They had antique stores, a boutique, mini zoo, a few other shops and an amazing restaurant with huge meringue pies.  One of my favorite desserts!!  It was a great start to our vacation!

A little harbor across the street.

Mmmm!