Fall Trip to TN 11-09

What a weekend. My sister-in-law, Brenda was going to Tennessee to celebrate her Mom’s (Gladys) ninety-third birthday and I decided to go to see my daughter, Angie and granddaughters. I didn’t think I’d be able to see them again before I left for Florida for the winter and spring.
There was a rock slide on I-40 sometime in October and so we had a choice of two detours to take. We knew it would add many hours onto our travel time. Brenda and I took separate cars so we formed a loose convoy. Loose because we did not follow each other much but when we would arrive at a place that looked interesting or if it was meal time, we would call each other and meet at the place that looked most interesting. The trip was relaxing and fun since we got to see different scenery than usual on our detours.
My problem happened about four hours into the trip when I realized that I was coming up on Joey’s Pancake House in Maggie Valley, where I had started out!! Oh, my. My heart sank into my gut. I called Brenda and told her I would catch up to her again or see her in Tennessee. I headed back out and enjoyed the trip. I caught up with Brenda before Gatlinburg. We ended up taking a short cut she knew from having Gladys’ parties each year in Gatlinburg. She chose a great place to eat that was also a gift shop that was a lot of fun. The restaurant is called The Moonshine Café and it was a lot of fun. There was a deer head on the wall (of course) but also a deer’s butt on the other wall.
We arrived at Angie’s house about 11 or 12 hours after we left the house. We were laughing first about me getting lost and ending up at Joeys after all that driving, and also that we could have made it all the way to Florida in the time it took us to get to Nashville. LOL
How wonderful to see Angie and hug her again. Then to see my granddaughters, Valerie and Alyssa and their boyfriends, Jon and Ira…life was good and it made it worth the trip for sure. We all went over to see Valerie and Jon’s new home not too far from ours in Mt. Juliet. They closed a couple of weeks after Angie and I closed on ours. They have done so much and it’s so cute. Valerie is a wonderful decorator I think. Their home was very comfortable and homey. I’m so glad they are so close. We all went out to O’Charley’s for dinner then and Brenda got to know everyone and we enjoyed just being together.
The next morning Alyssa and Ira went to their first football game, the Tennessee Titans and thankfully they won that game. Angie and I just enjoyed talking and catching up over coffee for a few hours before I had to leave for Gladys’ party.


The party was at Matt and Shauna’s beautiful home. Matt is Susie’s oldest son and Shauna is his wife. It was a treat to meet all of Susie (Brenda’s sister) family including grand children.

Matt is a fabulous cook and I tasted the best ribs I have ever had in my whole life. Yum! He also cooked a delicious ham on the grill. Susie’s grandchildren were so precious. Three girls and three boys. I hear about them so much and now I will be able to place them after seeing them in person.
I left and went back to Angie’s to spend some time with her before bedtime and I would have to look at another drive back to NC the next morning. Ira bought Pizza for everyone and later that night we all went out for Coca-cola cake and ice-cream. Yum! The night went too quickly and Monday morning came quickly.
I met Brenda at Panera Bread for coffee at 8a.m. We took another route home but it took the same amount of time. We didn’t get here until 7p.m. What a journey we had though. We stopped at Stonehaus Winery and we had lunch at a nice tea house outside Knoxville. As tired as we were, we also enjoyed it tremendously. We decided we would have to take these trips in the summer when I’m back here. Of course we are planning for when I-40 is open again. As much fun as we had we would not be quite as excited if we had to make these detours again. LOL
I’m so glad I got to see my daughter and grands one more time before I head to Florida for the winter. I’m also thrilled that I was there for Gladys’ 93rd birthday. It was a busy but worthwhile trip. I’m so glad we went. I already miss my family but I have more wonderful memories.