Thursday in the Mountains

We got to Knoxville a little before 9, visited a bit, went to bed....we had big plans for the day.  Once we got up we headed to my favorite spot in the world...Cades Cove.  To me it is heaven on earth.  We stopped for breakfast in Pidgeon Forge at FlapJacks...another staple in our travels.  After breakfast we headed up to the Cove via Wears Valley and Townsend.  The views were amazing, the traffic was a bummer.  This is a peak color week....and everyone and their brother was out enjoying the view....my view. Inside the Cove traffic was crawling.  There are signs all along the eleven mile 35 mph stretch that tell drivers to not stop in the road....to pull off....obviously the drivers ahead of us were not from America...and could not speak or read English.  After some seeing a fawn, a doe, and some turkey we took the short cut and headed to the Craftsman's Fair in downtown Gatlinburg.  I hardly ever buy anything....I just come out ready to find a corner and start crafting.  I got some great ideas this year for a tablescape.  I can't wait to get it together and share it with you here.  When we left the fair we checked out the tasting room and store for Ole Smokey Moonshine.  They had a blue grass band playing and I could have danced for hours.  On to the Apple Barn for Apple Butter for my sweet Jessie's daughter, Hannah and son, Rhett.  They love the stuff...and since I do too...I had to get them some.  I decided to get each one of them their own private jar.  From the Apple Barn we went to the Lodge outlet to get me another cast iron casserole....and one for Susan.  I am going to teach her how to make crusty bread this weekend.  I also lucked out and found the bread book by Jim Lahey.  We ate dinner at Wild Wing Cafe and then did a little shopping at Gander Mountain (I will be glad when they get the one open in Auburn) and Belks.  They were having a buy one suit coat- get two free sale  and Frank lucked out with three coats and three pair of dress pants...for the price of one each.  How cool is that?  We headed back to the Price house via Publix (to get the bread making ingredients), Susan and I mixed up the flour mixture for the bread...and called it a night.  Good night and sweet dreams.