Today is my four year wedding anniversary to my husband, James. We met when he was eighteen and I was sixteen. We’ve been together nine years counting the years we dated. Like any relationship, it’s not all been sunshine and roses. There’s been hard times but there’s also been really good times. He is still my best friend and soulmate. Last week to celebrate we went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. If you’re not familiar with the area, it’s a part of the southern United States. It’s a beautiful place with mountains and tons of stuff to do. I highly recommend visiting if you’re able to. I thought I would share the pictures I took and some of what we did. I didn’t take that many pictures because I’m terrible at remembering to take them, haha.

Our Condo & View

We decided to get a condo on top of the mountain overlooking Gatlinburg. This place had incredible views but was pretty terrifying when it snowed. James did a great job getting up and down the mountain in the snow and ice but I’ve never been so tense, haha. The snow was unbelievably gorgeous and almost made the terror worth it. It looked like glitter falling from the sky. We live in Alabama so snow is a rare and beautiful thing.

Ober Gatlingburg

Ober Gatlinburg is a place FILLED with things to do. It’s located near the top of the mountain, our condo overlooked it. You can ski, snowboard, shop and ice skate there. My favorite activity, however, was the small zoo that they had. The bears were hibernating and not outside but they had otters, raccoons, squirrels, owls, a bobcat, some turtles and different kinds of birds. We got to see the otters be fed and I didn’t realize what violent little creatures they can be, haha. We had a lot of fun and I recommend going.

Ripley’s Aquarium

Typically if we travel anywhere that has an aquarium or zoo we go because that’s just something we love to do together so we had to go to this one. I had been one other time as a child but James had never been. It’s a fun and beautiful aquarium but pricey.

Gatlinburg

We spent a lot of time just out walking around the main strip in Gatlinburg. Since it is January and quite cold it was not crowded at all. It was so cold that it was painful but it was beautiful seeing everything covered in snow and that made the cold worth dealing with. We also went to the Guinness World Records location and played the biggest game of Pac Man ever created for a ridiculously long time. One of the places we ate at, and probably our favorite, was The Breakfast Camp. If you go to Gatlinburg you need to eat there. It was just so good!

Then It Was Over

It feels like we waited forever to take this vacation and then it was just over. We didn’t want to leave but responsibilities and our dear pets forced us to return. We’re hoping to go back at some point this year, possibly the fall. If you read all of this I hope you enjoyed seeing our pictures and maybe got some ideas for your next trip! Thanks for reading and have a great day!