new year's in gatlinburg

jay and i were able to spend our first new year's together this year. (yes, we have been together for 4 years now, but this is the first new year's that neither of us has had to work one of the days so we took advantage!) we booked a room at the fairfield inn in gatlinburg and rang in the new year in downtown gatlinburg. the day before we left i discovered that my cousins (melynda and willie, and their kids lauren, wesley, jesse, and taylor... and a few extras) were also going to be in gatlinburg for the holiday. and they were one light down from where we were staying, in a fabulous cabin. so we spent some time with them having lots of family fun and we had some good time to ourselves. we decided to play some mini-golf on new year's eve; the course shared a parking lot with the hotel so we enjoyed a chilly round at ripley's davy crockett mini-golf course. there were many fun characters and much piped-in commentary that we enjoyed while we played.






then we caught up with my cousins and played a rousing game of (cut-throat) spoons and enjoyed some homemade hot chocolate, courtesy of melynda, until it was time to head downtown for the "ball drop" and fireworks. in gatlinburg, they drop the ball from the space needle and shoot fireworks from there. and we were lucky that it was still decorated for christmas, so we were able to enjoy all the festivities in one night.











we shared a lovely caramel apple on the way to the parking garage after the fireworks were over and good thing we had something sweet to keep us awake. it took forever (b/c of poor city planning) to get out of that garage. at least 45 minutes. it would have been faster to walk to the hotel. but we waited it out and finally made it to bed around 2am. but it was all still lots of fun.

later on new year's day, we drove up in the smoky mountains nat'l park to enjoy the scenery (and to not enjoy the freezing cold temperatures!). but we got some wonderful pictures of the smokies from up there. and we even got an updated picture of jay's truck, now that he has added a few new things.







and later on that evening, we spent more time with the cousins! we played some pool and then jay and i went out to eat with lauren and josh and walked around downtown a bit until we were about frozen solid and then went back to their cabin to enjoy some rewarming in the hot tub. but, of course, there was time for a few more pictures, thanks to melynda.







that night it snowed and we had a ton of fun driving back home through the mountains. but, we had a delicious breakfast with the gang at the pancake pantry. we didn't need to eat anything until dinner time. so, much fun was had by all and it was the best new year ever.