Smoky Mountains Vacation, Part II

We spent most of the afternoon at the aquarium, which was surprisingly good.  Charlotte loved it!  She much prefers the aquarium to the zoo (which is unfortunate seeing as we have a zoo five minutes from our house and the closest aquarium is two hours away!)

Looking like such a big girl 

In the underwater tunnel

Looking at the penguins

Worn out and catching a rare nap

On our way through Arch Rock to Alum Cave Bluffs.  Charlotte was the best little hiker!  She didn't cry or have to get out of the backpack once during this 4.6 mile roundtrip hike.  

Arch Rock

Alum Caves Bluff

The happy hikers

This was a little nerve wracking

Looking over the bridge into the babbling brook

 Halloween decorations in Gatlinburg

 Charlotte was NOT interested in posing for pictures!

 Riding the gondola to Ober Gatlinburg (which was far more tacky than I had remembered ... but of course Charlotte had a blast and threw more temper tantrums about leaving various activities there than anywhere else on our trip)

Here was the site of enormous temper tantrum #1.  After letting her sit in this stationary boat for an inordinate amount of time, we decided it was time to move on.  Charlotte thought otherwise

The alpine slide was one of my favorite childhood memories of Gatlinburg, so of course we had to do it!  Surprisingly, there was no age limit ... just had to be able to walk.  Check!

Charlotte and I took our time coming down, but had to move fast enough to keep from getting rear-ended by the aggressive person behind us.  The ride down was much less scary than the ski lift up.  Halfway up the lift, Charlotte threw a huge temper tantrum and wanted to get off.  We had a death grip on her, but it was still frightening and I don't think I would ever get on a ski lift with a 14 month old again (I guess common sense goes out the window on vacation).

The Apple Barn was wonderful as always.  Once again, I though Charlotte would love this restaurant given the apple fritters, chicken and dumplings, etc.  She had other plans, which included spitting everything out like it was poison until deciding that our orange garnishes and sliced cucumbers from our salads were delicious

One last hike (to Laurel Falls) before heading home

Charlotte eating solid food for the first time all week at an amazing place called Urban Spoon in Chattanooga.  Her kids grilled cheese (which of course she didn't touch) came with the most amazing fruit plate I have ever seen!  She devoured it.  Fresh fruit was hard to come by in Gatlinburg ...