Our Story within His Story: The One Where the Hubs and I Get Away

Not really sure why I just titled this like a Friends episode, but for some reason that's just what came out. Hmm. Maybe that will be my new thing. Anyways, the husband and I went on a little trip this past week. Josh bought some vouchers off of Living Social before Christmas this past year and had us a wonderful little trip booked for right after Christmas. Unfortunately, our trip was cancelled because of snow. We rescheduled for March, though, and I actually ended up being thankful that we rescheduled when we did. December is full of fun, exciting things - Christmas, New Years, time with family, etc. - but I normally get the blah-blues around this time of year so this trip was actually a perfect pick-me-up. We dropped off Roscoe at my parent's house in Lexington, which by the way, is his dream. Poor Ross is stuck being tethered to a leash or a line or is in some way hindered when he's home so to be able to just be let free out in the country at my parents is his favorite thing. He seriously never wants to come inside when we are there, so I knew that he would have a great time with Gammy while we were gone.

We fueled up at Cracker Barrel, which I feel like is a prerequisite stop for any good road trip, and then we hit the open road. Our destination? Christopher Place Bed and Breakfast Resort in Newport, TN. Neither of us had stayed at a B&B before, so to be honest, I was a little nervous about what to expect. I had heard horror stories from friends about having to share a bathroom with the other visitors, and being forced to eat meals with strangers, so needless to say, I was a little apprehensive.

And all for no need! The B&B turned out to be incredible...absolutely incredible! Check out this place -

The best (okay, maybe not the best since there were many things that we enjoyed - but ONE of the best) things was that we checked in on a Wednesday and were the only people there until Friday afternoon! This would have been awkward if this had been a B&B where the innkeeper lived at the house, but all the staff left at 8 or 9 at night, so we basically had the whole mansion completely to ourselves! Amazing. There was a game room upstairs with a big screen t.v. and a pool table, and they made us freshly baked cookies and had a refrigerator stocked full of soda, so we were set. We just hung out in the game room or in the pub/library area, and basically had the staff at our beck-and-call. I would totally recommend staying at a B&B like this during the week of an off-season - it was the best way to get our money's worth!

We stayed in Margaret's Room the first 2 nights, and then stayed in a disconnected suite the last night. Margaret's Room wasn't even a suite but was so spacious that it felt like one. The staff actually offered to let us move to our suite a night early but we were contented to stay in the mansion by ourselves, so we declined the offer.

Here's a shot of Josh reading up on the history of Christopher Place in our room. Notice the king-size bed = NICE! :)

We also got a wonderful welcome tray, complete with grapes, chocolate covered strawberries, and mini cheeses. Talk about luxury!

Now, the breakfasts that we got might really be the BEST part of the trip. Check out some of these pictures...and if it seems like there are a lot of pictures of food, it's because there are. This probably adequately represents the amount of time we spent eating - I literally think I may have gained 3 pounds on this trip, no joke.

Seriously, hands-down this was the best waffle I have ever eaten in my entire life. And I've eaten a lot of waffles. This thing must have been made with sweet batter, because I didn't even need syrup.

Chocolate scone. Basically a chocolate chip cookie in disguise. I think they figure if they call it a "scone" instead of a cookie, it's acceptable for breakfast.

So yeah...breakfast was grand every morning. It was kind of a bummer that it was yucky pretty much the whole trip. We drove into Gatlinburg on Thursday, but it was cold and dreary, so we didn't really do too much. I think Gatlinburg may have been more fun when I was younger, too, because we had to look for things to do while we were there. I remember when we used to go to Gatlinburg when I was younger and I would get anxious-excited, worried that we wouldn't get to do everything I wanted. Not so much with this trip. We did visit the Ripley's museum, which is something I have always wanted to do. It ended up being cooler than I thought it would be, and seriously...some of that stuff? - I still don't know if I believe it or not.

We also visited the outlets while we were in Pigeon Forge, and had dinner at the Applewood Barn, which according to one review we read is the #1 restaurant to eat at in Pigeon Forge. Now, the food was good - hearty and definitely southern - but I'm not sure I would say the #1 restaurant. That is a pretty bold claim to make in my opinion, and Josh and I were looking forward to eating there all day. We were a little disappointed...but not disappointed enough to leave food on our plates! Apple fritter biscuits with apple butter were served while we were waiting for our food - now those, were definitely #1! Again, this is why I think I may have gained 3 lbs. on this trip.

Besides that, we didn't do too much. Because it was dreary, we stayed at the B&B for the majority of the time, which was actually very nice. It forced us to just relax and spend some time together, which is really what we wanted this trip to be about. We did get out and do a short hike one afternoon, which was refreshing and so beautiful as everything is really starting to green up and look renewed!