The first leg of our trip consisted of driving to the Cherokee, NC and spending the night at Harrah's Casino. We arrived way past bedtime so we basically fed the kids and went to the room. Brett went down to the casino to try his luck, but was back in an hour and a half and had not won the tuition or mortgage payments I was hoping he would return with. I took my turn and checked out the casino next (believe it or not there are signs about not leaving your kids in rooms unattended - who would do that??), but not being the gambling type, I just walked around and took in the sights, and oh boy where there some late night sights. I decided to spend my money on pizza to take back to the room. The next morning we explored this Native American themed hotel before heading down the road. Our next stop was the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains. What was cool about this stop was the Mountain Farm Museum located on the grounds. The kids loved running around the farmhouse, barn and smokehouse. A great stop to stretch their legs and take in the scenery!
Final stop before we hit the Gatlingburg/Pigeon Forge area - The Newfound Gap. This stop offers amazing views of the mountains and valleys and is a popular destination because it has the Rockefeller memorial. The Appalachian Trail also crosses this site. This was a heavily populated stop but well worth the time for the kids to see the natural beauty. All 4 kids also hiked a little up the AT - maybe one day they will remember the little hike and be inspired to tackle the 2,179 mile trail.
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