Kelly the Culinarian: Our North Carolina Vacation

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Our North Carolina Vacation

Through a Living Social deal, Tim and I rented a remote cabin from Hidden Creek Cabins in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. We got a killer deal, especially when we split the cabin with a few of Tim's friends.

But first, we had to get there.

The place is dog friendly, so we paid the extra $25 so Napoleon could come with. This might make me a crazy dog lady, but I bought a dog car seat for him so he'd be safe during our 12+ hour drive. He didn't seem to hate it after a while.

What should have been a full-day drive exploded into a backwoods gallivant after a landslide near the Kentucky-Tennessee border closed the highway. It took us three hours off course, along with a ton of other motorists.

Once we finally arrived, there was a super steep drive up a gravel road. I'm glad Tim did all the driving instead of me.


The cabin was filled with country charm. It was clearly a pre-fab home, but it was well-maintained. We opted for the two bedroom, two bath option, which came with a surprisingly well-equipped kitchen.

They must have known we were coming, because there were three corkscrews in the drawer. Sweet.

The first day, we enjoyed coffee from our porch, which overlooked the mountains. Absolutely beautiful.

Then we did some hiking.

Followed by some hot tubing.

That weekend was filled with marshmallows

New friends (we found this collered, but unleashed dog on the second day. I called her Bratwurst, because she foraged one out of our garbage. I eventually took her for a run, or at least part of one)
And lots of sunning on the porch with coffee, a good book and a little furry friend.

The only bummer is a burned a whole in my pants. At least it wasn't in my jacket.
All in all, it was a fanatically frugal family vacation with friends.
We had a great time and loved that this place was both pet- and budget-friendly. We had a full kitchen, so we only ate at restaurants three times during the course of four days, including on our road trip. We did stop for coffee at a McDonalds in Tennessee where the cashier gave Napoleon a little dish to drink water out of. It warmed my little heart. We had a great meal in Bryson City, NC, that featured elk and buffalo burgers, but we mostly stuck to eating stuff at the house. Now it's back to the grind, but I'm glad we took a little time off for ourselves.

2 comments:

Erin said...

How fun! That sounds like the perfect getaway.

I love that they had three corkscrews :-) One time my mom and I stayed in a place in Savannah, GA that didn't have wine glasses OR corkscrews! The horror!

Kim said...

That seems like an AMAZING getaway. Amazing! I love it! I am jealous! I would love to do something like that.

It's good you bought that harness for Napoleon. True story - my friend got rear-ended with her dog in the car and the dog only survived because he had one on!