mountain adventures

I had a delightful weekend traveling with David and his parents. When we weren't in the car driving {and me sleeping}...we enjoyed the Great Smoky Mountains and the hills {I mean HILLS} of Knoxville, Tennessee. We stayed at David's god-parent's cabin just west of Asheville and enjoyed a fabulous view of God's creation and much cooler temperatures.

Our journey began Thursday after work...

first stop: dinner
we ate at moon spin pizza in thomasville

it was so hip and swanky...and the pizza was delicious!!
definitely going back...someone name the date and time...

we had a late night sweet treat at a chick-fil-a dwarf house.
can you believe I stayed awake all the way to atlanta!

friday morning view from the porch - coffee and rocking chairs provided the leisurely entertainment

hummingbirds greeted us

we drove into the city of asheville and our first stop was the farmer's market. we got yummy breakfast breads and homemade jam...I came home with the recommended "traffic jam" - a combination of blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry

fall gourds were in full force

these were my favorite...I had never seen them before!

most proper

we then headed into the city where we ate, sampled beer, and antiqued our way through downtown asheville. it's the micro-brewery capital and david was in heaven!

david's parents and our wonderful hosts! thank you so much for taking us!!

our dear friend anna gave us a ton of fabulous recommendations for eats and shops.
we had lunch at the tupelo honey cafe...featuring none other than tupelo honey from north florida! the biscuits with peach butter {special request} and raspberry jam were my favorite.
this cafe was recently featured in garden and gun for its fried blt...which both david jr. and sr. can attest. my only complaint, the service. apparently no one is quite with it in asheville if you know what I mean.

a midday treat

an almond chocolate chip cupcake...with nothing on the cake shop!

for dinner we were off to luella's for some north carolina bbq...and a hoola hoop contest!

I had to show the boys that these hips don't lie!

a beautiful foggy view way too early saturday morning

our gator crew in knoxville. we woke up early and drove 2 hrs. to knoxville to start game day!
it was a beautiful clear day, but apparently warmer than expected in september. go figure.

david and I in front of the tennessee river

now this is some fun tailgating!

we met up with alli :)

then we met up with paul and heather - group hug at gate 10!!

they came and sat with us the second half...the half that the gators actually played! instead of 15 weeks until our next rendezvous...it's only TWO for the florida/alabama game!!

david with his away game ticket hook-up...moi!

we had great end zone seats, and it wasn't as high as I had feared.
go gators!

a view from the top of neyland stadium