Vacation: Ober Gatlinburg

Technically, we were at Ober Gatlinburg twice.

The first time to check it out and a second visit with more time to play.

Nolan wanted to stay home the second visit due to his travelling woes.

The boys enjoying some snow cones.

Nothing like bright red food coloring to color one's tongue.

The view from the parking lot.

Another view but without the cars. :)

Dan and Connor waiting their turn on the Ski Mountain Coaster

I have never been a coaster person.

However, this looked mild enough even for me.

You could control your speed.

While I was waiting for my turn I snapped this photo of Connor.

I took this pic on the way up.

I took another picture one last time before the decent.

I enjoyed it and would do it again.

I also did the Alpine Slide.

In order to go down the slide you have to ride the ski lift.

I quickly discovered after taking this photo that I no longer enjoy such a thing.

Dan and Connor are in front of me.

You can see the Alpine Slide tracks just above them.

It felt like forever before getting to the top of the slide,

and it's not quite to the mountain top!

At the top there is a gift shop.

While it would be cool to see the view, I was happy to get off when I did.

I don't think I'll willingly ride one again.

Connor waiting for me to load my sled.

I beat him going down but I think he had a slow sled.

I really enjoyed the slide and would do it again if it were not for the ski lift.

There was an ice skating rink in the middle of the shopping center.

It was a lot of fun.

It was fun until we had to wait on the Zamboni.
They resurfaced the ice but it still wasn't the best surface for skating.
It was very bumpy around the perimeter.
I'm guessing it was from all the people who nicked the ice with their skates when they fell.
Ice skating is not a skill everyone has, let alone an opportunity to do it.
Two different people asked me to teach them to skate.
(Which is funny since I'm not the greatest skater. Not to mention I haven't skated in years.)
One kid, who skated well, dared me to race him every time we went past each other.
I entertained him a few times but my fear of falling limited my racing.
I'd rather not hit my head, even though my kids would
swear my metal plate would probably crack the ice.
I never fell despite Connor's efforts to try to get me to lose my balance.