Anniversary Trip to the Island in Pigeon Forge, TN

Last fall, we heard that there was going to be a new Margaritaville Hotel in Pigeon Forge which is only 3 hours away from us. We decided to go ahead and make reservations for our anniversary even before the place ever opened! We had never been to Pigeon Forge, but being the Jimmy Buffett fans that we are, we figured a short trip to celebrate our 29th anniversary would be fun. We were exactly right - we really did have a great trip. In fact, I am going to dedicate my next few blogs to talking about our trip.

First, I have to say that the hotel is very nice. It has a beach feel without being tacky. We had a spacious queen room with what they call a village view. That means that our balcony over looked the shopping area of the Island. We love people watching, so this was perfect for us. In fact, my husband remarked that our balcony reminded him of sitting in Europe with a cup of coffee or a pint of beer and watching the world go by. Don't tell him I said so, but he is exactly right!

There are also fountain view and river view rooms. I really don't see the downside to any of the views. They are all unique in their own way. I guess it would depend on what type of vacation you wanted. We weren't sure when we made our reservations what we wanted, so we just took the first one available on the list.


The hotel had a nice little poolside bar up on the roof. We sat up there one evening to watch the fountain show and have a drink....or two. The view was wonderful from up there because you could see the entire fountain at once.

We did spend some time out and about in Pigeon Forge which I will talk about in another blog. But for now, just to let you know, we went shopping, took in some tourist attractions, ate at restaurants on the Island, and even found a great daiquiri place. (I'll blog more about wining and dining later.)  The staff at the hotel were very friendly and treated us like family. In fact, everyone on the island was friendly including all the people working, people on vacation, just everyone. Honestly, I am not into all that touristy stuff in Pigeon Forge, but I did like our little place on the Island and would definitely recommend this as a second honeymoon spot.

Behind on Summer Projects

Right after graduation, my daughter and I headed to Disney World. When she was in the 9th grade dummy here promised her that if she graduated as valedictorian I would take her wherever she wanted to go. She had never been to Disney. So, off we went!

We came home sick with nasty colds. My husband started with the cold before we left. I started getting sick on Thursday evening (our last night there); Rachael started getting sick on Friday morning. When we came home, my husband was getting a little better, but had a little relapse after being around us. We were all sick for at least NINE DAYS!! I usually don't run a fever....I had a fever of 102 with this one....I was one sick puppy. All I managed to accomplish during those days was to clean off the DVR and watch several ON DEMAND movies.

Needless to say, I am really behind on my summer projects. In fact, I haven't even deep cleaned the house yet. I am thinking that I probably just won't get to it this summer. Who cares? I am supposed to have all that extra time after the youngest goes to college, right? Well, I am banking on that extra time!

Today, I did order my new front door today which was the biggest summer project for this year. We figure we will save enough on our electric bill to just about pay for a new door. Our old one is so warped you can actually feel the hot or cold air coming inside. There is about a 1/2" gap at the top of it. So, this is definitely a need. I am really looking forward to getting it. The store says it will take about 2 weeks. We will see.

My only other planned summer project is to paint the laundry room. I have a few paint chips that I picked up today. It's time to hang them up and decide on a color. Wish me luck!