Date: 2003-05-02
From: Newfound Gap (Gatlinburg, TN)

To: trolley stop
Miles today: 0.0

erin says:i am an aunt! i have a nephew! i called "home" last night and noone was home, so i called my sister and she answered. upon asking if she was still pregnant, she answered, "well, no...". Rory Fox Klauber was born on Tuesday, April 29th, 2003 weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz. I am so excited and so homesick! I can't wait to meet him! HP, it was so great to talk to you! Congratulations, Heather and Brian! Wow!Craig and I are thoroughly enjoying our stop in Gatlinburg, TN... (TN in the hizzouse to Kayce and Richard!) How does one describe Gatlinburg exactly? It is sort of a combo of Hampton Beach, Old Orchard Maine, Atlantic City, and Vegas. There are many wedding chapels here - apparently this is the "it" spot to come get a quickie marriage in the south. There are also tons of those T-shirt stores where the clothing slogans and images are truly tasteless or just strange. Some samples would include: a pair of underwear that says "I love to fart", a T-shirt with a buxom young lady in a compromising position draped with the Confederate flag that reads "Southern style", a T-shirt reading FBI: Female Body Inspector, etc. There was also a surprising large collection of Jesus-loving shirts. Craig was tempted to get the one with the large "JC" across the front. Mind you, all of these T-shirts were sharing the same rack in the store.Gatlinburg is pretty much one huge strip of motels, restaurants, bars, museums, and of course Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. It just makes sense. The best part is that one can take a trolley up and down the streets to get to a particular destination for 25 cents. Craig and I made use of the trolley to go to the post office, grocery store, etc. Our "bounce" box never made it to Gatlinburg because I guess packages sent parcel post get re-routed back to Atlanta before they make it here. Weird. So we have had to improvise with clothing to wear. We are decked out in our rain jackets and pants. Thankfully the rain jackets have "pit zips" for ventilation. We stick our arms out the zips transforming our jackets into sleeveless smocks by tieing the sleeves behind our necks. We look slammin'. It is hot here.Our stay has been marked with thunderstorms and threats of "severe weather". We were hoping for hail, but no luck. But hey - we are prepared with our rain gear. Today we did laundry, lazed around, and walked the strip visiting stores and the library! We watched the local high school band/drum corps prepare for a school performance. We visited the "Pepper Palace" where Craig tasted the world's hottest pepper sauce. I was rolling on the floor as he said he was fine and then moments later started to turn red, sweat profusely, grab money from me, mumble something about milk, and bolt out of the store. We also visited a Book Warehouse hoping to find a good cheap read, but the store turned out to have most "inspirational" titles. Craig also found a great coffee place with a tasty ice-blended cappucino. We still long for Dunks. Tonight we are hanging out, getting our stuff together, and enjoying a few Oatmeal Porters from Highland - a local brewery in Asheville, NC. We have been reading a lot about Asheville in the local papers/zines... sounds like a really cool place. We'd like to visit it - seems to be very artsy with lots to see and do. And it is rated the #1 place for women to live and be happy. Hmmmm.We are back into the Smokies tomorrow. Thank you to all who have signed the guest book. Gene - I miss you and everyone at Bridges. It is great to hear from you! Thanks for your wonderful words.-Erin and Craig/Craig and Erin