The Simple Life at Home

Well, where do I start? First of all, I guess I should be upfront and say it doesn't look like this will be our future home. (Insert sad face here.) It's a MUCH smaller town than we had understood. And it's pretty much about 20 years behind the times (this is a quote from a resident - not my words!!). I think that to find someplace that will make Hubby and I both happy it's going to have to be a bit more modern than this. But we have enjoyed our time here; the scenery is beautiful and people are so very friendly. Here are some other observations:

Dollywood - Hmm. Well, let me just state that we are a Disney-fied family. Having visited Walt Disney World almost every year for the last 14 years, we are very appreciative of how efficient and well-run a theme park can be. Dollywood could learn a lot. It's a beautiful setting with fun rides and nice shows, but poorly laid out and not particularly well-maintained. Plus the staff could use some better training. At one point, Em needed to use the restroom so we asked the nearest employee where the closest ones were. She sent us over a quarter-mile away. When we got back to where Hubby and Daniel were waiting for us, I saw that there was one just 25 feet father from where we had started! So overall, it was a nice day, but we wouldn't be going again.

Southern pace of living - Ok, I know I'm the one that said I wanted a slower pace of life. But, dadgumm, people, this is slow. I guess it sounds good until you are in the line at Walmart picking up something for dinner with a hungry family at home and the cashier can't get the person in front of you to get her debit card to work. For 25 minutes (no lie!). Does she call for help? Does the customer offer to pay cash (which she finally did - why didn't she just do that after the first 5 minutes?!?!?!) for the first 25 minutes to let everyone else move along? I mean, it was just as if there was no one else in the world. And this is not the first time we've had a similar experience. I guess if you are the customer who they are spending all the time with, it's wonderful. But for those of us who come from a place where you don't spend all your time talking with the store employees about your mama while there's a huge line behind you, it's a little frustrating.

We are off today to visit Gatlinburg. I'm really looking forward to Ripley's Aquarium and Christus Gardens. Tomorrow it's the Smokey Mountains National Park. We've decided to swing through Raleigh, NC on our way home to look at that as a possible relocation site. Catch up with you all later!