In the days of yore, when my grandparents still lived in Illinois, we used to have an annual convergence around Thanksgiving in Tennessee.  Here, amid the Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pigeon Forge, and Dollywood, is nestled the tiny ville of Gatlinburg, a sleepy town that plays host to hundreds of thousands of people each year.  I’m guessing, really, on that number, but basically, it’s a big tourist-attraction area in the mountains.  It was a convenient place for a family reunion since my grandparents were in Illinois, my uncle’s family was in Memphis, and the rest of us around Charlotte.

My parents, now grandparents, sought to rekindle this sort of family reunion escapade by sponsoring our first annual Thanksgiving outing at Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, a sleepy town that plays host to hundreds of thousands of people each year.  I’m guessing, really, on that number, but basically, it’s a bedroom community for Charlotte and also plays host to NASCAR fans.  [Note: see that literary device I just used?  Awesome!]

Great Wolf Lodge is a family-oriented indoor water park resort, and it is a fantastic place.  The water park contains a kiddie splash pool, complete with a few small slides and spraying contraptions.  There is a deeper pool that has a lily pad/rope bridge combo, and large floating islands.  A wave pool with multiple wave styles adds to the mix, and this was by far the favorite betwixt the twinkles.  In addition to the various pools, there is an array of water slides to suite all tastes: body-only slides that are good for 3 year olds up to adults, mat slides for the bigger kids and adults, and then the awesome innertube slides for the adventurous (our favorite: the Howlin’ Tornado).

In addition to the water park there is also an on-premises spa, restaurant, arcade and various activities hosted by the resort.  The best part?  The rooms.  They have various room types that include kid-oriented “cabins” which are carved-out niches to house multiple kids in a separated space that looks like a log cabin en-suite.  My parents were gracious/crazy enough to host all the grandkids in their cabin suite while the adults got to hang out and party.  Did I mention they have an on-site MagiQuest? It’s basically a huge scavenger hunt/adventure/questing-type game that is suitable for *ahem* kids of all ages.  [Note: if you're still into the whole Gatlinburg thing, there is a MagiQuest in Pigeon Forge.] Thanks to Jeremy for dragging me into it; I was able to get in a good work out running up and down 3 flights of stairs all morning.

We culminated our stay at the lodge with a trip to the Beef Jerky Outlet store.  Yeah, that’s right, a jerky outlet.  I sampled kangaroo, alligator, ostrich, beef and turkey jerkies.  And, they carry hot sauces, which I also sampled.  I tried a 4-million scoville hot sauce, and it wasn’t that bad.  Sweet on the front, and all fire in the rear.

All in all, we had a fantastic time at Great Wolf Lodge with our family, and we’re ready to do it again next year!

Other Thanksgiving festivities included painting and plumbing in the basement remodel at my parent’s house.  Steph got to work on finishing the painting in the kid room and bedroom, while Dad and I worked on plumbing PEX for the toilet, sink and whirlpool tub.  We were smart and used Sharkbite connectors for PEX-to-PEX and PEX-to-Copper connections.  I missed the opportunity to practice sweating and soldering as we were supposed to add on a copper down tube from the whirlpool faucet… oh well.  Overall I was pleased with the PEX application; that stuff is awesome!

Some choice pictures (click on the picture for a larger version):

You can also check out all the pictures from November, including these, here:

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