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It's a GOODe Life

Life is made up of moments. The funny. The ordinary. The frustrating. Join us as we share a few of ours while we live the GOODe life in the hills of Indiana.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Goode Grief: You picked a fine time to leave me Aunt Bee

So this weekend the Goodes got the bright idea to take a spontaneous mini-vacation to one of our favorite spots to relax our troubles away.


It all started out well.


There was lots of book reading, Gilbert playin' and potty pit stops.



And ZERO potty accidents!


7 hours later... there it was-- Mommy and Daddy's Mountain.
Beautiful, majestic Mt. LeConte.



Oh and road construction. Now these may look like ordinary orange barrels to you, but I now realize that they were really warning barrels that were screaming " Go back, go back! Don't go any further. Go back!"

Ya see these barrels were all that were between our hotel and the first place we went to eat when we arrived in the lovely Smokey Mountains.


To say we didn't know what was about to hit us is an understatement. We arrived at one of our favorite dining places... a place we had been to many times before.

Yet, something seemed a little different.

No, a lot different.

Our waitress was no longer an Aunt Bee-esque southern Belle with that lovely Tennessee draw, but rather an impatient teenager who asked us more than once if we wanted the rest of our meal in a box.

The food was significantly more expensive than usual and of lesser quality... again an understatement...


This picture eerily foreshadows what is about to happen.

See we got more than we paid for at our first restaurant...a restaurant that for sentimental purposes I will not tell you their name. However if you ever find yourself in the Smokey's and ya get a hankering for a restaurant that rhymes with Cold Pill, ya might think on it again...

We get back to the hotel and spend the evening settling in at our cozy little hotel. Before long it is time for bed.

Mid-way through the night Puddie gets sick.

BIG TIME sick.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Food poisoning.

Yee Haw.

By the next day Puddie is miserable and the Monkey and me are raring to go.

We have been promised some shark seeing after all.


Puddie tries his best to hang on to his cookies, but it is clear that he is not having much fun.

Poor Puddie.

After an attempt at breakfast we head on over to the aquarium.


Puddie starts out ok.



Monkey is stoked! So much so that she allows duckie to come along as a replacement for Gilbert who left himself at the hotel by accident.

Silly kitty.



Miss Add LOVED all the fishies.


And Dad did alright



at first


Funny thing about staring at swirling water while riding a winding conveyor belt...



It tends to make a queasy man



um...



queasier.



Poor Puddie.



He tried his best to make sure his ladies had a good time though.



He let us swim around in aquariums with the seahorses



And pretend we were deep sea divers



And we couldn't leave before we saw the jellies!



But before long, it was time for us to go...



Which brought about Daddy's only smile of the day...



We then proceeded back to the hotel where we spent the rest of our trip.

All I have to say is after 3 days and 2 nights of being trapped in a hotel with a rambunctious two year old and a sick hubby is-- THANK heavens for this little guy:



In a moment of quick mommy-thinking I picked Add up a new Veggie Tales DVD along with Daddy's 7 up and Pepto on a quick Walmart run.

Add loved the new story (about listening to your parents ;) ) and it kept her entertained while Mommy tended to a sick Daddy.



All in all our vacation... well it stunk.

Needless to say we have never been so glad to see Indiana in our lives.

However, we now need a real vacation from our unvacation... ;)

Truth be told I am a little scared to try again...

8 GOODe Thoughts:

OH, bummer! I'm sorry to hear that your hubby was so sick the whole time & sorry to hear that "Cold Pill" has went down hill (hey, that rhymed!). We LOVE that place. The last time we went to Tennessee we had a great time, but I really don't care to go back anytime soon. Toby & I would be content just to drive through the mountains all day, but Liv needs more action in her life. And since Toby & I have been to the aquarium twice & I've been to the other museums there at least twice (some of them 3 or 4 times!), I doubt we'll be back anytime soon.

We don't leave for vaca 'til May. I hope we don't end up having dinner at any "Cold Pill"'s along the way! Hope he's feeling better!

You don't know me but I'm a fellow Hoosier who's a faithful reader of your blog. It was strange to read your story as my husband and I were in the Smokies this weekend as well!! I know the restaurant you're talking about and hubby and I had been saying we didn't think we would go there this time as last time it just wasn't as good and as you said, more expensive. What's happening to our favorite eating places?!?! Anyway, hope everyone is feeling better!! We made the mistake of staying at a hotel that allowed pets, so we listened to dogs barking all 3 nights!! Maybe we'll have better luck next time!!

Debbie S

Terra-
I bet we will go back... they are building a Titanic museum and I know I want to go there ;) Besides-- ya can't keep a Goode man down! He is feeling better.

Debbie-
That is so funny that we were there at the same time! I am so glad you guys steered clear... I would've hated for none of us to have had a good time.

So sorry about the hotel. Our hotel was the best part of the trip (and about the only part we saw!)

Come to think of it, sounds like we had a decent vacation between us! LOL!

Oh Cris, sorry your vacation wasn't as much fun as it could have been. Hope everyone's feeling better by now...and thank heavens for Veggie Tales! :)

A Titanic museum? I hadn't heard that. For that - we'll be back too :)

GP- We are back to being as Good(e) as new ;)

Terra- It looks sooo cool. It is right on the road. Iceberg and all!

GP- We are back to being as Good(e) as new ;)

Terra- It looks sooo cool. It is right on the road. Iceberg and all!

OH, bummer! I'm sorry to hear that your hubby was so sick the whole time & sorry to hear that "Cold Pill" has went down hill (hey, that rhymed!). We LOVE that place. The last time we went to Tennessee we had a great time, but I really don't care to go back anytime soon. Toby & I would be content just to drive through the mountains all day, but Liv needs more action in her life. And since Toby & I have been to the aquarium twice & I've been to the other museums there at least twice (some of them 3 or 4 times!), I doubt we'll be back anytime soon.

We don't leave for vaca 'til May. I hope we don't end up having dinner at any "Cold Pill"'s along the way! Hope he's feeling better!

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