Sunday, April 19, 2009

Exploration Day

Yesterday was a really nice day. It was beautiful: sunny, but not too warm. Perfect for a family outing!

First, we went to the Aquarium of the Smokies. They have an exhibit where you walk through a glass tunnel and see sharks and other fish. At first Vinny was restless and didn't really like that exhibit but soon he got interested in looking at the sharks.

Then we had an early dinner before going into the park and seeing the Elkmont area. Elkmont was once a retreat for rich people to escape the oppressive summer heat in the city. When the national park was formed, instead of giving up their land they were paid a reduced amount of money and given long-term leases on their property, the last of which expired in 2001. We saw many of the former vacation homes, a number of which were in ruin. The area was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, though, so the ones that are salvageable will be preserved. I don't know what their plans are -- perhaps it will be something like Cade's Cove.

Yesterday was a fun day out with my boys. Today, by contrast, was cold, rainy, and overcast. We spent the day indoors.

2 comments:

PhizzleDizzle said...

it's a crappy day here too - but glad your weekend was exploratory and fun!

Ginger said...

Sounds like fun. I worked on that gorgeous Saturday, and on my two days off (Sunday/Monday) it's been rainy and colder. Go figure.