THANK YOU, SISTER SMITH!!!

I saw your invitation to come spend the night at your house and would have loved to have taken you up on the offer, (I told Anthony that you would've played games with me--you know, I love playing games, but he doesn't so much) but our plans changed a bit and I didn't have computer access to let you know. Let me back up and explain.

Anthony called me just before he left work on Monday and asked if I'd be opposed to leaving that night and spending the night somewhere in Ohio. Well, who can turn down extra vacation time? So I agreed and we jumped online and found an employee rate for that night at a beautiful Comfort Inn in Bluffton, OH, cancelled our room in Knoxville, and hit the road. Had I known at the time that we could've spent the night at the Smith Family Inn, I wouldn't have been so gung ho on leaving early. Alas, I guess it wasn't meant to be.

So thank you very much for the offer. We really would have enjoyed it. *sigh* Oh! By the way, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you and Brother Smith. Congratulations on 35 years!!! :D

One of the perks of Anthony being in the hotel business is the employee rate. Sometimes, if Anthony knows the manager, he can do a trade-out and get our room for free. But, oftentimes, we do pay the employee rate, and it's normally only $35 a night, which is pretty cool. Right now we're staying in a beautiful, brand new Comfort Suites in Kodak, TN, which is near Sevierville, for that rate. This hotel is just gorgeous. It just opened in March, so it's new and contemporary. The room and all the public areas are immaculate. Looks, smells, feels clean. AHHHHH!!!! The decor is beautiful. The mattress and pillows are AWESOMELY comfortable. The bathroom is way, way cool. Granite countertops AND shower walls. Now, how many hotels have granite shower walls? Just so cool. LCD HDTV in the room. Even the closet is nice and big. For $35/night .... just can't beat it.

Anyway, I took a ton of pictures. I'll have to go through them and get them up here soon. We had a really nice time and did some really neat things. Will post soon. Right now, I'm going to jump in the shower and finish getting our stuff together. We're leaving to go back home today, which is good, I guess, but really I think I need one more day of vacation. Maybe we'll spot something to do on our way home. We go through Knoxville, Lexington, Cincinnati, and Toledo. Surely we'll find something.

Everybody have a great day. And Happy New Year!!!! (in a couple of days ;-)