Tennessee: Weekend Getaway
Upon invitation, we decided to take a long weekend journey to Club Wyndham at Fairfield Glade, in Crossville, Tennessee. My in-laws and friends were sharing a two bedroom condo through our vacation membership. For three nights, there was plenty of room for the girls and I to sleep on the queen sized pull-out couch. In our previous trips to Tennessee, we've only stayed in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, so this was a new experience for us. Located two hours east of Nashville and two hours west of Gatlinburg, Crossville is essentially the middle point of Tennessee. However, in our first day at Crossville, we elected to travel to Gatlinburg, then to Cades Cove before returning back (five hours of driving, round-trip). In the middle of October I expected less congestion in Gatlinburg, but I was wrong! Waiting in long lines of traffic had me eager to get to Cades Cove! Before we headed to Cades Cove, we spent some time in Gatlinburg's Great Smokey Mountains National Park:
We spotted a bear, not too far off the road:
Family pic time!
On to Cades Cove! 
In our second and final full day in Crossville, we ended up visiting three locations around the area. The first: Ozone Falls:
The second place was exclusive to members of Fairfield Glade: a quiet marina just a few minutes from our resort. We ended up renting a swan paddle boat to take the girls for an hour. It only cost $17 and the girls loved it!
The third location we were happy to see just before sunset: Fall Creek Falls. This is one of the tallest falls east of the Mississippi and is a beautiful sight:
On our way out of the area, we also checked out Piney Falls:
To see this falls, one only needs to take a quick, but steep path, which leads to an open view. Please bear in mind there are no guard rails! Pictured above from Piney Falls Lookout: Janis and Jim.
