Cabin maintenance - it's never-ending

If you read our last post, you know we were in Gatlinburg for a week.  We used the weekend for a special meeting (we'll tell you about it in our next post).  But we spent several days taking care of a lot of maintenance and making some improvements.  We had the able help of our great handyman, Mark Kalinowski - and we couldn't have done all this without him.  Just look at some of what we got done:

All Decked Out:

-Mark installed new light fixtures in the main floor bathroom at All Decked Out.  (I forgot to take a picture of the finished job - that will be next trip.)

-Fixed the laundry/furnace room door in the lower bedroom, so it closes tight (and will keep the noise down).

-Added new curtains in the main floor bedroom (another picture to take on our next trip).

-The foosball/air hockey table finally bit the dust, so we had to remove it.  But we're looking for a new foosball table - or some other game to go in our Family/Game room.  For now, this is how the room looks:

Smoky Mountain Tower:
This is where we spent most of our time.  Here are the highlights:
-Mark completely resealed the skylights in the Sunroom, and recaulked the windows in the Tower Room. 















-Mark also cleaned out all the gutters to stop the rain overflow:















-Added the 2012 Owners Club pass to the Welcome Notebook (we also did this at All Decked Out):

 -Fixed the Queen bedroom toilet so it doesn't keep running (and wasting water)

-Added steps down from the new walkway and planted ground cover, to reduce the need for regular grass trimming.

-Weeded the front area (left of the front door), added mulch, weeded and trimmed the landscaping by the wood bin.

-Leveled the washer to keep it from "walking" around the floor.

-Spent time in the woods with our tree guy.  He is supposed to come next week to work on some trees to open up the view.  Stay tuned for details.

There's more ... but those are the highlights.  Maintenance, repairs and improvements are always ongoing - and it's only for one reason:  to make your stay in our cabins more enjoyable.  That's why we send every guest a survey after your stay, so you can tell us about things you'd like to see us fix or make better.  If this post reminds you of anything we need to do, please let us know!

Mountain Laurel ... finally!

We've been coming to the Smokies for more than 50 years.  We've owned All Decked Out for almost 16 years, so we've been to the Gatlinburg area quite a few times a year for all those years.  But in all that time, we have never seen the Mountain Laurel in bloom ... until now.

Mountain Laurel only blooms for a short time, so you have to catch it at just the right time.  And this weekend, it is absolutely perfect.  You'll recall that I pointed out a bush at Smoky Mountain Tower in my last post, and promised you better pictures.  Well, here they are:

Mountain \Laurel is a small white flower, about the size of a dime, shaped like an umbrella, that grows in very tight bunches.  Here's what the whole bush looks like:













As you can see, this bush is just outside the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Tower, and there are several other bushes just a few feet away:

If you hurry, you might still get here to see the Mountain Laurel in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, where it should be blooming a little later than these bushes.  And remember, you can still take advantage of our 15% discount through May 24.  Please see the Specials pages on our Web sites for details.  We sure hope you won't wait as long as we have to see the Mountain Laurel!