Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a day when we all (hopefully) spend a little time considering the things we are thankful for.  It’s a good exercise.  But instead of asking you for a list of those “thankful things,” I want to take a little different approach.

In addition to all we do in connection with our Gatlinburg cabins, All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower, I am now the Executive Director of a small leadership institute (www.DeltaOneLeadership.org).  That gives me a great opportunity to continue working with people I first met at ServiceMaster, especially the former Chairman, Bill Pollard.  So I want to share a quote about ‘thanksgiving’ from Bill’s book, “Serving Two Masters?  Reflections on God and Profit.”  In the book, there’s a whole chapter on Prayer. 

Think about all the drawings you have seen of that first Thanksgiving, almost 400 years ago.  Many of them show pilgrims who are praying.  So, today, please think about this quote from Bill Pollard in his book: 

“When I pray, I should be ready to act to accomplish the things I am praying for. As I pray, I should not be anxious, but have a spirit of THANKSGIVING. I can worship God in my prayers and bring delight to Him as I seek His way and His will.”

Prayer is definitely more than just asking God.  It’s also a time for thanking God.  That’s something we should probably do more often – especially today.

The Gatlinburg Christmas Parade - Almost...

Earlier today, I put up a post about the Gatlinburg Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade, which takes place in less than two weeks (Friday, December 6 and 7:30 pm).  It's always a spectacular event, as you can see.

In my post, I said that one of our cabins was open, so you could enjoy the parade in person.  But I was wrong.  When I rechecked our reservations, I found that we have guests arriving that afternoon at both cabins - Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out.  So I'm afraid you'll have to wait until next year to stay with us and enjoy the parade.

But we still have some good dates open in December, including some weekends.  You can enjoy all the lights in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, AND save some money on your Christmas shopping at the Outlet Malls.  How's THAT for a plan!

Just go to our websites and check our calendars for the dates that work best for you:
  -All Decked Out - www.SmokiesRentDirect.com/All-Decked-Out/Availability
  -Smoky Mountain Tower - www.SmokyMountainTower.com/Availability

You, too, can make the holidays special, and we're glad to help.

You're gonna hate me for this...

In our post on Saturday, November 9, we told you about the Christmas decorations that would 'go live' in Gatlinburg on Wednesday, November 13.  We promised to post some pictures.  So here's a photo, just for you.

Oh, you thought I was going to show you the lights at night, when they're so brilliant - instead of during the day when they aren't anything special?!

Well, to be honest, that is exactly what we had in mind, too.  But we got all the decorating done early at All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower, so we were able to head for home before Wednesday night, when the lights were turned on.  Under the circumstances, this was the best I could do.

But wait, there's hope!  You can type "Pictures of Gatlinburg at Christmas" into Google and get lots of photos.  Better yet, make a trip to Gatlinburg between now and February 28, stay with us at Smoky Mountain Tower or All Decked Out, and see the lights for yourself.  If you do, I don't think you'll hate me so much!

More Christmas decorations

We promised to show you a few more Christmas decorations at our Gatlinburg cabins.  So here they are:

We'll start with an exterior photo of Smoky Mountain Tower, where we've added a couple of wreaths.

Inside Smoky Mountain Tower, we have decorations spread throughout the place.  But we have something new this year - a garland in the living room.

At All Decked Out, we added a bow to our big heart wreath:

And take a look at the mantle in All Decked Out:

The stockings are hung - just for you.  Yes, All Decked Out is still open for Christmas.  But this is your last chance.  On Monday, we're going to add a note about this opening to all our advertising sites.  If history is any indication, the dates will be gone very quickly.

You can easily make your reservation at our website - www.SmokiesRentDirect.com/All-Decked-Out/Availability.  We hope you can enjoy Christmas with us at All Decked Out, where there are LOTS more decorations!

Christmas has arrived!

As promised, we are in Gatlinburg and have just finished putting up Christmas decorations at both All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower.  Here's just a tiny preview - the Christmas trees.

If you have stayed with us, you'll recognize the living room corner at All Decked Out on the left, and the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Toer on the right.

There's more - but it's late and we just want to send you this quick preview.  We'll show you more in the coming days.

Remember, Christmas Day is still open at All Decked Out.  We hope YOU can enjoy Christmas with us at All Decked Out.

We're in Tennessee, getting ready for Christmas

We're not there yet (in Gatlinburg), but we're getting close.  Because we have guests in both Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out this weekend, we're enjoying a short visit with John and Marcia and their boys (Marcia handles our Gatlinburg reservations, so we're also doing some 'business!').

But tomorrow we are heading for All Decked Out and plan to spend the next couple of days decorating both cabins for Christmas.  No, it's not too early - because Gatlinburg will turn on all its Christmas lights next Wednesday.  You can get a preview and find out how you can enjoy a special Trolley Ride to see the lights by going to this website:  http://www.gatlinburg.com/events/details.aspx?id=13.  And we plan to post some of our pictures for you next week.

Speaking of Christmas, you can still spend Christmas Day in Gatlinburg.  Due to a rare cancellation, All Decked Out is open!  We have guests arriving on Thursday, December 26.  But you can come in the weekend before (Friday or Saturday afternoon, December 20 or 21), have a great time leading up to Christmas, and spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Gatlinburg.

We are confident that somebody will take advantage of this cancellation, and we plan to publicize this opening on our advertising sites next week.  So you need to make your plans quickly and get the dates booked.  In the 17 years that we have been renting out All Decked Out, we have always had guests on Christmas Day - and we are confident that 2013 will be no exception.

And we will be all ready for you!  Watch for our decoration pictures next week.

You are correct...

...if you guessed that our last post showed a picture of mistletoe.  And you're doubly correct if you guessed that the picture was taken from the Tower deck at Smoky Mountain Tower.  Here is a long shot to prove it.

Linda and Elsie figured it out.  Thanks to both of you for your correct guesses of the mistletoe picture.

The 'mistletoe tree' is actually on the property of our good friend and neighbor, Bob Ward.  And it's way down the hill in the woods, so it's a little hard to stand under, if you want to be kissed during this Christmas season.  But we plan to decorate both Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out for Christmas in about two weeks, and we will make sure to hang some mistletoe inside.

There is still time to enjoy the holidays with us in Gatlinburg.  But you need to make your reservation quickly before time runs out.  Bring someone you love to All Decked Out or Smoky Mountain Tower and enjoy a kiss under the mistletoe - along with all the other great things we have to offer.