My husband and I put a lot of thought into our honeymoon, and a ton of planning and dreaming went into our itinerary. Yes, we seriously had a google doc with our plans, associated websites, costs, etc. We booked our honeymoon rental, which was this Airbnb located in Sevierville back in February. We were very generously gifted a stay on our wedding night at The Jefferson Hotel in downtown Richmond. We also decided once arriving in the Smokies that we had to stay one more day, so we found this adorable tiny home also on Airbnb. Here’s what it was like!
THE WEDDING NIGHT – THE NEXT MORNING: THE JEFFERSON HOTEL
Upon arrival at the Jefferson, we were met by an employee (Bell boy? I don’t know.. I’m not fancy..) who took all our luggage up, and an employee (valet?) that took our car off to be parked. Our room at first glance looked very modest and normal. Then, as I looked closer, I realized that we had a massive bathroom with a TV in the mirror! Not to mention, we were brought champagne, we were given a floral arrangement (PS: someone tell me how this arrangement looks exactly the same over a week later!) and we also got to pick out what we wanted for breakfast. We got the same thing. Go figure. We tried the champagne, which admittedly was disgusting. Nevertheless, I kept the cork. We then ate our MOSAIC leftover fajitas, which were packaged up perfectly up to Health Code’s standards, I’m sure.
The next morning, we watched our church’s 9am service online, and got packed up. We went downstairs to explore the hotel, but we felt out of place in our “travel clothes” which were glorified exercise clothes/pajamas. So, we checked out and headed home. Here’s a picture of us saying goodbye to the hotel.
We went back to my new home for a bit to go through our wedding cards and gifts, and to make sure we had everything we needed for the trip. We were surely blessed.
THE ROAD
Okay, I’ll be honest. I was not awake for this entire trip. I got the luxury of napping while my new husband navigated good ol’ 81. I say that very sarcastically, as 81 is notorious for being full of aggressive truck drivers. We arrived around 7:45pm.
SUNDAY NIGHT
We did not do much once arriving at our cabin. We got situated, then went to dinner at a Mellow Mushroom that was open late, and grabbed some Kroger groceries, before heading back to go to sleep.
MONDAY
We had massage therapists from Smoky Mountain Massage Therapy come to our Airbnb! It was something I’d planned on incorporating into our honeymoon since we got engaged. I didn’t realize they’d be willing to drive out to our reasonably secluded cabin, however. That was a pleasant surprise. Our ladies were fast to set up their tables, adjust the lighting, and set a spa-like atmosphere for us. We both got tandem hour massages and it was just what the doctor ordered for melting away all the stress we’d harbored from wedding planning.
After our massages, we went into Pigeon Forge and decided to go go-kart racing. I talked a big talk to Jon and basically told him he was going to get his butt whooped. When it came down to it, I wasn’t fully comfortable to go full speed and ultimately finished last. OH, WELL.
Sitting in the parking lot at the go-kart track, we decided to book another Airbnb for Thursday night, since we loved the area already. That Airbnb is the tiny home linked above. We also visited what, frankly, was a very sketchy zoo. There, we saw a very angry alligator, who probably was last to get his lunch. We had lunch at Panda Express (#livinglikealocal) and then went back to the cabin to relax for a bit. Our dinner reservation was at The Melting Pot, which was also a long-planned event. It exceeded our expectations. Fun fact: every server we had on our honeymoon was literally the best, most top-notch server in the world. I love the South. Here’s a picture of our delicious dinner.
We chose to cook our food in a red wine bouillon. It was a good choice indeed. We had a very positive experience.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was an extra-special day of the honeymoon, due to the fact my husband turned 24! He had the best birthday. We both rode an alpine coaster, which was a first for both of us. Here’s a shot he got riding up the hill.
We also got to go to the Titanic Museum, which was high on our list of things we wanted to do. At the start, we were given the boarding pass of someone actually on the Titanic, and basically the whole time you’re trying to find out if you died or survived. Both of our people survived. I was a third class woman. He was the pianist aboard the ship. In one of the rooms in the museum, I was able to play a 113-year-old Steinway piano. It was heavenly. For dinner, we went to the restaurant Jonathan had been talking up non-stop. It was Best Italian on Parkway, and their garlic rolls were just as good as he said they would be. I was particularly wowed by their spaghetti and meatballs. The garlic rolls are shown below. Also, yes, that is garlic.
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, we finally went to Dollywood! Our first impression of Dollywood was that it was full of older people, and many of those people were in power chairs. Another unexpected thing about Dollywood was that they fed us very, very well. We ate at Miss Lilian’s Smokehouse and it was basically all the best foods of a Baptist after-church luncheon you could ever ask for. It wasn’t bad for the price either. We treated ourselves to Dippin’ Dots, rode a few little rides, and a couple of their (few) rollercoasters. We saw a show and a half and rode the train. Later on, we got really good Mexican food and tried out the hot tub at our cabin. Unfortunately, it never got very hot.
THURSDAY
Thursday morning, we packed up and left our cabin and headed straight for our tiny home on the other side of Sevierville. It was a very lazy day. We ate good food, got pumpkins at a local produce stand, and went through an old covered bridge.
Above you see the purple hot chocolate I got at iHop. It was very messy. Next to that is a picture of a famous cat named Produce who sleeps all day in his basket at the produce stand where Jonathan and I spent way too much on pumpkins. Below is the bridge near our Airbnb that gave me irrational Beetlejuice fears.
Since we had a pretty decent nap this day, Jonathan decided he wanted to drive through the night. It was probably the most uncomfortable car trip ever and we got in after 2am.
FRIDAY
We spent a lot of time at home and doing nothing. We did laundry, got groceries, and went over to my sister-in-law’s. I made us a pot roast for dinner in the Instant Pot, which was great. 
SATURDAY
The fun continued on Saturday as well, when we went to visit the cows at Creambrook Farm in Middlebrook, Virginia. I am a herdshare member with Creambrook, so it was particularly cool to see where my milk comes from. We got to meet some week-old cows and some big happy piggies. On the way home, we stopped at the scenic outlook spot along 64.
SUNDAY
We thought it’d be nice to surprise our officiant and friend by coming to his church on Sunday, since we were off and had the chance. We drove all the way to his church (1.5 hours away) and found that he was in Atlanta on vacation. We were not exactly thrilled, but enjoyed being a visitor at a church, and not employees for a change. Later on Sunday, we went to see the movie Judy with my parents, and it was awesome.
All in all, we had an amazing honeymoon! Wish we could do it once a month!
SARAH HARPER 