I spent my Thanksgiving up in the mountains of North Carolina, at a cabin with friends in Bryson City, NC.

I made a new friend, of the four legged variety…

That’s Maverick, he loves to run around in the woods up on the mountain… this is where I stayed (that’s Jim standing on the deck, he build this house with his brother Richard back in the 1990’s) :::

I spent some time hiking in the nearby Smoky Mountain National Park… such a lovely place to hike, even in the chilly fall weather:

The Smoky Mountains of North Carolina only reach about 7,000 feet above sea level, and these are many places to go hiking through Smoky Mountain National Park.

Of course, I wasn’t just walking, there was wood to be split back at the mountain house:

It was 30 degrees in the morning, but I still worked up a sweat splitting logs! I also took long walks with Maverick each morning… he loved to run around in the woods while I was working.

It’s nice to get some exercise on vacation, especially when you’re eating well each day.

There were a few felled trees on Jim’s property, so I took his chansaw and cleared things out a bit.

Once of the big tourist draws in Bryson City is the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad:

The Smoky Mountains Railroad is a big draw for families with kids, especially during the holidays.

For Thankgiving I had dinner at the Melting Pot with several friends in Gatlinburg. It was NOT traditional, but we had fun.

This morning I was up and on the road before sunrise, and got back to my house in Wesley Chapel by 4PM this afternoon.

It was a nice change of scenery, I had some great conversation with some lovely folks, and I’ll never forget this Thanksgiving!

Ben Alexander

November 26th :: 2011