Reuniting in Tenn & to the Big Apple

A day late and more than a dollar short, we've finally started our trip around the world. On Thursday night we arrived at the Nashville airport for our flight to New York City to find that it had been canceled. Since that was the last flight of the day we were booked on a flight the next morning and sent away. Not the best way to start a trip, but other than losing a day in NYC (and having to unpack and repack again), it wasn't too much of a problem. Andy's parents were kind enough to put us up for another night in their hotel and hotels.com saved the day by refunding our canceled night in NYC (they even ate the costs when the hotel stuck by their cancellation policy!).
After Andy spent a week in Joplin with me, we said good-bye to my family and friends and met up with his family in Russellville, Arkansas. From there we drove across Tennessee though Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville to Sevierville for the Pennington Family Reunion. (Andy's mom's family met there for their every-fifth-year event.) Sevierville is a small town next to Pigeon Forge (home of Dolly Parton) just south of Knoxville that has a Branson, MO feel with a view of the Smoky Mountains.

We had plenty of BBQ along the way and in Knoxville, spent some time on the river walk, took a paddle boat ride, saw the world's fair park and visited the University of Tennessee... that town is orange and white through and through!

In Sevierville we hung out in our condo resort, with a view of the mountains, where we swam and met up for dinners in the evenings, including a dinner show at the Dixie Stampede. During the days the boys visited Bass Pro and did some fishing while the rest of us drove up into the mountains for a picnic lunch and spent some time in the pool. A rafting trip also gave us some relief from the heat and humidity. Since Brooke (Andy's niece) wasn't old enough we went on the lower river (1-2 rapids)... there wasn't too much rough water, but we had a good time!
After the reunion, we headed back to Nashville where we had a fun dinner at the Aquarium restaurant (its huge tank full of fish, sharks, sting-rays and an ugly eel kept us all entertained). We visited the Bell Meade Plantation the next morning where we toured the mansion and learned the history of this prosperous thoroughbred farm. Thanks to our cancelled flight we stayed one more night in Nashville before finally saying good-bye to Andy's family and getting on our way.