We went to Pigeon Forge for Evan's baseball tournament at Ripken and stayed at the Home 2 Suites right by the fields and right by The Island. I thought the hotel was a great location and we really enjoyed our stay there! We left early Saturday morning stopping for lunch in Kentucky and stopping at two distilleries on the Bourbon Trail in Lexington before getting to the hotel around 5pm. The first night we ordered pizza and ate with the team at the hotel, the boys all swam, and the adults hung out in the lobby.
Sunday, we had to be at the Ripken facility by 10:30am for the opening ceremony and the skills competition. We were there until about 2pm and it was hot! Evan participated in the outfield relay and did okay at 3rd base. Afterwards, we went into Gatlinburg to go to a sports card store right in the heart of things. It was a little tricky finding parking, but once we did, we walked around, ate at Ole Red for a late lunch/early dinner, and grabbed a beer at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. Then, it was fun in the lobby again with the team!
Monday the games started and we had games at noon and 5:30pm. We went back to the hotel in between games to cool off in the pool and eat a little something. They won their first game and lost their second. Afterwards, we ordered pizza to the hotel and chilled in our room for a while. We joined the team in the lobby again for some cards and drinks and it turns out that there were fireworks that went off around 10:30pm right by the hotel. It was quite the show!
Tuesday we had games at 8am and 12:30pm at a different location not far from the hotel. We won our 1st game and went to an early lunch at Mel's Diner down the road with some of the team. We lost our 2nd game. Man, it was a hot one that day! Afterwards, we swam at the hotel with the team and then got ready for our team dinner at a restaurant called Dicks Last Resort at The Island. The entire team went, minus our head coach. It was a fun experience where everyone got hats with raunchy sayings on them. We shopped at The Island and did some Moonshine tastings with the adults. It was a fun night!
Wednesday we had our last pool play game at 8am. We lost in a close game, which was a bummer. We had the rest of the day to ourselves, so Evan stayed behind at the hotel and went with Dom to the water park. Most of his team went too and it looked like they had fun. Scott, Sean and I went to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in Gatlinburg to do a hike and look for bears. We packed a bag lunch to eat in the car. We should have probably gotten gas before entering the 5.5 mile driving loop because the max speed was 10mph and we were trapped on a one-way winding trail. We also couldn't find parking at the trailhead, but just past that we saw a mama bear and her three cubs. It was amazing! They were so close and we were safe in our car! We parked a mile further and got out to go to the creek. I'd say it was a success! We went back to the hotel to swim and when Evan got back with the team we grilled steaks and corn on the cob with everyone. It was tasty!
Since it was our last night, we stayed up pretty late playing Cards Against Humanity, Euchre, and Blackjack in the lobby. There was a little drama in the hotel with the cops coming for someone pulling a gun on another person...on our floor. But, we all safely went to bed. Friday morning we got on the road just before 10am to head home, stopping at Chic-Fil-A for lunch in Kentucky. We got home around 6:30pm and we were excited to see Luna waiting for us at the house! It was a great trip and I was sad to say goodbye, as Evan is changing teams next year and we won't be with many of these families again.
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