GATLINBURG

Hello Hello! It's been a while. In the week or so that I have been absent, something very terrible has happened...MY CAMERA STOPPED WORKING!!! Actually, it works, as in it can turn on and off and change settings and whatnot, but the screen is black and when I take a picture, it comes out black as well. Does anyone know what would be wrong with it or how I can get it to work? Unfortunately I can't just go and buy a new one as I do not have a job, therefore little money. Lame. I have no idea what is wrong with it, but all I know is that I won't be able to take pictures regularly now. But the good news is that I am back with some pictures from Gatlinburg - from before my camera stopped working.

My sisters and I went with our mother on a drive to Cades Cove (post on that here) and afterwards headed to Gatlinburg for dinner and a late night stroll. We ate dinner at two places. My sisters and mom ate at Johnny Rocket's while I went upstairs to grab some food to-go at the Loco Burro. Sometimes I don't much care for Johnny Rockets. I don't have anything against it, especially since there are a few vegan options. It's just that I don't like packaged/pre-made veggie burgers and sometimes I'm hungry for more than just a little salad (however, their sweet potato fries are divine!). So at the Loco Burro, I got three side dishes of black beans, mexican rice, and pico de gallo. Chips and salsa were complimentary with the meal. 

Once I was together with my sisters and mom, we had a blast! Our waiter, Carmine, was a real treat as well. He played the claw machines until he got each of us a stuffed toy, took turns drawing pictures with ketchup, he gave our mom his number so he can send us discounts for Twin Peaks (a restaurant that his girlfriend works at), gave us free milkshakes (in which Kuyuki and I couldn't have), and we even got up to dance with him twice. That experience at Johnny Rockets really was something else!

  

After our dinner, we hugged our waiter goodbye (we really did), and went across the street to the Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen. It's a must every time we go to Gatlinburg. We always get candy apples, multiple boxes of taffy, and other candies (all of which I cannot have now that I am vegan). But that's okay. It's still fun to look inside and watch the taffy being made!

The rest of the night we looked in various shops, sampled some of the hottest pepper sauces ever, and took pictures with and of some of the random things we thought looked cool (like the Claire's building and the statue of the world's tallest man). This was also the last day I could really take pictures because this was the day that my camera started acting up (hence some of the pixely and orangeish photos towards the end). From that day on I had to either use my webcam, sister's phone, or dad's camera if I wanted to take a picture. It's a burden to always have to ask someone to use their camera, whereas I used to be able to just whip out my own camera anytime I wanted. It sucks, but oh well. I know what's on my Christmas list now!