Midnight Hole

Midnight Hole was listed as best all around swimming hole on the list I mentioned the other day so we made it a priority on our list. It was about an hour from our cabin, back over the Tennessee border in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

1.5 miles isn't that long of a hike, but it feels like FOREVER if you aren't sure how long it will take you to walk that far and you are scared of missing the spot because it isn't marked. If you go, know that you will know when you are there. You can see it off the trail and it's pretty obvious. We spent a lot of time going off on side trails looking for it. It was HOT and we were covered in sweat by the time we found it. It made the water that much more refreshing!

This was for sure the most beautiful place we found. The water was so clear and those big rocks! The only downside was the water was COLD. Like, your joints hurt it is so cold, and you couldn't really get used to it.

The boys were in within seconds as usual. They loved jumping off everything.

Deciding where to jump. It was very deep between those rocks, probably from the power of the waterfall. I tried to swim up in there but it was too strong!

Marc said he loved climbing up there because it made him feel like Spider Man.

Travis jumping. He is so brave!

I did my usual floating around. That is all the action I need.

Beautiful clear water. I can't believe how cold it was! Even colder than the Florida spring we visited on our road trip last year.

This was a popular spot and started to fill up with people after a while. There wasn't a great place to sit and eat, so we crouched on rocks in the middle of the creek trying to find sun spots. I felt like Gollum (and I loved it).

We didn't stay for a long time, it was just too cold! Maybe if the sun would have been able to reach down through the trees it would have been better. Still, it was gorgeous and I'm glad we went.

We drove back to the cabin to get cleaned up then into town to have dinner with my friend Marrion and her boyfriend Tim. She moved to Asheville about a year ago and I miss her! She suggested a place called Salsas, which does Mexican/Caribbean.

It was amazing!!! I got the sweet potato paquetas. Mmmm, I want to eat it again. That drink was great too. It was a watermelon cocktail.

This is what Travis got. He doesn't remember what it was, but he liked it. How is that for a review?

For some reason we were talking about Batman movies and how we wished Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were on Netflix. Marrion and Tim told us about a local rental place called Orbit. It was awesome! Who knew I would miss video stores.

The only thing was they have everything organized in categories, and who knew Batman would be under sci-fi?

Here is a dog I saw.

The last place we went is called Pour. Asheville has lots of breweries, so if you like beer you are in luck. I don't really, so this place was great! You get an electronic bracelet and you swipe it by the beers you want to try, then you pay by the ounce. It was a cool way to try a bunch of stuff. I didn't find any beer I liked, but I did LOVE the Framboise Lambic and all the ciders I tried.

What a great idea for a bar! We had a lot of fun.

They also have hand cut fries and fried brussel sprouts. Yum!

I love vacation!