Back Where I Come From. . .*

In the hills of East Tennessee we are super blessed with the natural playground. We grew up "lake rats"- having the Tennessee River, dammed into Ft. Loudon Lake, as it passes through Knoxville. We used to skip school in high school and head out on the lake. Not so clever when you get tossed in and head to 4th period soaking wet and sheepish, but still pretty fun.

Besides Ft. Loudon, 30 minutes away is my personal favorite, Norris Lake. Norris is a rock bottom lake, so the water is bright green and clear as a bell.

Its further up in the mountains so the only problem is walking from the water up to your lakehouse is quite a work out (you are ascending hundreds of feet).

Another more well known awesome aspect of East Tennessee is the Smoky Mountain National Park. I love to hike (although do not take advantage of the park nearly enough, boo to me). This is a pic of the Chimneys- there's actually giant holes int he rock that look (somewhat) like chimneys. You scramble up rock to this peak where the view is awesome. I'm usually super happy at the top, ostensibly for the incredible view, but also because I'm overjoyed that I am done hiking "up", and now just have the gravity-aided cruise down. Don't judge- the Chimneys is a tough hike, okay?

For an easier hike, try Abrams Falls. Its the first leg of one of the routes to Mt. Leconte. This was my favorite hike ever as a child, especially when its snowy. As ya'll fellow southerners know, snow is a rare, fleeting and mysterious thing here. However, its sticks and stays int he mountains, so we got to experience it some. The giant icicles, windy trail and snow on the ground made the perfect place for my friends and I to play either a) Narnia, b) Heidi or various other imaginary settings.

* For all of ya'll non-country fans, this is a quote from puka-shell-wearing, Renee Zellweger marrying, hometown boy, Kenny Chesney

P.S. I was supposed to go for a hike Sunday, and the lake all day Saturday. This did not happen. Why? Because I was in the office. All day on Sunday. Boo.

Although I guess I can't complain, considering as a transactional attorney who does real estate development, I'm lucky to be working at all. Whatever- I can still complain. Working on the weekend, in the summer, waaaahhhhh!