Headin' For The Hills + Glenstone Lodge Review

What is the best thing you can do for yourself after finishing the bar exam? Get out of town, at least for a couple of days. I decided to go to Gatlinburg, in the Smoky Mountains, because it is close to Nashville and a perfect weekend getaway.

I invited my friend P up to join me, and we were looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. Dinner at the Bubba Gump Seafood restaurant was good. The wait staff know how to take birthday celebrations a notch above.

Breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House was also good. You can never go wrong with pancakes, and like many pancake restaurants, this one offers any variety imaginable. Back to the hotel room to play on the computer and read a novel that has been on my shelf for too long. This afternoon we will go downtown and shop a little and find a nice steakhouse for dinner. Tomorrow we will leave at checkout and see what else we want to do before we meander out of town.

In other words, the perfect getaway after finishing the bar exam is to find a good place to do nothing. Some place that forces you to relax.

On the Glenstone Lodge: I stayed here many years ago and I have to say it is faded from its former glory. The centerpiece of the hotel is its great indoor two-level pool with a waterfall going from the top level to the bottom level. It is certainly wonderful, but like the rest of the hotel needs a facelift. Sitting in the hot tub connected to the pool you can see rust and chipped plaster (or whatever the material is) on the area right above the hot tub.

The lobby and hallways definitely need to be updated. There was a problem with getting hot water too. Twice I had to call the front desk and say there was no hot water to take a shower. The woman answering the phone told me sometimes you have to leave the water running for as long as 20 minutes before you get hot water. "Hmmm? "I said. "The $70 price tag for the room seems a little high for that." "But your room normally goes for as high as $110, and the hotel was built in the '70s," she answered. "Hmmm, even more so," I replied. "And a lot of hotels were built in the '70s, or earlier, and they don't have this problem."

Gatlinburg can charge high rates, especially in the summer, because a ton of people come here and want hotel rooms, so it is a seller's market. But Glenstone should take some of those profits and update the hotel so it is worth the money.

Bear Naked Vanderbilt Alum Appears In Survivor Tocantins

I am always up for a big travel adventure and would love to go to the Brazilian jungle. But for 39 days? Hmmm. That might be a bit much with the temps over 100 degrees and torrential downpours and dangerous wildlife. But Brendan Synnott, Bear Naked co-founder and CEO, and Vanderbilt alum (class of 2000), is up for the challenge and is competing in this season's Survivor. It is hard to believe that this is the show's 18th season. As a fellow Vanderbilt alum and previous employee of the University, my bets are on Brandon. Wonder if he will get to sneak in any of his wonderful health snacks?

http://www.dingorue.com/2009/01/14/brendan-synnott-survivor-tocantins/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocantins_(state)

Bonnaroo For You

If the chance of seeing the Beastie Boys and Nine Inch Nails doesn't entice you to Manchester, Tennessee, June 11-14, for the 2009 Bonnaroo Festival, how about Bruce Springsteen or Al Green. Merle Haggard, anyone?

http://www.bonnaroo.com/artists.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnaroo_Music_Festival

How 'Bout Them Steelers? Getting To The Point

I am not a football fan, but I do love my Steelers. And boy did they shine tonight. (And wasn't Springsteen fabulous?)

But getting to the Point, do you know about the Point in Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh is my kind of town and it probably is your kind of town too. Click on the link to get to the Point. I have spent many an hour in the Steel City, and you should too.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-3001539-action-imgsearch-point_state_park_pittsburgh-i

Snowfall in Franklin, PA

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. I had to feature this photo from the Jan. 29 edition of the Derrick., the newspaper for Venango County, PA. It's a picture of the main street in downtown Franklin, PA, my old hometown. Isn't it wonderful? It almost looks like a painting.

Photo by Jerry Sowden

Univ. of Tenn. Band Heads To D.C. For Fun Times At the Presidential Inauguration Parade

I am a UT Pride of the Southland Band nut and am not alone. There are many of us. I was a member of the band and continue to be an avid supporter. The band will be performing for the 12th consecutive time in the presidential inauguration parade in Washington D.C. next Thursday. They will have a blast. I know--I performed in one of the previous parades. There is nothing like riding up in one of the buses in the caravan and checking into the hotel (Ours had a mental hospital on the top floor. Hmmmm. We never could figure that one out.). The whole city is abuzz with excitement. Going to parties and sightseeing. Practicing marching the parade in a parking lot covered with solid ice. The fancy restaurants, the people, the fun, the memories that stay with you forever.

Ask any Pride member about their trip to the Inauguration and you will invariably hear two things: the bitter, ass numbing cold that besets the city like clockwork for every Inauguration, and the memories. Yes, the memories. There is nothing like passing the grandstand and playing Rocky Top.

List of Events for the Inauguration:

http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/Inauguration.htm

Brokedown Palace--A Nightmare Travel Story

I am watching Brokedown Palace again today, and once again it is giving me the willies. It is the story of two American girls who go to Thailand for an adventure. They meet up with a charming and good looking Australian (Yes, young American women always have charming and good looking, and some not so good looking men, wanting to befriend them on trips abroad.) and he invites them to travel to Hong Kong. Gosh darn, he just forgot to mention he had slipped some heroin into one of their bags, and they get caught at the airport. They may have to spend the rest of their lives in a Thai jail. What also gives me the willies is the behavior of the father of one of the girls toward the other girl when he arrives at the Thai jail. His comments to the other girl are just creepy and mean at that point in the story.

The scariest thing is how easily this could happen, and I am grateful it never happened to me. I never traveled to Thailand, but I did travel to Mexico, Greece, Spain, and Egypt, etc., sometimes just with another young woman, and this could have been our story too. I have a good sense about people, and I always seemed to know what was in our bags, but I guess these drug smugglers are just really good at setting people up.

I remember when a friend and I traveled to Egypt, I was 25. When I came back through U.S. customs, the custom agent spent an inordinate amount of time rifling through my bags. "Egypt--that is a wierd place to go," he said, watching me closely, as he went through my things with a finetooth comb. "Not really, I said." I was mad that he was taking so much time going through my things. I was tired and thought he was being a jerk. I guess he thought I might be a "mule," the name for young women, such as those in Brokedown Palace who bring drugs in and out of countries, often without knowing they are doing so. Egypt is one of those countries. Luckily, that wasn't my situation and I could move on. But I feel for those who have been trapped in these kind of situations.