We are back!

Mazzotti Portraits will reopen for business Tuesday the 18th. We have enjoyed our family time in the Smoky Mountains. I must recommend that all families take a vacation to the mountains in the summer time when the animals and nature is just at full throttle. We stayed at a family cabin up in the mountains in unincorporated Pigeon Forge. We drove in daily into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked, swam, climbed, rafted and spotted wildlife (deer, bear, elk, turkey, horses, birds, snakes etc...). It was also a very affordable vacation.

Aside from the free place to stay....we found you could rent a cabin or there were plenty of family/mom and pop hotels reasonably priced. What made it affordable as well: the National Park is FREE. You have a huge playground of places to swim and hike and view animals for FREE. We ate all three meals a day from home. We made old fashion big breakfasts of eggs, corned beef hash, pancakes, etc.... We packed our snacks in our backpacks for hiking. We packed a cooler that we would leave in the car with our picnic lunch (we picnicked either in official picnic areas or by the side of a creek). Packing lunch was a family affair as well. The kids each made their own sandwiches and snacks....I learned that my daughter loves spinach leaves in her roast beef....who knew? And for dinner we would cook up a great meal ... each member picked a favorite dinner from home to cook at the cabin. BUT the favorite...the campfire at night outside of the cabin where we made nightly smores. YUM.

I am not afraid to admit that I am a big city Cuban girl. I never carved a pumpkin until I was 20 years old! My family was a beach family definitely not a camping family. Roughing it was bringing the picnic to the beach. As a parent I want to expose my kids to the experiences I had as a child but also to those I never did get to experience but my husband did. So a trip to the mountains...not during ski season....was in order. My daughter is def a big city girl too...she did not get a thrill from the salamanders her brother and dad were catching. She did enjoy the wildlife spotting and photographing. In fact I rarely touched my own camera as my kids both wanted at it.

Seeing a part of America preserved in its Natural state was breath taking. It was a vacation we will do again. I hope you will take advantage of Natures Beauty and God's gift to us....and venture out to the wild.