Holiday to Tennessee in Mar 2024: Day 7 – Nashville to Sevierville

Another half decent sleep was enjoyed by the both of us. It was another comfy bed although again, it’s difficult not to draw comparisons with your own bed at home. So it was a tad soft for my liking.

We walked out to Starbucks, which was a few blocks down the street at the Margaritaville hotel, and it opened at 6am.

It turned out to be one of the most expensive Starbucks rounds we have ever paid for. An eye-watering $17 for two coffees – what is the world coming to?

We went into hotel breakfast on the ground floor (yes on this occasion the US has acknowledged the existence of a ground floor), and we met a waitress who really didn’t understand English. It was a real struggle.

We ordered a 2-egg dish for me and a 3-egg omelette for Vick. The chef forgot to include the tomatoes and it was way too cheesy for Vick. Based on how late it was, the chef probably forgot to make it the first time around! Not a great start to the day.

Also worth noting that the cost of the buffet was $19. Exactly the same contents as the breakfast buffet in Memphis, which charged $10.

Our plan for the day was to do our normal!

Combine visits to Starbucks and Tesla superchargers until we reached our final destination for the day: the Sanctuary Treehouse Resort in Sevierville.

Got the car around 9am and headed to our first stop at Crossville.

Firstly to pick up a Starbucks where we also picked up some bread and cheese for lunch.

We then drove a few miles to a Tesla supercharging station, located on the site of the biggest refuelling station in the world. 112 gas stalls and 20 odd superchargers.

Not only that, but it’s part of a store called Buc-ees. Now, the store sold a load of tat, but the restrooms are world famous for their cleanliness and quality.

Wow! How is this the first time we have heard about Buc-ee’s?

https://www.discoveryuk.com/building-big/fueling-interest-the-worlds-biggest-petrol-station/

We drove on to the next supercharging stop, which was another Buc-ee’s. It was in a town called Kodak, but the gas station was called Sevierville, even though it’s 10 miles north of Sevierville!

In the final few minutes before arriving at the Tesla Supercharger, we saw a dog jump off the back of a pickup truck and run across the road narrowly missing cars.

Poor dog! Just crazy to allow your beloved dog to sit unrestrained in the back of a pickup truck.

Whilst supercharging, we ate our cobb salad and our key lime pie, which turned out to be a coconut cup. Doh!

We arrived at the Sanctuary Treehouse Resort early, and we appeared to be the first guests to check in.

There was no formal check-in area, but we bumped into Amanda Jenson (the part-owner), who invited us to enjoy The Honey Hole.

On the ground floor is an outdoor day bed, with a TV and curtains that can be drawn around the ground floor. There’s also a small dining table.

Up the stairs, we managed to work the code on the door and initial impression was: Wow! What a fab place.

Once we had gotten over the excitement of finally getting here, we sat down and got planning!

We planned some meals for the next few nights and headed out to Publix, where we were scorched for £180 for food that might have cost us half that back home.

Steak for dinner on two nights with chicken in the middle.

We also bought two bottles of red and a bottle of rose.

We had to ask for some wine glasses. Unfortunately, they were plastic, which reduced the value of buying any half decent wine.

We prepared our steaks, got the fire going, and opened the cheaper bottle of wine.

It was really warm in the sun, but in the shade, it was a tad chilly, so we appreciated the warmth of the fire on the deck.

The majority of the view from the deck was beautiful – we could see other treehouses to the south and we could see the river to the east.

Unfortunately, to the west, we could see a bit of a building site. In the future, it will be the location of the resort’s check-in building, but that’s not been built as yet.

A little disappointing to say the least.

After enjoying our steaks and salads, we turned our attention to our ice cream.

It had become well and truly stuck in the ice bucket that Vick had filled with ice cubes to keep it cold.

Somehow, we managed to free it from its icy grip and found that it was actually quite soft.

That made it even more lovely…

Follow the whole story here: Holiday to Tennessee in Mar 2024