Months ago, my husband and I started daydreaming about taking a little trip for our anniversary. (Because we got married right after New Year’s, it has usually been difficult to save up money for a getaway so close to the holidays. So we have only done a getaway for our anniversary one time and it was our first anniversary. ) As we discussed planning a vacation, we went back and forth between leaving James for a couple days with relatives or friends..or taking him with us. We finally landed on the idea of inviting someone to go with us who could double as babysitters and vacation buddies. It didn't take us long to ask my younger sister and her husband. They are expecting their first baby in a few months and we figured it might be fun for them to get away as well. They readily accepted our invitation and we all excitedly made plans. We found a cabin with wonderful reviews near Pigeon Forge. We began to plan a few fun activities to try together during our time in the area.
We actually ended up booking our stay the week after our anniversary for two simple reasons: lower prices on lodging and much smaller anticipated crowds. Departure day finally came and we set off on our two hour drive, arriving at the cabin just minutes before my sister and brother in law arrived as well. We happily greeted each other then explored the cabin. It was adorable. Conveniently located within walking distance to the Pigeon Forge parkway, it was tucked away on a quiet side road and situated on a spacious lot next to a babbling little brook. The cabin looked just like a Lincoln log house. It had an inviting wrap around porch and a green metal roof. Just inside the front door, a festive Christmas tree twinkled merrily in a corner by a double sided stone fireplace in the living room. On one side, the fireplace provided heat to the inside. On the other side, it warmed a set of chairs on the outside porch, providing a cozy spot to sit and sip a cup of coffee. A small, well stocked kitchen, bedroom with a king sized bed, full bath and laundry closet were just off the living room. Beyond the living area, an enclosed porch housed a dining table and another double sided gas fireplace dividing the dining table from a game area complete with a foosball table and pacman arcade game. Just off this back porch area, a hot tub was tucked into a private corner outside.Upstairs, an open room held a pool table and queen sized bed. Just off of this open area was another bedroom with a King sized bed. Next to it was a bathroom.
We chose our rooms. Our family of three took the upstairs space with its two beds. We thought it would be perfect for us and our son. My sister and her husband took the downstairs bedroom. I took a few minutes to visually check for bugs or other unwelcome critters but my casual perusal yielded no negative results. Satisfied, I was happy to settle into our charming cabin.
The rest of the afternoon and evening flew by. We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Old Mill, a fun game together back at the cabin and lots of conversation and laughter. We put James to bed around 8 and visited some more before all heading to bed as well. That was when our bad experience began.
I went into our bedroom first. That was when I saw it: a small bug crawling across the fabric headboard. I froze, then quickly grabbed a tissue to kill it. As it lay in my hand, my stress level shot sky high as I realized it was indeed a bed bug. I went and got Matt and he agreed that was what it was. In that moment, I felt all of my happiness and excitement plummet. We stood there, whispering, trying to decide what the best course of action would be. It was so late and we had no idea where we would go if we packed up and left. Finally, Matt decided to call our cabin's owner. She was horrified and apologetic but there was little she could do that late at night. She did offer to pay for us to move to a hotel room, but with our dogs, we didn't know where to go and we hated to wake our son. We did, however go wake up my sister and her husband and showed them the offending bug, and by this time, we had also found yet another one. They had some experience dealing with bed bugs and didn't find any in their bed. We all agreed to stay put for the night, just not sleep in the King bed upstairs of course. I moved to my son's side in the queen sized bed-which I checked quickly again with thankfully no sign of bed bugs- and Matt moved downstairs to the sofa. I slept very little that night. My mind spun with frantic worry and my heart was sad and frustrated by this situation. I was glad when morning finally came even though I'd probably slept four hours at the most. It’s hard to sleep with visions of bed bugs crawling across your skin.
The next day, we were all glad to leave the cabin and its problems and go out for a nice breakfast at the Applewood Farmhouse. I sipped lots of coffee and tried to let my worries fall away. Thankfully, the cabin owner called Matt as we ate. She relayed good news: an inspector had found zero evidence of bed bugs in any room except our upstairs bedroom. We all were relieved. Later that day, an exterminator came and treated that room and I finally felt like I could relax. We had a good day shopping and visiting with each other and then we finished the day with a TV show and went to bed.
The next day was our most enjoyable one. Matt and I went on a kid free breakfast date in the morning. We went to Five Oaks Farmhouse kitchen-our first time eating there, and we loved it. The food was delicious and we enjoyed the atmosphere. We spent a couple hours talking and dreaming about the future, something we always enjoy doing together. Then later, all five of us drove to Gatlinburg and rode the tram to Ober Gatlinburg. It was a wonderful time. Later that night, we relaxed again at the cabin.
The next morning, as we packed up to go home, I was horrified to discover another bed bug again on that same headboard. We packed all of our luggage and dirty clothes into trash bags. I have never been so glad to get home from a trip as I was that afternoon when we pulled into our driveway. We took our shoes off outside before entering the house. Next began the mountains of laundry. We left all of our luggage on the porch and brought it in by small increments to immediately unload it into our washing machine. We used the hot water setting and ran the dryer on high heat. All of our other surfaces, including the luggage, James' toys, our shoes, and more, I generously wiped down with rubbing alcohol which is said to kill bedbug larvae. I did laundry late into the night.
Looking back, I learned some important lessons from this terrible experience. One, my fear of mice which has always been high, is NOTHING compared to my fear of bedbugs. I will gladly take a cabin with mice dropping here and there over a cabin with bed bugs from now on. Secondly, I will NEVER go into a cabin or hotel room again without a thorough inspection for bed bugs. I know what to look for and I will also not leave dirty clothes on the floor or store suitcases on the floor or on the bed. (Thankfully, the cabin had a set of metal barstools upstairs which worked great for keeping our suitcases off the floor.)
Thirdly, even bed bugs do not have to ruin good memories. I found myself thinking often, "why did this have to happen?"We had been planning and dreaming of this getaway for months. All through the stress of 2020 with COVID, the dream of going to a lovely cabin for a few carefree days had more than once buoyed our spirits. Yet, in the middle of our plans going awry, I had to admit I had put my hopes in what this trip could do for me. It was not going to bring me joy. I had to find joy elsewhere. Perhaps God allowed the bed bugs to show me that I can find joy in Him no matter where I am. As frustrating and stressful as that situation was, it was blessing because it reminded me that God alone is my true hope. It's easy to sing songs about God being my hope. But when that truth meets real life experiences, the truth of what I really believe comes out!
It has now been a few months since we came home and there has been no sign of any invasion of those nasty creatures so it looks like we dodged a bullet. I'm grateful that we stayed with my sister and her husband who not only were super calm and "chill" about the situation, but had been through it themselves and had good advice for us. I could not have asked for better vacation buddies to go through it with!
So there you have it, our very mixed bag getaway adventure! I don't think we will be staying in any cabins or hotels anytime soon!
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