Trip Report Day 4: Dollywood

We got up, got ready and headed over to breakfast at Shoney's. The waitress was not as smiley as we are accustomed to in Tennessee, but it was a hearty breakfast as we prepared for a full day at Dollywood. Unfortunately, I found a splinter in my finger and tried my hardest to get it out, but failed miserably and it was hurting a little. Everyone yelled at me to leave it alone, so I finally did.

After breakfast we made it over to Dollywood. We drove through the parking lot and saw no cars, so we were wondering if it was even open. Well, it was and it had the perfect amount of people ... practically none. I had bought the tickets online before we arrived in Tennessee, so I was all set with ours. Fortunately, Jackson and Addison were free.

Immediately after passing through the turnstiles, a sweet Dollywood employee overheard me asking about their baby care center and gave me directions to it. I headed right over to it and was able to change Addison quickly, quietly and cleanly. It was lovely. I love theme parks that care about moms with young children (Disney has them too). It really makes my life easier.

My mom took Addison and got directions to the first aid station, so I could get my splinter out. It was the first time I had ever visited a first aid station in a theme park. It was quick and painless, almost enjoyable.

Eventually, after caring for Addison and me, we finally were able to get on a ride and we chose Smoky Mountain River Rampage. Jackson was actually able to ride, but he was seriously afraid and only started to ease up after my mother and I got soaked. He didn't love the ride, but he visited the family clothing dryer with us to see if it could dry us up a little bit. It failed and we just looked like a group of idiots standing in a box. Unfortunately, a lot of attractions were closed because of the light crowd.

We decided to keep the ride action going and went over to the Rockin' Roadway. Jackson was able to ride on this too and he shared a car with TK. He kept reminding him to, "Go easy, Daddy. Go easy!" I rode in a car with my mom and tried to wave at them the whole time, but Jackson was too focused on having a calm ride that he didn't notice. He was done with rides after that and walked right by all of the children's rides. The adults rode Demolition Derby and gave each other whiplash, but we had a great time laughing. My dad and I got Jackson on the carousel and he cried the ENTIRE TIME. That was about as much fun as a root canal. After that, we gave up on rides for Jackson. Instead, my family spent $100 on all of the carnival games. They came out with a very expensive stuffed Minion and a giraffe, and a Florida Gators football.

For lunch, we went to Miss Lillian's Chicken House because we went to Aunt Granny's the last time we were there. The food was pretty tasty and I really do love that macaroni salad is a side dish in a lot of Tennessee restaurants. By this time, Addison was getting pretty cranky, so I walked her around until she fell asleep. Then, TK, Uncle George and I rode Blazing Fury, which wasn't all that exciting. It needs an upgrade. TK and I rode Firechaser Express and that was a lot of fun. It went forward and backward. As we walked out from Firechaser, TK tried his best to convince me to ride Wild Eagle. I watched it go around and it looked intense. I finally said yes and we got right on with no wait. I screamed the entire time and it was kind of cathartic to be able to scream at the top of my lungs. TK loved it and convinced Uncle George to ride it with him. It was one of the best rollercoasters that I've ever experienced.

When we were done with the rides, we looked for some snacks and headed toward the front of the park. I picked up some Peach Amaretto Pecan Honey Butter because the salesman was really good at his job and the honey butter was delicious. My aunt got her funnel cake, my dad got a float and TK got a sundae. There was an apple pie there that was 25 pounds and once slice was $18.99. It was monstrous. We made one last loop through the souvenir shop and then we were out. We had a long, tiring, yet really fun day.

Trip Report Day 1: Traveling to Tennessee

We got on the road at 8 p.m. with a fully packed car, complete with one infant, a toddler, an activity mat, four duffle bags, bags of books, an Avengers backpack, a cooler bag, a snack bag and a portable DVD player. We had everything we needed ... and more.

Unfortunately, we hit traffic in Staten Island and added an hour to a trip that should take around 12 hours. Finally, we met Uncle George and Aunt Rosie in Pennsylvania and I was able to feed and change Addison on the folded down seat in front of me. She was in good spirits, thankfully.

The next time we stopped was in Virginia at 2 a.m. to get gas and some snacks. I actually found the elusive Little Debbie Peanut Butter Sandwich Pies that I've heard about, but have never seen. They were good, just a little sweeter than I'd hoped.

There was something really peaceful and serene about sitting in the back of a car staring out the window into the darkness at a foreign location in the middle of the night. 

We stopped one more time to change Addison, but by then we were in Tennessee and needed a meal. We started our stay in Tennessee with breakfast at Flapjack's in Pigeon Forge. We had eaten there five years prior, so we knew it would be good. It was the perfect way to start the day. 

Down to Tennessee

I just got back from a vacation to Tennessee with my parents and sister-in-law, Erin. We drove down on a Saturday and stayed over in Strasburg, VA. Then on Sunday we continued our journey to Gatlinburg. When we got there we saw a whole string of huge log cabins and a water park at our resort. One of the employees showed us to our room and we had to drive up a winding road all the way up a mountain. Then the guy gave us the news about the black bears that have been known to hang around the mountains, and my mom flipped. She was not happy in the least. Honestly, I think it would be cool to see a bear...from the comfort of my window or a car. I would rather not get my face ripped off for a bag of trash though. After we settled in and my mother yelled a little, we went down to the barbecue restaurant in the main building and then headed to the grocery store to buy some snacks and breakfast for the week. The rooms were nice. We had comfy beds, two shower heads, a jacuzzi tub, plasma TVs and a balcony that overlooked the forest. It was pretty nice, despite the dozen or so centipedes that graced us with their presence every morning and night.

The next day we headed to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg. They had several really cool exhibits and a Plexiglas tunnel where you can view sharks, stingrays and other fish from underneath. There was also a touch tank with horseshoe crabs and stingrays and a penguin playground, which I obviously loved because they are my FAVORITE. I was able to take some really cool pictures of jellyfish and other interesting sea creatures. After the aquarium, we walked around town in Gatlinburg where I had the most delicious donut at the Donut Friar and then made a few stops in Pigeon Forge, including Cici's Pizza which I have seen one to many commercials for.

Tuesday we left for Nashville and started with lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, another spot I see commercials for but haven't seemed to find in NY (Not sure if you are seeing a trend, but I like to eat.). We then took a bus tour of the area learning about recording studios, history, civil war and music. They have a replica of the Parthenon in a park in Nashville. Why? I don't really know, something about a cultural rebirth of the city...I still find it odd. I also took a walk through the Charlie Daniels Museum and I could smell a musty, moldy smell that was probably left over from the huge flood the area suffered from earlier this summer. Attractions have just started opening while we were there and in full force, which I was happy about. I was especially happy that The Wildhorse Saloon was open because that's where we ate, drank and line danced that night. We also listened to live music by someone named Les Richardson and he was really good, but he played a few too many Tom Petty songs. Sorry fans.

The next day we took a local's recommendation and took a visit to Cheekwood, a botanical garden that had a visiting Dale Chihuly exhibit. The Chihuly pieces were scattered around the gardens, carefully placed in specific spots to emphasize the shine of the glass or the organic shapes of the artwork. They were massive and amazing. After Cheekwood, we headed over to Belle Meade Plantation and took a tour of the mansion the housed the owner of Bonnie Scotland and Iriquois, the most important and most famous horses, respectively. One of the original owners of the plantation was a racist, but the history of it all was interesting. They also had a winery where the employees were so very nice and offered us a free tasting. We ended up buying bottles of Muscadine, a varietal of grape that is popular in the south and creates a very full, sweet tasting wine. It was very good. After stopping at a Sonic, we headed back to Gatlinburg and enjoyed dinner at Mel's Diner. A wonderful name for a food establishment, if I do say so myself.

On Thursday, we waited for my parents to get sales pitches from the timeshare folks and then we headed to Dollywood. The Mystery Mine and Tennessee Tornado roller coasters were great but the Thunderhead left me with a splitting headache and Blazing Fury was more '80's than neon spandex pants. My parents were very impressed by the live entertainment and the talented performers. I didn't see it, but apparently some musician played the banjo like a champ. Then we headed to the buffet dinner that was complimentary with our online ticket and it was called Aunt Granny's. The staff was very friendly and loved our accents.

Friday was our last full day in Gatlinburg so we headed to a Flapjacks for pancakes since we saw about a dozen of them, tried some wine at the Mountain Winery (it was after noon) and then to Zorb Smoky Mountains. I changed into a bathing suit and some shorts that I purchased and headed to the top of the mountain to get into my wet zorb. I got a running start and Super Manned my way into the zorb. Then Erin got in and the girl told us to lie on our backs with our arms crossed, then she zipped up the side and pushed us down the hill. It was so fun, odd and hysterical. We just sloshed all over in the zorb until we got to the bottom of the hill and swallowed a whole gallon of water. It was one of the craziest things I have ever done and it was awesome. My nutty mother did the dry zorb and got strapped into it and flipped over about 30 times. I would have thrown up but she loved it. We made a few more stops at places we wanted to hit before we left, like Smoky Mountain Brewery, the Donut Friar (again), Mayfield's Ice Cream and a few more souvenir spots to make sure we didn't leave anyone out at home.

On Saturday we got up at dawn and started our long journey home, but at least the drive was picturesque and smooth. Nothing unpleasant about it.