Our Tennessee Vacation—part 6

Wednesday…

                Oh Tennnnn-neseeeee

                Oh Tennnnn-neseeeee

                Oh how I love this Tenneseeeeeeeee 

  

And we really liked the chain type pancake joint we found there.  Flap Jack’s.  Their menu is great!  And…they have square biscuits because they don’t cut corners!!  Lol

They are part of the restaurant group that includes Mr. Gatti’s (yes, my children, they do still exist and there is one in Pigeon Forge), TGIFridays, Golden Corral, the Melting Pot and Corky’s BBQ.  They had all of the above right there in the area if you are the exception to the rule and only eat at familiar places.  The Darden Restaurant group is also in the area.  That would be Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn, Bahama Breeze, etc. 

                Our big exploration event of the day was to find the “top of the world” Corry wanted us to see.  When he lived down in the area, it was a favorite spot of his.  And after finding it, I know why!  It is fabulous.  Clingman’s Dome…aka the Top of the World. 

                The drive up was really something!  Oh my goodness those twists and turns and were we REALLY that close to the edge??  We went through the circle turn too.  Complete circle.

               

 I did love it but that’s not to say I wasn’t doing a LOT of backseat driving in the passenger’s seat.  And I probably cracked a few teeth clenching so tight.  Lol  But we made it. 

                

                Whew!  At the top.  We MADE it.  And whoa the difference in temperature!

               

That was in the parking area.  We weren’t able to do the walk to the lookout.  Another half mile or mile up a path.  I was fine.  Our view was unbelievable.  God paints an awesome picture.

               

                We stayed up in that very pleasant air for quite a while.  Even with my asthma, I had no troubles breathing up there.  In fact, it was easier everywhere in the whole area than it is at home.  I felt way better in every health department down in this area than I have felt anywhere in years!  Wish we could sell everything we have and move here.

                Heading back down the mountain was another adventure.  Oh boy.  Going down there are a lot of areas that just about had us hanging onto the pavement with both hands white knuckled.  Some places had walls; many didn’t. 

               

A very nice lady grabbed our camera and took a picture of the two of us at one of the little stops.  This was at the point that is the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

               

                Down down down down through the Smoky Mountains National Park on our way back to check out a few things in downtown Gatlinburg.

               

                I had a destination in mind.  Cooters.  Yep, from Dukes of Hazzard.  They have a place that is a small museum and a mini golf place and a little store that has everything Duke and everything General Lee.  But we’ll get there in a minute.  For now, let’s look around town a bit.  There are so many little streets and plazas and alcoves of tourist traps.  Lol  If you stay at one of the huge hotels or resorts down in the town area, you can walk anywhere or take a trolley to anywhere in the area. 

                

                Ahhh COOTERS!

               

                Back through the little mountainy area and on to Pigeon Forge for the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Theater.  I was excited.  It was sure to be a fun evening.

                

                Our first encounter with fun was when the guys tried to take our ECV’s to park them where they’d be out of the way.  We rode them in fine, but we didn’t need them during the show.

               

                Food was deeeeeelicious!  Pulled pork, chicken, slaw, beans and taters.  They brought them in little metal pots with handles.

               

                Now the show!

                     

Well pre-show.  And then, dessert!

               

                All the shows in the area that we went to prided themselves on being family friendly clean comedy.  Great stuff.  They also involved the audience, young and old.

                

Preshow done and now on to the main attraction

And in the end, the Hatfields and the McCoys were joined as one in marriage.

And the celebration continued with dancing and clogging and lots of spirited fun.

                

                They strive to make your every minute full of fun and light-heartedness.  From the little games and shop areas in the lobby

               

To the animals outside the building

               

To all the signs and decorations on your way to and from your car

                

After the show we went back to cabin.  I sat on the swing in the pleasant mountain air a little while, then went in and sorted through our collection of the day.  Only one more day here and we wanted to make sure we had done all we’d hoped.  After looking through things, I realized we could come down here twice a year for many years and still not ever do it all. 

The hot tub felt mighty good, but for some reason it took my breath away.  It hadn’t done that before.  I stuck it out a while though because fat floats and it really takes a load off. 

J

Our Tennessee vacation—part 5

Tuesday…

                After spending a sort of leisurely morning going through some things at the cabin, we decided this would be our day to find Mama’s Farmhouse Restaurant.  When I asked the people who were locals working at Dollywood for their recommendations of locally owned restaurants, this was one highly recommended.  I was told that the lady who started the restaurant was indeed a local woman and it had maintained the local flavor and traditions.  Awesome.  Just what we were wanting.

                The ride there was normal, normal.  I did my usual and tried snapping pictures of unique things.  Nothing too remarkable jumped out and bit me today until we got to the restaurant.  How special it looked.

Yes.  Those chairs do say Mama and Papa.

                I hadn’t asked what kind of food they had or what their prices were like.  My mistake.  It’s really important to do that!  But it worked out.  It was what I considered fairly reasonable for a good quality restaurant in a high, high tourist area.  What we didn’t know was that it was an all you can eat place.  Cool. 

                We were seated in one of the front rooms, almost by ourselves.  Our waitress came up with a sweet country smile and asked what we’d like to drink.  I decided coke and Cliff got sweet tea if I remember right.  She brought us our drinks in canning jars, the official glass of the area I think.  Along with that, we were given a basket full of sweet cornbread and biscuits and PEACH butter!  Oh my GOODness that was wonderful!  She asked us whether we wanted soup or salad and told us that was one of two decisions we’d have to make.  I opted for the salad and Cliff got the soup. 

FanTAStic!  Both were delicious.  And what was best about my salad was the apple cider dressing.  I had never tasted it before and I was in love. 

Before our starters were gone, she came with the meal.  We were given helpings of chicken AND meatloaf, macaroni and cheese AND mashed potatoes, okra, green beans and corn pudding.  When something was nearly gone, she was prompt to bring refills. 

When it looked like we’d had enough, she told us we now had to make our second decision.  Strawberry shortcake?  Or banana pudding.  I asked if she could do half and half and told her I’d really like my shortcake without the biscuit.  She brought me a bowl of vanilla ice cream with strawberry topping, Cliff shortcake and a banana pudding to share.  Wonderful food.  Loved this place.

The signs on things cracked me up. 

On the way out, we happened to notice that the family tree of the Mama who started this special place was on the wall.  How cool.

                I was wanting to go back to the resort and take more pictures of the cabins and while we were wandering around see what other things we could find.

The cabin was still what we thought it was.  No one moved it or changed it.  Lol  

The view from there was still superb.  I was happy.

Driving down the road, Cliff saw me drooling I think.  He pulled into the Factories Outlet Christmas store.  He knows my love of Christmas stuff.  And…I was taking pictures, pictures, and more pictures of all things Christmas thinking my sweet friend Cheryl and her best bud Denise will find their way down to enjoy if they see enough of it.  Lol

As we wandered we realized that you really do need to check things out before jumping at an activity.  There are many, many of whatever you’re wanting to do.  Ziplines was perhaps the one that struck me the most.  There were ziplines advertised that were right there in easy reach.  But the coolest one we found was back some weird road we found and it looked awesome!  We actually were able to watch some folks coming back to base. 

We had pulled in their lot to turn around and out of nowhere in the trees of the far mountain came slip sliding in a couple people.  WOW!  How fun!  They got to the platform we were closest to and hooked on and slid into the main lodge type building.  Neat, neat, neat.

                Our next little stop was at the Gatlinburg Welcome Center.  I found a few trinkets there for gifts and learned about several other types of arts and crafts that are locally made.  I could have gotten what I wanted there, but buying at the little shops from the artists would be so much more fun. 

                Our wanderings were the side and back streets on both sides of the main drag.  If we got lost it was fine.  We had the GPS to help us back to the business area and on to our evening activity.  While driving we saw a gigantic barn with a huge picture on its end.  We wanted to see just what that was.  When we got to it, we discovered an empty barn with Dick Clark on its side, for sale.  Wow.  If we were rich and talented, we could buy it and do something with it.  Lol  ANYthing!  Looked to us like in this area, anything goes and it all makes a good buck!

                Great Smoky Mountain Murder Mystery Dinner Theater was a fun place to go.  We had never done a murder mystery before.  The show we saw was a take off on I love Lucy.  The acting wasn’t real professional, but it was fun.  The meal wasn’t anything to write home about but it filled our belly.  Been there done that, now we don’t need to do it again.

                We got Back to cabin after stopping in to use the two for one ice cream coupon we were given.  And now I remember we also had 36 free holes of miniature golf.  DRAT we forgot!  We opened the door to the cabin and it’s REALLY hot!  Oh fer joy. Sleep that night didn’t seem too promising. 

Our Tennessee vacation—part 4

Monday…

                I had a lot on my list of maybes for this day.  As I mentioned before, originally we had planned to make this our second day at Dollywood.  Had it not been for our ECVs (electric carts) there would have been no way for us to do it in one day.  Lots of hills, inclines both slight and steep, shows that would have been impossible for us to get from one to the other as quickly as we’d needed to.  Another advantage of using the carts was that we could skidder past all those little food places QUICK!  Lol  Country food, fair food, candy….all have this magnetic power over me.  With the cart’s go power, I made it through with only our meals.

                One of my MUST DO places to see was the Incredible Christmas Place.  It’s such a special place!  It’s not just the Christmas store that’s the draw.  For many, I’m sure it’s the Inn.  They have a beautiful, huge resort across the main drag from the store area.  And there is also a lovely little restaurant that we could see next to the store area.  As big as the Inn is, my guess is they have one or more food places there too.  And it’s beautiful.  Makes you think Christmas in the middle of 90+ heat. 

                The shopping here didn’t disappoint me.  I’m a Christmas lover.  It was just beautiful.  Let me drop a photo or six in here as we “talk.”  I was pleased to see they did respect the men who come with the shoppin’ mamas.   They had quite a few sitting areas.

               

                As we got out of the car, conveniently there was a potty stop.  J  They’re smart.  Having them OUT of the actual store probably kept down the possibility of thefts.  Next up, we came to the “reindeer” area.  It was a little walkway between things that had cute fake deer in stalls. 

They had a discount area upstairs too.  Nothing up there struck my fancy enough to bring it home, but I’m sure a few would have if I’d had a little more to spend.  I wanted to get some specific things to bring home.  Nope.  Not talkin’.

               

                It was mesmerizing to walk around in this place.  Beauty in every step.

                

                This was maybe the cutest of the rest stops.  Made for a man.  All done in there with a hunting theme.  And…a TV. 

            More and more and more themes.

    I was soooo tempted, Cheryl.  J

               

                Next on my list of must do places was the Apple Barn.  I love fall and give me an apple any old way and I’m happy.  This place didn’t disappoint.  In fact, we loved it.

               

                We decided to start out with our noon time meal.  Our dinner was going to be at Dixie Stampede.  We found out there is a restaurant at each end of this beautiful place.  We chose the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant for lunch.  I’m so glad. 

               

                They seated us right away.  The place is huge and we were a bit off the peak meal time so we didn’t have a wait.  I loved that our seats were in porch swings.  No kidding.  Porch swings.  Now isn’t that cool?

               

                Then we are brought a basket of apple fritters, apple butter and two little glasses of apple julep.  Very good!  It’s served to everyone like people get bread in so many places.  (They later gave us the Applewood julep recipe.   1c. pineapple juice, 1c. orange juice, ¼ c. lemon juice and 1 qt. apple juice.  Serves 6)  Wonderful, wonderful.  They had my vote!

               

Next came a piping hot cup of yummy veggie soup.  Our food was great!  I chose chicken.  This was my chicken vacation.  I’m a chicken lover from way back.  Any way, shape or form.  Just makes me happy.

                When we finished our meal, we decided to adventure a little bit and check out the shops.  First…the General store.  How cool!  Everything in it was apple related!  Even the lampshades!

               

                From there we went to the Apple Cider Bar and got a nice glass of fresh squeezed cider.  Yummy.  I bought a GIANT bag of dried apple slices for much, much less than the equivalent of apples would have cost.  And I don’t have to use my fruit fresh, my dehydrator and my time to put them up!  Cool!  Also got some recipe cards.  Awesome recipes for lots of things we’d been able to taste.

                Next…candy?  Did someone say candy?  And the sugar free section was huge compared to most candy stores.  Great selection!

                

                Yes you’re reading this next one right.  Moonshine taffy!  Lol

               

And they do make much of the candy right there.

               

                Next the bakery and ice cream shop.  Oh my goodness, my goodness, the BEST ice cream EVER is apple cinnamon.  It was like an apple dumpling ala mode!  So so sooooo good.

               

                We drove around a little bit checking out other areas.  We wanted to see what else was there so we had a heads up for our next trip down.  We wouldn’t decided on a next trip even if we hadn’t purchased the vacation deal.  Oh yes.  We really do love the area.

                And then it was time to head to the Dixie Stampede.  I  love their show and their preshow and didn’t want to miss a minute of either.  The first picture here isn’t a good one, but I wanted you to see that you are definitely close up to the action.  This is the folks beginning to bring the horses in from the stables for the show.

               

                For the preshow, they take you into a room with long, long tables and a “bar.”  No alcohol, but drinks.  I think they used to have beer but this time it was pop.  We were able to drive our carts right in and then when it was time for the show, we’d be able to go up an elevator to the seating.  Perfect.

                

                Once the room was full, the entertainment started.  Great stuff.  Loved it.

               

                Then up to the actual arena seating.  Couldn’t really get pictures.  They don’t allow them during the show any more.  I was a little disappointed.  Last time we went we could take as many as we wanted.  We did get a picture of our server.  He was great!

               

                We did enjoy the show so much.  Even though we were in the tippy tippy top seats, we could easily see it all.  I don’t think there are bad seats there.

                I hope I’m not boring you.  If I am, the good news is, you can click and exit at any time and I won’t even know!

                You know, Adam was right.  Getting away totally from it all for a while was definitely proving to be a good thing.