Great Smoky Mountain National Park

We have ventured to the national park on several occasions. It is located south of Gatlinburg, and fortunately there is a bypass that lets us miss the traffic of that tourist town. The Great Smokies encompasses about 521,000 acres compared to Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres. It seems like the majority of the park is trees - many, many, many trees!

On one trip we walked 2.5 miles to Laurel Falls, one of the most popular hikes in the park. There is a gradual ascent of 300 feet to the falls. The trail is paved, and the day we went it was very busy. It was a challenge to get a picture with no one in front of us.

The view on the way was, of course, trees!

The 80 foot falls is divided by a cement path. This is the top part.

This view looks down to the bottom part.

Some people climbed down to the bottom to look up, but we decided not to. We spoke to some folks after they climbed back up, and they said they could not see the whole falls from the bottom. We were glad that we wimped out and didn't miss too much.

On another occasion we took a trip to Clingman's Dome which is about 23 miles from Gatlinburg. In addition to being the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at 6,643 feet, it is also the highest point in Tennessee and third highest spot east of the Mississippi. The seven mile drive to the parking area includes scenic pullouts with views of ridges and valleys and lots and lots of trees.

The half mile hike to the dome is quite steep, and we took several breaks along the way.

This is a view of Clingmans Dome from the top of the trail. There I am resting again!

After we circled to the top we were rewarded with a 360 degree view of the smokies. The clouds rolled in and out. There were descriptive pictures with the mountains pinpointed in the distance.

It was well worth the effort  to see this beautiful spot.

The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome marking the highest point along the trail from Georgia to Maine. We saw some "real" hikers who were on this journey and were quite impressed with their stamina.

One more popular spot is the Cades Cove Loop, an 11 mile loop on the eastern side of the park. There are 17 stops along the way with homes, churches, historical area, and visitor center. The area was settled in the early to mid 1800's and the buildings were all built at that time. Several homes were open for viewing. The churches included cemeteries in the back yard.

Inside the furnishings were very basic.

We stopped at many of the homes and churches but spent most of the time at the cable mill area including the visitor center. It was built to fit into the era.

There was a very interesting barn where farmers sheltered livestock and farm equipment in the winter.

Another barn was an unusual shape.

At the Grist Mill workers were grinding corn and selling corn meal.

There was a corn crib

and the farmhouse.

The view of the Smoky Mountains was a little different from this area of the park.

Although it is hard to imagine life back in the 1800's in eastern Tennessee, the trip through Cades Cove gave us a good idea of what it was like.

At this point we are on the downhill part of our summer adventure. Since Monday, August 4, Dollywood closes at 7 pm instead of 10 pm. After next week it will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday. We only have four more weeks of work. They say that things slow down on the rides once the kids go back to school.  There are many more attractions that we want to see in the area and hope to do on our days off.

Pigeon Forge attractions

There are so many attractions in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, a city north of us, and we are trying to see as many as possible. Here is some of what we have enjoyed.

 The Grand Majestic Theater includes five different shows. We have seen three of them. The first one was Hazzard County Hoedown with music and dancing and a story line from the Dukes of Hazzard. The whole gang showed up: Bo, Luke, Daisy, Roscoe P. Coultrane, Boss Hogg, Cooter, and Flash, the dog. We enjoyed the dinner and show, and were impressed with the quality of the singing and dancing. Here is part of the cast.

Luke, Roscoe, Daisy, Bo

After the show the cast greeted the guests outside the theater. Dan took my picture with Roscoe, my favorite. What a talented man!

The next show we viewed at the Majestic Theater was the Soul of Motown.

The band was excellent and the performers sang their hearts out. They did tributes to many of the popular groups. In addition to the Platters, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, and others, we saw

The Temptations

 Gladys Knight & the Pips

Diana Ross

We liked how they put the original singers in the background because we both remember the songs but not always the singers.

The third show at the Majestic Theater was the Magic Spectacular.

We were not allowed to take pictures during the show. Steven and Cassandra Best, a husband and wife team, did illusions, comedy, music, and a record quick change act. They put up a cover, and in a few seconds they lowered it and showed a new outfit. Since we couldn't figure it out we decided it was magic! That was the most impressive part of the show. There were lots of kids in the audience who were quite enthralled with the different magic tricks. We were not as impressed. That's the only show that we wouldn't see again. The Smith Family Show and America's Hit Parade are the last two shows we still have to see at the Majestic Theater.

The Lumberjack Feud dinner and show was, as the brochure read ,"real competition with axe swingin', log rollin', tree climbin', and dog jumpin' AXE-TION." It was fast moving with 16 events pitting the Dawson family against the McGraw family. The food was delicious and plentiful and the entertainment delightful, but alas our team lost again....We forgot the camera but this is a picture of the outside.

When we visited the Titanic attraction we remembered the camera but were not allowed to take pictures. Here is what it looks like on the outside.

It is a two story museum shaped like the real Titanic, and is built half-scale to the original ship. Notice the iceberg on the side. Here is the view of the entrance.

Before we began the self guided tour we received a card with a picture and information about one of the passengers. Our job was to find that person on the ship and determine if they survived. They also gave us a hand held wand. When we pressed a button at each station we heard information about that aspect of the ship. We were able to walk the Grand Staircase, steer the ship, and touch an iceberg among other things. There were many interactive areas that made it seem like we were really on the Titanic. It took several hours to go through, and we could have spent more time there. Dan's passenger was a second class and survived. Mine, however, was third class and perished.

The Country Tonight Show was a spectacular variety show which included an assortment of singing and dancing in addition to a comedian. Two young people ages 11 and 13 amazed us with their talent. The 13 year old boy played the fiddle to the song "The Devil Came Down From Georgia." My jaw dropped in awe as he performed. The show ended with a patriotic tribute that left me in tears. They had all the military and veterans stand up and the cast went through the audience shaking their hands. And, of course, they ended with "I'm Proud to be an American." We didn't get any pictures because two big men with hats sat down in front of us. But we bought the video! On the way out I spoke with one of the singers who told me she had 20 costume changes during the show!

Several co-workers recommended the Smoky Mountain Opry as the best show in Pigeon Forge. I didn't think it could be better than Country Tonight, but it exceeded my expectations. There were so many different types of music, dancing, and variety that there was something for everyone.

During many of the songs dancers also performed. During one song two acrobats performed.

During the section on musicals Mary Poppins flew down through the audience.

The costumes and songs during the Lion King section were outstanding.

They sang songs of Johnny Cash,

Dolly & Kenny,

Glen Campbell,

and many more.

There was a juggler, comedian, special effects man named Slim Chance. One of his acts was to balance a grill with his teeth and light it on fire. EEEK!

There was also a fast paced Magic Show.

They even had a white lion and tiger involved in the show. The lion picture didn't turn out but the tiger did.

Throughout the evening Maynard the Maintenance Man made his way to the stage and left us in stitches. Notice the blue duct tape attached to his tool belt!

The grand finale was a patriotic tribute by the whole cast. The American flag rolled down the back of the stage as they sang and danced.

All in all it was a fantastic show. We would highly recommend it.

During the summer Dollywood has what it calls the "Great American Summer." It has special shows during the day and fireworks every night. One performance that we viewed was the Gazillion Bubble Show. It was a one man show, and by the end there were probably more than a gazillion bubbles throughout the theater. It was fun to pop them! Bubbles of all sizes and shapes took form. This was one that looked like a tunnel.

He involved children from the audience in a very cute way. He also put bubbles inside of bubbles inside of bubbles. The last part included laser lights in addition to all the bubbles. There was a grand finale of bubbles, bubbles everywhere!

At this point we are working three days a week and playing and relaxing the other four days. There is a large Craftsmen's Fair in Gatlinburg this week that we plan to attend. There is so much talent in this area.

Rabon Family visit

We were excited to welcome our daughter Donna, her husband Jon, and children Jessica and Chris to Pigeon Forge. They stayed at a two bedroom park model at the same campground as us so it was very convenient. We spent one day together at Dollywood.

Chris, Donna, Jessica, Jon

They decided ahead of time which attractions and rides they wanted to do, and we made our way around the park. Of course we rode River Battle where I work. Dan passed on the ride and took the pictures. Jessica, Chris and Jon were on one side.

Donna and I were on the other side with two other people.

Fortunately it was early in the day and we didn't get too soaked. The longest wait we had was on Fire Chaser, the new ride that just opened this year. It's advertised as "Zero to Hero in 1.1 Seconds."

We enjoyed learning about all the birds at the "Wings of America" show.

We managed to ride all the water attractions in the park. In addition to the Mountain Slidewinder and Daredevil Falls where Dan works, we rode the River Rampage where I did get totally drenched. The boat cruised down the river splashing  us all.

At the end of the ride while we were waiting to get off, I ended up under a waterfall! Yikes!!!!

Throughout the day we enjoyed other rides,(Lumberjack Lift, Thunderhead, Blazing Fury, Lemon Twist, Scrambler), shows, and foods, and ended the night watching Dollywood's Fireworks.

The next day we ventured off to The Forbidden Caverns, "The Greatest Attraction Under the Smokies."

The guide took us through the caves describing what we saw and telling us about the history of them. Surprisingly Tennessee has the most caves in the US. There are too many pictures to share, but here are a few.

The stalagmites and stalactites grow about one inch in 100 years!

People used one underground pond as a wishing well.

There was a clear stream flowing through one area.

At another location we marveled at the remains of a still used during prohibition.

We were amazed at all the beauty under the ground. Special lighting effects added to the experience.

We were not allowed to touch anything as we went along, but at the end they had some rocks that we could touch.

We were impressed by the uniqueness of the formations that we were able to see on the tour.

In contrast to the caverns we spent the evening at the Dixie Stampede dinner attraction, "The Smokies Most Fun Place to Eat!"

The food was delicious and plentiful and the show was entertaining. We were not allowed to take pictures during the performance, but we could take one before it started.

The competition between the north and south continued throughout the evening. We witnessed horseback riding at its finest along with music and a comedian who had us laughing a lot. We were sitting on and cheering for the north side but somehow the south won.

Since we had to work on Saturday the kids spent the day at Dollywood's Splash Country, a large waterpark.  After a breakfast together on Sunday they headed back to Myrtle Beach. The time went by much too quickly......