Vacation - Part 2

We finally made it to Tennessee. The motel was....um....less than desirable, but that's often what you get when you use Priceline. Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and the Smokey Mountain National Park, are all bascially on the same street. The street lights are numbered, so as a tourist you are told what lights things are at - turn left at light 6, on the right at light 2, etc. There are TONS of novelty-shaped buildings. A million pancake houses. And at least 2 weeks worth of themed putt-putt courses. It's AMAZING. We were tired after the drive, so took our Cracker Barrel-purchased snacks back to our rooms and went to bed.

The next day we stopped at Shoney's to get some pancakes and then to Dollywood! Yes, it was raining, and in fact, rained all day, but I love rain, so it didn't get me down. And it really kept the crowds away, which was great. I had seen on the website that they recommended renting an electric scooter if you had walking issues, which I do with my ankles, so I got one, which I was nervous and a little embarrassed about at first but it was great. It was the first time I did something like that without being in pain in forever. So once inside the park it was off to the gift shop!

There are about 100 stores at Dollywood, but the big one at the entrance/exit takes the cake. I got my postcards, a sparkly thermos, a scrapbook kit, 2 pins (Dolly Parton Pkwy street sign, and Dollywood sign), 2 pens, a Dolly Parton notebook and a Dollywood sticker book. Then we started out into the park.

It's divided up into sections. One section is 'Country Fair' and has little kids rides and fair games, 'Jukebox Junction' is all 50's themed, Timber Canyon has rollercoasters and a sort of 'haunted abandoned industrial complex' theme, 'Rivertown Junction' has a water-run mill that really mills flour, 'Craftsman's Valley' is just what it sounds like, and there's TONS more.

'Adventures in Imagination' is an area of the park which includes Dolly's tour bus and her museum, which is BEAUTIFUL. The tour begins on the 2nd floor with a welcome video and goes to different galleries based on parts of her life - church, school, music, etc. Each gallery has audio narration by her on a loop. Downstairs is filled with her clothes - lots and lots of clothes. They are in cases by event. They have all her clothes from the movie 9 to 5, different interview outfits from 60 Minutes and Larry King, tour wardrobes are in cases by tour, Grand Ole Opry outfits and even a few outfits worn by her mentor Porter Wagoner. There is a huge case of all her awards, Grammys and such, lots of video monitors, a place to look in a mirror to see what you look like with a big wig on, and on the way out a gallery devoted to her efforts to promote childhood literacy in Eastern Tennessee.

We stopped to watch people on a ride called 'Smokey Mountain River Rampage' and stopped into the 'Cider Mill' to get a snack then dad was keen on 'seeing a show.' He'd wanted to 'see some shows' since we first mentioned going to Dollywood 2 years ago, and as luck would have it, one was about to start at the outdoor theater right next to the place we were having our snack. The 'Back Porch Theatre' featured a history of Dolly Parton's career as sung by HER RELATIVES, or "Kin" as they would say 'round those parts. Her uncle Bill, who first heard her sing at a family picnic at the age of 10 and immediately drove her to Knoxville to sing for a radio station manager which got her her first commercial, was there, as were a couple of her first cousins, whose late mother sang and is featured prominently in the museum as a major influence. There were only about 10 people when they started, but by the time the recent Broadway production of 9 to 5 was mentioned, there were a good 40-50 people in the audience.

And who knew - Dollywood is home to the country's largest bald eagle sanctuary. You can get really close to them and they also have a bird show. My mom bought a sweatshirt from the eagle-themed gift shop (all the shops have themes). We rode the steam locomotive that follows a 5-mile track up through the mountains. And Dollywood IS in the mountains. Everything is on a hill. We saw the 'big show' in the big theater and throughout the walk through the park collected pressed souvenir pennies for my collection. There is an exact replica of the cabin Dolly and zillion siblings lived in stuffed with family heirlooms donated to the project by her late mother.

The only two bad things about Dollywood - it closes quite early - 6 or 7 depending on the day - and that you can't see it on one day. I didn't get to the patriotic giftshop, didn't go on any rides, only saw 2 music performances, and only ate once.

So we headed away from Dollywood swearing to go back sometime. Everyone there told us the Christmas light display is incredible. So we headed down 'the street' to Gatlinburg, and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe where we sat under the framed set of bells that John Lennon played on the song 'Xmas (War is Over).' Then I went back to the motel and wrote out my postcards!