Tennessee Trippin'...

What to do when you look at your calendar and realize you have nothing for four days that needs to be done outside your home? Well, if you are Claude and Sandi, you take a road trip and forget about what needs to be done at home! So...we did.

I booked the room and got this tickets for Dollywood. Claude plotted a Color Ride to see the Fall Colors. 

Monday, October 23rd, we slept until we wanted to wake up. Then we got showered, packed our bags, loaded the car and headed to Bojangles for a biscuit breakfast to start our trip. Claude ordered a bacon, egg biscuit. I went to open it for him as we drove and I could not believe the amount of egg on this sandwich. It was literally overflowing with scrambled eggs. I have never seen anyplace give him that much egg. And, it was very hot. Fresh off the grill. 

My first request was a stop at Buccee's. This is a giganormous gas station. I don't know how many bays they have but it is way up in the double digits. They have shopping galore inside as well as a huge section to buy snacks and a food service bar to order BBQ dishes. We enjoyed the gas prices (down to $2.92/gallon) and roaming the inside of this place. We left with two small individual bags of snacks each for on the road or in our hotel room as needed. 

These are interesting things I found in their store. I grew up with everything cooked in left-over bacon drippings. Now you can buy it in a container! I loved the Ziploc bags that were made like Mason Jars. And, I enjoyed reading through the signs for decorating your home. They had lots of fall decorations and were stocking up the shelves with Christmas decorations. There was a hunting section, a toy section, clothing sections, etc., etc., etc., Out front the were even selling huge smokers. Unreal. Definitely worth the stop. Check that visit off my list!

Our goal as Gatlinburg for dinner. We headed south on I-75. We arrived in Gatlinburg and headed to our much loved Bubba Gump for a nice shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp dinner. Excellent!

Then we found our hotel and settled in there for the next three nights. 

Tuesday, October 24th, was our Fall Color Ride for 2024. But first, I wanted pancakes for breakfast. If you have ever visited that stretch from Sevierville to Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg, you know it is full of pancake restaurants. It felt like we needed to honor that tradition. There was on not too far from our hotel and on the way to Gatlinburg. We had a wonderful breakfast which would hold us until dinner time that evening. 

Claude plotted a drive through Great Smoky Mountain National Park to Cherokee, North Carolina. We turned east on Hwy 19 to Waynesville. There we picked up Hwy 276. I must say, this leg of our drive was every bit a beautiful as Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We followed Hwy 276 till it joined Hwy 64. We took that to I-26 up to Ashville. We then took I-40 back toward Pigeon Forge. I honestly can't remember the highway numbers from I-40 to Pigeon Forge. We let Google Maps direct us. By the time we were in Pigeon Forge, we were quite sure we drove every back road in the area to get there. 

We were very happy with all the color in the mountains. At some points the leaves were falling and it was like you were in a place where it was raining leaves. Lovely, Simply Lovely.

Before returning to our hotel for the night, we stopped at Corky's BBQ for dinner. They used to have this restaurant in Lexington and it was our favorite BBQ place. Then they closed it down. So, finding one again when Claude was hungry for BBQ we a stroke of great luck. I had chicken tenders. There were four chicken tenders on my plate. It was like looking a four plump chicken breasts. HUGE!! I enjoyed them with fried okra and honey mustard. I had two left. We took them back to the hotel and Claude enjoyed them for a late night snack as we watched television. 

Wednesday, October 25th, was another item from my bucket list. I honestly don't think Claude would have ever gone had it not been something I really wanted to see. This time of year, Humana Insurance, has The Great Pumpkin LumiNights. We are not much for the rides. We wanted to see some of the music shows and we knew we would enjoy the food and the craft displays. We decided not to go till noon and get lunch in the park. 

Claude found a parking place by the fence in Lot D. We were very glad he found a spot by the fence when we returned to my car in the dark! We walked to the shelter area and got on the tram that takes you to the park. Lot D is the farthest away from the park. Many times on our ride to the park the tram narrator reminded us we were in Lot D as in Dolly. Remember that he would say. It is not fun to look for your car in the dark. As we got off the tram outside the park, he again said to remember Lot D as in Dolly. A group of people behind got off as we were. I heard on of them say, "If it's Dolly it should be double D." Oh My!!

As we approached the security at the gate, Claude realized he had his pocket knife in his pocket. Ugh. There were big planter pots with mums in the leading up to the entrance. We stopped at the second one from the security entrance and Claude put his pocket knife in one side of this planter pot. The hope was it would be there when we left. Alas, it was not. We checked all the planter pots. Probably looked a little suspicious doing that. But we never found the knife. 

I have my pictures divided into the park visit and The Great Pumpkin IlumiNights. 

Our first place to find was something with a hamburger for lunch. Claude really wanted a burger. We found Reds. It is a reminder of the first place Dolly had a hamburger as a child. 

Claude saw this cute sign. Read it carefully. 

We went to Dreamsong Theater. This is where members of Dolly's family perform her music and/or music from their family. They are all very musical. They tell stories of Dolly and the family. They were excellent performers and we really enjoyed this show. 

Walking through the park we came across The Harvey Water Clock. It is a one of a kind feature. It tells the year, the month, the season, the day. All powered by this flow of water. Way cool. 

A stop at the Grist Mill was in order. The cinnamon bread is a must try experience. It was delicious. We purchased a loaf with no icing and asked for apple butter to dip it in. Yum!!

One of Dolly's relatives built a full scale replica of the home she grew up in. The furnishing inside are from their family. It is amazing all those people lived in these two rooms, a kitchen and one bedroom. I am sure having the big front porch was a valued part of their life in this small home. Claude is standing on the front porch.

We stopped at Robert F. Thomas Chapel. A couple named Lake and Jenna Bolerjack from Oklahoma performed here. I was told by the lady sitting next to me at Dreamsong Theater that this day was Gospel Music Day and this couple was excellent. Therefore, I thought this would be a great stop. This couple were excellent performers. Really good. My expectation was to hear old Gospel songs, like, The Old Rugged Cross and I Saw the Light, etc. My mother was a Southern Baptist before she married my dad. We grew up with a Baptist hymnal in our home and I loved a lot of those songs. This is what I went to see. Alas, Gospel music today is really rock. Sort of like Country Music today is really rock music. They only sang two quieter songs. Enjoyed the show but it was not what I expected. 

It seems there was a Dippin' Dots in each section of the park. I LOVE Dippin' Dots ice cream. I'm not sure why, but it really, really love it. We found a stand and Claude got Cookies and Cream and I ordered Chocolate with Brownie Batter. It was absolutely delicious. 

This ride was the Wild Eagle. It totally fascinated us. We found ourselves watching it from several angles as we strolled through the park. It is a complete loop in the second picture after coming down that high spot. 

This one also fascinated us. It believe it is the Tree Top Tower. The people sit in a circle around the tower. They are lifted to the top and then dropped down. At one point we could see that it stops before it gets all the way to the ground. Hallelujah. 

As night came one, we went back to the food trucks and ordered dinner from the Panini truck. We ordered The Bailey. After all, we do have a grandmonster named Bailey. It just seemed the right things to order. Very good sandwich. 

I did take some of the IlumiNights areas during our walk through the park in the day. It was a fun things to experience. 

I think this should be paired with my picture of Claude in Tombstone, Arizona. 

It is interesting to watch the families at Dollywood. Some kids get off the rides in tears. I'm guessing they will never ridge again. Other are telling their parents they want to go on that ride again! We all come in all shapes and sizes and that doesn't seem to have any effect on our enjoyment of these kinds of adventures. 

I did tell Claude as I watched all the people that my thoughts went to the fact that Ukraine is at war with Russia, Israel and Hamas and bombing Gaza and Israel, there was another mass shooter in Maine and they haven't tracked him down yet. All that chaos in the world and yet, here in the spot of Tennessee, we enjoy the beauty of nature dressed in her fall colors. We visited an amusement park set up to make sure everyone has a wonderful experience with anything they might need at the ready. We had a good hotel with a nice bed. How blessed we are right now to have this time in our lives. 

This was a quick, very good trip for us. Bucket list items checked. Memories made. A good time was had by each of us.