2023 July 21-23, Trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN (3 Days)

Day 1: Friday, July 21: 

Today we left Helen, Georgia, early morning, about 6AM. We took the back roads and by 6:51 we were in Clayton, North Carolina. 

By 8:12AM we were in Cherokee, North Carolina.

 We stopped here to take pictures of the bear statues before heading across the mountain. We stopped along with several others to see a herd of elk gracing. 

Herd Elk 

Bears of Cherokee, NC 

We crossed the mountain and stopped several times to take pictures of the smokey clouds lying on them. We stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Pigeon Forge. 

We went shopping at the Tanger Outlet Mall. Bought two bras and two panties at Victoria's Secret and one bra at Pink. We stopped at several other stores: Disney, Nike, Under Armer, just to name a few. 

The Christmas Place 

We feed the Ducks, Geese, and Pigeons at the Old Mill along the Little Pigeon River. 

We rode to the Old Mill Farm-House where I bought my son several different herbs packages, a bag of stone ground yellow cornmeal, and olive oil.

Along the Little Pigeon River near the Old Mill, we saw several geese, ducks, and pigeons. 

We ate Taco Bell for lunch.

We checked into Apple Valley Inn a little after 4 PM unloaded the car and filled the fridge with our snacks. 

Spent the rest of the day watching TV and resting. 

Day 2:  Saturday, July 22: 

We ate breakfast at McDonald's I ordered Muffins and sausage. 

We rode to Pigeon Forge's Visitor Center and bought all-day tickets to ride the trolley. 

We bought fuel at Murphy's and bought a few groceries at Walmart (bagels, cream cheese, drinks, fruit)

Took our food back to the hotel. 

We rode to Parrot Mountain and were there when they opened at 10AM. 

Parrot Mountain 

Had my picture taken with five birds, two on my arms two on my shoulders, and one on my head.

We visited the parrot nursery where we could actually pick up the birds. 

We also went into the feeding area with Nectar several small birds flew down and drank every drop of the nectar from my hand.

Around 11:30 AM we rode to the Trolley from  Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg. 

We took the trolley from the Visitor Center in Gatlinburg to the downtown area. 

We were the last two to board the fully loaded trolley which was standing room only.

A nice young man gave me his seat and hubby had to ride standing up.

It took over an hour to go a short distance because of the traffic. When we were almost there everyone got off except a couple and us. 

Everyone had to get off the trolley when we arrived at the Center near the Aquarium and wait for another trolley to take us into the downtown area. 

The traffic was terrible and we had already waited over 30 minutes for the next trolley.

Where we were going was several blocks away so we decided to walk. 

 We took the scenic route along the Pigeon River which was not crowded and there was a nice cool breeze. 

Seafood Platter at Bubba Gumps 

We were headed to Bubba Gumps for a late lunch. 

We ordered a seafood platter of shrimp, fish, hush puppies, and fries. 

When we finished we walked down the crowded sidewalks and it began to rain so we looked for shelter. 

It did not rain long so we walked further down the sidewalks. 

We walked back to the Trolley Stop and waited for the trolley to take us to Gatlinburg Visitor Center. 

The crowd had thinned out so the trolley was not crowded going back. 

At the cross, there was an accident involving four vehicles. Our turn was blocked by police vehicles.

We had to take a detour which took us a couple of miles out of the way. 

We took the next trolley going to Pigeon Forge which also had to take a detour. 

This ended up being an all-day event. 

It was late when we arrived back at our hotel. 

Day 3: Sunday, July 23, 

We ate bagels with cream cheese for breakfast. 

Packed our bags, loaded the car, and headed for home. 

We stopped at a couple of rest areas. 

We had snacks with us so we did not stop to eat until we got home. 

2022 April 26-29, Trip to Knoxville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN (4 days)

 Travel to Knoxville stopping at Baxter's Botanical Gardens, which is only open to the public during April as part of the Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville. 

Baxter's Azalea Garden

In the garden, we visited The White Garden, the Maze, The Bluebird Garden, the Lotus Pond, the Dogwood Rambol, the Gazebo, the Azalea Garden, the Iris Garden the Asian Garden, The Ellipse Garden, the Fuji Garden, the Balustiade Garden, the Hannah Garden and the Birds of Baxter's Garden. 

We spent about 30 to 45 minutes here. 

We then traveled to Pigeon Forge and checked in at Margaritaville's The Island Inn.

We walked around the Island and stopped at Mellowmushroom for dinner. 

Mellow Mushroom at the Island Pigeon Forge, TN

We ordered a Hawaiian Pizza with a drink and spent $30.57.

Day 2 Wednesday, April 27

Ate scrambled eggs, 2 slices of bacon, fried potatoes, biscuits with strawberry jelly, and cranberry juice for breakfast at the hotel.

We rode to the Trolley Center at 186 Old Mill Ave beside Patriot Park where we bought tickets to take the trolley to Dollywood for the day. The cost for all day was $3 each.

We bought senior tickets at Dollywood cost $166.10 for the day. 

All through the park we saw flowers designed in character form. We saw Busy, Busy Bees, Ring-tailed Rascals(Raccoons), Family Times (bear family), Round as a Peacock, Turtle, frogs, butterflies, Coat of many colors, Colorful umbrellas, Duck days, The Dolly wood Tree, Fines Farm, Doctor I. B. Painless Dentist, and Topsy Turvy.

Wildwood Grove at Dollywood 

We rode the train and carousel. 

We bought cinnamon bread with coke at Dollywood Grist Mill and spent $15

We ate supper at Huck Finn with green beans, catfish, creamed potatoes, and shrimp.

We stopped at the Margaritaville Store where we bought 2 tee shirts. 

Coat of Many Colors Flowers

Day 3, Thursday, April 28

Today we ate breakfast at the hotel Muffins, sausage, & potatoes.

We rode to Old Mill Park where we saw pigeons, geese, and mallard ducks.

We rode to Parrot Mountain and paid $53.11 for tickets where we saw and fed many exotic birds. 

Parrot Mountain

Some of the birds we saw were the red-billed Tucan, Swanson Tucan, Keel-Billed Tucan, Kookaburra, Scarlett McCaw, Catalina McCow, African Pied Crow, Von Der Dickens Hornbill, Green-wing McCaw, Sun Conure, Mustache Parakeet, Golden Conure, just to name a few. 

We ate lunch at Firehouse Sub where we ordered a small Steak and Cheese meal and a Medium Italian Sub meal. $21.75

We rode back to the Trolley Center at 186 Old Mill Ave to buy tickets to ride the trolley to the Gatlinburg Trolley Center.

At the Gatlinburg Trolley Center, we rode the trolley to Gatlinburg. We had a very entertaining driver which made the ride enjoyable. 

Ankeesta and Black Bear 

We bought tickets for Ankeesta where we rode the sky-lift up the mountain. $58.08 We bought a lemonade and walked around then we took the Treetop Skywalk beautiful view. 

We rode the sky-lift back down the mountain and walked around Gatlinburg stopping at Bubba Gumps for supper. There we ordered Forrest Seafood Feast which we split. Which included shrimp, fish, fries, and Cole slaw. 

Forrest Seafood Feast at Bubba Gumps

We took the trolley back to Gatlinburg Trolley Center and from there to Pigeon Forge Trolley Center.

At the Old Mill, we bought Relish and a self-rising Corn Meal. $12.91

Day 4, Friday, April 29

We ate breakfast in the hotel bacon, eggs, biscuits, jelly, fried potatoes, and cranberry juice.

We traveled home stopping in Athens for Gas.

2020 Nov 11-14, Trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (4 days)

Nov 11, Wednesday Hubby and I stopped at Cracker Barrel in Spring Hill for breakfast. We stopped several times for restroom breaks on our way to Pigeon Forge. We checked into Park Grove Inn in Pigeon Forge. What a view we could see the ferry wheel on the Island from our room.

Ferries Wheel 

Hubby took a shower, lay down, and took a nap. His stomach was giving him a fit and he said I think I have a fever. After his nap, we rode to Applewood Farm House Restaurant for dinner.

Apple Barn 

For an appetizer, they brought apple fritters along with apple sauce and jute. I ordered a bowl of vegetable soup with cornbread. Hubby did not order anything but did eat some of my soup. That night hubby ran a fever and had diarrhea all night.

The Incredible Christmas Store

Nov 12, Thursday The Incredible Christmas Store was just three blocks from our hotel so I walked there while hubby slept. I walked across the Little Pigeon River stopping to take pictures along the way. I bought a chocolate pretzel at the Christmas Candy Shop. When I returned hubby was up so we rode to the Old Mill, where I bought some stone-ground cornmeal and some apple fritter mix. We went to the Disney Store, where I bought Christmas toys for the great-grandkids. We ate lunch at Firehouse Sub and stopped in front of the Dixie stampede for a picture of the tall Christmas tree. We spent the rest of the day at Dollywood 2–9 PM. We rented a cart for hubby; he said he felt too weak to walk. We upgraded our tickets for the next year to $194.20 Our adventures began in the Wildwood Park area for children.

Santa @ Dollywood 

We meet Santa behind glass after we write him a letter and drop it into his mailbox. We watched a couple of shows outside all the inside shows were closed. We rode the train up the mountain there were plastic shields between each seat. We had to get tickets for the last train ride because the virus seats were limited. We stopped at the ice cream shop for some Rockies Road ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone. We returned the cart and walked back to our car.

Eating catfish at Huck Fins

On Nov 13, Friday I ate French toast for breakfast at the hotel. We rode to the Bass Pro Shop in Kodak and then to Katom Restaurant Supplies where I bought two bottle openers and a thermometer. We stopped at Huck Finn's for lunch where I ordered a two-piece catfish dinner with fixings. (Fixings include a bowl of white beans, onion, pickles, coleslaw, and hushpuppies) We took the bypass in Gatlinburg and ordered over the Smoky Mountains. We rode through Cherokee out to I-40 back to Sevierville.

Hotel Pigeon Forge, TN

Nov 15, Saturday We began our travel home stopping to fill up with gas at Flying J. I ate a bagel for breakfast before we left the hotel. We stopped at Five Guys in Spring Hill for a late lunch or early supper. There we both ordered a fully-dressed hamburger and crispy fries. They have the best hamburgers in town. Our last stop was at Krogers in Lawrenceburg to pick up a few groceries. After that long ride home, we were both very tired.

🚙2017 March 27-29, Adventures in the Smoky Mts

Before we could get on the road we had to take our Chrysler Van in for body repairs.
We stopped in Elgin to have the front end checked on the Honda Van and had to leave it for repairs so we ended up driving the LS Saturn an older car that got good gas mileage.
We stopped for our weekly B-12 shots and began our journey.
We took I-65 North to 840west to 40west stopping at Pilot in Knoxville to fill up with gas.

We stopped in Lancaster Tennessee Rest Stop where we saw a display about Tennessee in the Civil War, tough men ~ an even tougher war. 

We reached the Inn on the River around 5PM, checked in and rested a few minutes, and rode to the Islands where we saw the ferries wheel, Dudley's Daiquiris, Mellowmushroom Pizza, Margaritaville, and a Carrousel.
We were getting hungry so we decided to eat at Paula Deen's but it was way too much food and we both were watching our weight so we ended up eating at Long John Silvers.
I ordered a piece of Cod Fish (my favorite) and a hubby seafood platter which we shared.
We rode past the Old Mill stopping at Patriots Park which was nearby.

Liberty Bell
Home to a beautiful landscape and several major events, Patriot Park is an area where you can go to relax and have an exciting time.

The park is located behind The Old Mill, off Middle Creek Road. A large expanse of lush greens covers the park, but the highlight of the park is certainly the inspiring Veterans Memorial.

A large, cracked liberty bell was erected within the park to pay homage to all of the Sevier County war veterans. This act of patriotism carries over into the Annual Celebrate Freedom event, a two-week celebration that pays tribute to the millions of men and women who courageously fought for the freedoms of America. When visiting Sevier County be sure to take some time to pay a visit to Pigeon Forge's Patriot Park.

Patriot Missile
Patriot uses an advanced aerial interceptor missile and high-performance radar systems. Patriot was developed at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, which had previously developed the Safeguard ABM system and its component Spartan and hypersonic speed Sprint missiles. The symbol for Patriot is a drawing of a Revolutionary War-era Minuteman.

Patriot Park City of Pigeon Forge
A patriot is someone who feels strong support for their country. (See also Patriotism.) It is derived from the Hellenic (Greek) word Πατρίς (Patris), which means homeland. It is the female form of Πατέρας, which means Father

Liberty Bell

We rode back to the hotel watched some television and fell asleep.

The next morning we took the elevator from the fourth floor to the ground level and walked to the dining room to eat breakfast.
We then rode through Gatlinburg looking at the sites where the fire had been earlier in the year.

We crossed the Tennessee State line into North Carolina

It was a bit chilly and I had left my jacket back at the hotel

The Smoky Mountains

Our next stop is Mountain Farm Museum & Visitor Center Oconaluftee, NC 
At the Mountain Farm Museum, we saw Corn Cribs, Broomcorn, Sorghum Mill and Furnace, Blacksmith Shop, Sorghum Cane, the fenced-in garden, an Apple House, Hog PINS, the Meat-house, Corn Cribs, AND Springhouse

Cabin

Mountain Farm Museum 

Most of the buildings on a mountain farm are related to the most basic of all needs; preserving food. The historic buildings at the Mountain Farm Museum were moved here from throughout the national park in the early 1950s. These buildings reflect the challenges faced daily by every mountain farm family. John Davis spent two years building this house near Deep Creek, North Carolina. It was completed in about 1900. The log walls are "matched"; Davis split chestnut logs in half along their length and placed the halves in matching positions on opposite walls. 

Oconaluftee River Trail  

Hand-stitched quilts at Oconaluftee Visitor Center 

Inside the Oconaluftee Visitor Center 
We saw cultural-themed exhibits about the people that once lived in the area. 

Our next stop was Cherokee Veterans Park where we saw markers from Indians who had served in the US Army, US Navy, US Marines, and US Air Force.

A bear at the Cherokee Veterans Park representing our US Flag and the American Eagle. 

We enjoyed a Whopper, Whopper Jr, onion rings, and a slice of chocolate cheesecake at Burger King in Clyde, NC.

Slice of  Oreo Cookie Cheese Cake 

Whopper Jr, Onion Rings, and drink
We took a different route (I-40s)back to the Inn on the River and stopped to tour the Bush Museum and Store. 

Come on down to the BUSH'S® Visitor Center in Chestnut Hill, Tennessee, where you can trace the values and events that made BUSH'S BEST® for what it is today. And it's all housed in the original A.J. Bush & Company general store, founded in 1897.

Bush's Truck 

Bush's Visitor Center

3901 US-411, Dandridge, TN 37725

A replica can of Bush's Baked Beans showing the bean's journey 

Jay Bush and his dog Duke 

Bush's Factory 

We arrived in Pigeon Forge just in time for dinner at the Apple Farm Restaurant.
Where we enjoyed Applewood Apple Fritters, juice, chicken, and vegetables.

Applewood Apple Fritters

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 egg (beaten)
4 Tbsp margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 orange, rind, and juice
1 cup apples (chopped but not too fine)
3 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Beat egg. In a mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg, and melted margarine. Add the orange juice, rind, chopped apples (skin can be left on), and vanilla. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir into milk mixture with a spoon until blended. DO NOT OVERMIX. Preheat oil in a skillet to 350 degrees. Drop off the end of tablespoons into the hot oil. Fry to a golden brown. Turn so they brown evenly. Allow cooling Makes about 30 fritters. 

Applewood Farm 

We had enough left over for the next day.
After enjoying a nice meal we rode back to the hotel, took a shower climbed into bed to watch some television, and fell asleep.

The next morning we dressed and rode the elevator down to the first floor and walked into the dining room for breakfast.
We checked out and headed for home. 
We stopped to fill up with gas and stopped at the I-75  rest stop, where we saw a historic marker.

The road to Chattanooga The tide turns for the Union.
This interstate highway parallels the historic line of the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad. Late in 1863, Union and Confederate armies followed the tracks during a series of battles in the fight for control of Chattanooga, a strategically vital rail center.
     Multiple Civil War-related sites are located in Charleston (Exit 33), near the location of a raid by Confederate Gen. Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry. The Henegar House was the headquarters for Union Gen. William T. Sherman. Cumberland Presbyterian Church served as a Confederate hospital. The Hiwassee River Heritage Center interprets the story of the Union occupation.
     In downtown Cleveland (Exit 25), late in 1863 Union forces built Fort Hill to protect the railroad. A cemetery was established nearby, with the dead of both sides interred there. In 1914, the Grand Army of the Republic erected a monument for the Union soldiers there, one of three such memorials in the state. Fighting occurred around the Masonic Female Institute in Cleveland.
     The site of a major Confederate hospital is located near Exit 7. Silverdale Confederate Cemetery contains the graves of about 155 of Gen. Braxton Bragg’s soldiers. Most of them are unknowns who died in hospitals in 1862.
  Several units of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park can be accessed from Exit 3, including Orchard Knob, 
Missionary Ridge, and Lookout Mountain. Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory there late in November 1863 turned the tide against the Confederates and resulted in the Federal occupation of most of East Tennessee for the rest of the war.

We ate lunch at Taco Bell in Athens and were home by 5:30PM.
My granddaughter brought over her daughter and she stayed with us until 8:30PM.
We had a great time in the mountains but were also glad to be home.