2019 Oct 8-11, Luminights at Dollywood and Fall Harvest at Sevierville, & Pigeon Forge, Tennessee ( 4days)

To celebrate our birthdays, we decided to take a trip to the Mountains for a few days.

I had booked a room at La Quinta Inn by Wyndham (check-in time is after 3 P.M. Eastern time) in Sevierville.

We decided to eat a late lunch and early dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Collier Drive in Sevierville.

I ordered the lunch special: a 6-ounce sirloin steak medium-well, with Ceaser salad and a baked potato.

Hubby ordered 8 ounces of New York Strip medium with a baked potato and a salad.

We filled up with gas at Murphy Express before checking into our hotel.

Later that afternoon, we rode to Kroger's for a couple of Diet Cokes and a package of chocolate eclairs.

Harvest Festival Pigeon Forge 

We bought a small bag of freshly ground yellow cornmeal at the Old Mill General Store. We also stopped at Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. It was beautifully decorated with pumpkins & gourds of every size, shape, and color.

A great place to snap a photo

Welcome to Pigeon Forge.
Stopping for a rest break. 

I ate a waffle with syrup, sausage, and a glass of cranberry juice at the hotel's breakfast bar.

After breakfast, we rode to the Tanger Outlets. We stopped at the Disney Store, where I bought a long-sleeved Mickey Tee-shirt, a Halloween 2019 Minnie Doll, and a Halloween bag.

We also stopped at Victoria's Secret, where I bought two bras and a pair of panties.

Our next stop was at the Island, Hubby wanted a souvenir shirt from Margaretville.

Hubby let me out at Margaretville, and then he parked the car.

It was a beautiful day, people were enjoying the Smoky Mountain Ferris Wheel, the Spinning Parrot Coaster, Time Shot, the Island Express Train, the Flying Horse Carousel, the Thunder Dome, the Reverse Time Ride, Happy Swings, & Funny Cars. There was a lot to see and do on the Island. 

Pumpkins and Autumn Flowers Everywhere.
Lots of places for selfies on the Island.

Our fun did not stop with the Island. We rode the trolley to our car and then drove to Dollywood, where we stayed until closing.

It was fall break, and the parking lot was full of cars. We had to park in Lot D and wait in a long line to ride the trolley to the gate, where we purchased a two-day pass.

At 12:45, we watched the tail end of the Smoky Mountain String Band at the Gazebo.

At 1 P.M., we watched Candy & Jeremy perform at the Valley Theater.

It was after lunch, so we stopped at the Front Porch Cafe, where we ordered the Cheddar Bacon hamburger with yellow corn, coleslaw, and fried green tomatoes.

Dollywood
Welcome Pumpkins

Scarry Pumpkins
We saw pumpkins eating, reading, playing music (on rubboards and wash pans), painting, butterfly catching,
waking their dog, quilting, pumpkins made into a guitar, a large spider pumpkin with a web, and so much more.

We saw this steel Eagle statue standing tall as it watched the Wild Eagle Coaster soar through the air. 

Near the Eagle Ride, we saw the Eagle Sculpture, built by Canadian sculptor Kevin Stone, owner of Metal Animation Studio in Chilliwack, British Columbia, for $250,000 US dollars.

Outstanding Pumpkin Luminights Roaming Character was Patches the Scarecrow
Harvey the Pumpkin, PUMPKIN Master, Pumpkin Polly,  Jack-O-Juggler, and Pumpkin Penny.

Throughout the park, we saw the roaming Characters of Applejack, Frances, Clive Abernathy, & Miss Lillian.

In Wildwood Grove, we saw Flutter, Flit, Ned, and Benjamin the Bear. 

We also saw The Wildwood Tree with a collection of butterflies dancing colorfully in the breeze.

When the sun went down, the music brought the pumpkins to life with dancing and singing.

There were small pumpkins, large pumpkins, scary pumpkins, funny pumpkins, and pumpkins everywhere.

Dancing Pumpkins

We stayed at the park from 12 P.M. to close; we were worn out from all the walking. We walked to the trolley stop, waited in line to ride the trolley, and then rode to the hotel.

We had purchased a two-day pass, so we needed some rest for another day at Dollywood. 

For breakfast at the hotel, I had sausage, a cranberry bagel with cream cheese, and cranberry juice. 

We stopped at The Christmas Place, which was packed, and there were long lines at the checkout.

We did visit the bakery shop, where we purchased a chocolate pretzel, a box of saltwater taffy, and some fudge. 

We stopped at the Lodge outlet, where we bought a seven-stick corn stick pan.

We ate lunch at Long John Silver's, and we both ordered Shrimp meals. 

Harvest at The Christmas Store 

Day two at Dollywood, but at a slower pace. 

At 3:30 P.M., we watched the Hysongs at Show Street Palace Theater.

At 5:30 P.M., we watched the Erwins at DP's Celebrity Theater.

At 6:30 P.M., we watched Live @ the Back Porch at the Back Porch Theater (there was a young man from Muscle Shoals performing  there)

At 7 P.M., we watched the Cord Men at the Valley Theater.

When the last show ended, we walked through the Luminiights. 

We had a great three days, and I had never seen so many pumpkins in one place. I loved the Harvest Festival throughout Sevierville and Pigeon Forge.

Now for the long ride home.

I saw this beautiful pink Rose of Sharon when we stopped at the Nick Jack Rest Area in Chattanooga on our way home.

2017 July 4, Tuesday, Day Trip to Huntsville, Alabama

Hubby and I rode into Florence to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I ordered one scrambled egg, two slices of bacon, and two slices of sourdough toast with strawberry jelly. I also ate Hubby's fried apples.
Hubby ordered the big breakfast...
We traveled Highway 72 east to Rogersville, stopping at Foodland to pick up a couple of canned drinks.
We rode to Rogersville Park, where they had just installed a splash pad for kids.

Splash Pad Rogersville 

Playground and restrooms, Rogersville Park

In Huntsville, we rode through Providence Town Center, where we saw statues of Darth Vader and R2-D2 standing in front of the Mellow Mushroom Restaurant. (Characters from the Star Wars Trilogy)

Darth Vader and R2-D2 

I wanted to see the construction work where the Old Huntsville Mall was once located, so we rode there next.
The mall is gone, with its piping and wiring all dug up, leaving only dirt remaining.

No longer a mall 

Next, we rode through the Twickenham District to Monte Sano Mountain.
We paid the admission price to enter the park and stopped at the restrooms at the campsite. We stopped at the overlook near the one-room CCC Museum, which was closed. 

Overlook near Birding site 29 (overcast day)

 CCC Museum (one-room museum) 

We stopped, and I took pictures of the Burritt Museum and Trough Springs Markers. 
We rode down the mountain onto Governors Drive, passing the Hospitals. 
Next, we rode to Brahan Spring Recreation Center on Ivy Avenue Southwest.
We stopped at the park, where we saw the  Merrimack Marker.
The marker mentioned the Merrimack Manufacturing Co., the Huntsville Manufacturing Co., and Springs Industries Inc., from 1899 to 1991. It also mentioned the Merrimack School and the Joseph J. Bradley School, established in 1900 and 1967.
Next, we stopped at Brahan Spring Park for a few pictures and to use the restrooms.

We started home, stopping in Athens at Zaxby's to eat dinner.
I ordered boneless wings and a side salad. My husband ordered a boneless chicken wing meal.

Boneless Wings 

Side Salad

We were home for about an hour when my husband got a call to go to work.
Another trip to Huntsville. 
The job didn't take long, and we were home by 7 P.M. 

My son, Andy, called and said, 'Mom, we're going to shoot fireworks at 8:30 P.M.' So, at 8:15 P.M., we rode to my son's house.
We sprayed ourselves with bug spray, grabbed our fold-out chairs, and off we rode to my son's house.
We had a great time with family, watching them shoot off fireworks.
These three bulldogs hated the sound of the fireworks, and we had a hard time keeping them away from chasing the fireworks.

We were home by 10 P.M., and both of us dropped into bed from exhaustion.

2009 October 18, Sunday, Maple Cemetery Stroll

Teresa and I went to the Maple Cemetery Walk, where citizens of Huntsville dress up as characters of some of the famous people from that area who were buried in the cemetery. 

Confederate flags were placed next to every CSA tombstone. 

There was a man dressed in his gray CSA uniform holding a musket and he was talking about the Civil War. 

We saw such characters as Gov. Clement Comer Clay,(governor of Alabama) Lady Grace Hinds Curzon, Moore and Lily Flagg,(won the 1982 World’s Fair trophy) Leroy Pope,(father of  Huntsville) Talula Bankhead,(Movie Star) Sally Carter, Gyspy Queen,(buried with her treasure) Albert Russel (first Lt twelfth Regiment of continental Line), Elbert Jones (CSA Army officer), and many more characters. 

The program lasted from 2:00-4:30PM.

There were bottles of water to drink, bands playing music, and storytellers all throughout the Cemetery.

It is impossible to hear everyone speak. You have to pick and choose who you want to hear and maybe next year get to hear from the character that you missed the year before.

The proceeds are used in the upkeep of the cemetery and all characters are volunteers.

There are many interesting people buried in this cemetery including four former governors.

Thomas Bibb

Clement Comber Clay 

Reuben Chapman

Robert M Patton

David P lewis
These pictures hang in Montgomery in our Capitol building. My settings were all wrong so I did not get any pictures worth posting.

I called Hubby at work and he met us at PF Changs where we ate dinner.

Afterwards Hubby went home and Teresa and I stayed to shop and take pictures.