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, which 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 with a 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, but all the inside shows were closed. We rode the train up the mountain, and 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.

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 PM Eastern time) in Sevierville.

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

I ordered the lunch special 6-ounce lunch 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 Krogers 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 breakfast bar at the hotel.

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 Ferries 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 were lots to see and do on the Island. 

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

Our fun did not stop with the Island. We rode the trolly to our car, and then we rode 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 trolly to the gate, where we purchased a two-day pass ticket.

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

At 1 PM, 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 spide pumpkin with 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 A Canadian sculptor, Kevin Stone, owner of Metal Animation Studio in Chilliwack,  British Columbia, at $250,000 US dollars.

Great Pumpkin Luminights Roaming Character was Patches the Scarrow
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, & 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 we 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 ate sausage, & a cranberry bagel with cream cheese and cranberry juice. 

We stopped at The Christmas Place it 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 Silvers, and we both ordered Shrimp meals. 

Harvest at The Christmas Store 

Day two at Dollywood, but at a slower pace. 

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

At 5:30 PM, we watched the Erwins at DP's Celebrity Theater

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

At 7 PM, we watched the Cords 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, & 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.

2010 ~September 25, -27 Hermitage, Dollywood, Tennessee Aquarium

Day 1: Saturday, September 25, 2010

Trip to Hermitage Tennessee and Pigeon Forges, and Chattanooga Tennessee.

We left at 6:30 A.M. Saturday morning we were on our way to visit the Hermitage in Hermitage, Tennessee. 

We traveled through Lawrenceburg on Highway 43 through Spring Hill Tennessee stopping at Rippavilla Plantation and the Mule Museum to take pictures.

Rippavilla Plantation 

Rippavilla Plantation 

We stopped in Columbia Tennessee at Mcdonald's where I ordered a cinnamon melt and a diet coke. 

After leaving Spring Hill, we entered onto interstate I-65 north toward Nashville, Tennessee. We stopped in Franklin Tennessee to get gas and we stopped at Hardies where my husband ordered a breakfast sandwich. 

We arrived at 8:30 A.M. just as the museum opened. 

The tickets to visit the home, grounds, and museum were free, but to take the wagon tour it cost $10.

Andrew Jackson and his wife 

Andrew Jackson Carriage

Upon entering the museum, we were ushered into a movie theater where the life of Andrew Jackson was shown. After the show, we entered into the hallway of the life of Andrew Jackson where I began taking pictures. We walked through not taking time to read or listen to a tape. We walked over to the Jackson Mansion stopping along the way to take pictures of the landscape and the historic markers. We walked through the gardens and the family cemetery where Andrew Jackson and his family were buried.  Jackson and his wife had a large tombstone. Andrew Jackson’s faithful slave was buried in a small grave near the family cemetery.

Standing in front of the tree

Andrew Jackson Tomb 

The Hermitage

We went to the restrooms.
My husband sat down to rest for a while  I walked to the old spring where I took several pictures. I took pictures of the wagon and the horses.
Our wagon ride was at 10:15 A.M.
The wagon ride carried us past a log cabin, which was the first home of Jackson, after he built his new home he gave the cabin to his slaves to live in.

A log Cabin was the first home of the Jackson 

The cabin was a two-story building but later was converted into a one story, because slaves could not live in a two-story building. We went further onto the grounds to visit the slave homes, spring, and see other historic markers. 

Waiting to take the wagon ride

the wagon ride

We met several people on the wagon ride, a couple from Ohio, several people from Alabama, and several Alabama fans who ragged the Ohio Couple about their ball players. 

The Hermitage was preparing for an upcoming wedding in the building next to the spring.
Several buildings have been added to the Jackson plantation that were not part of the original plantation, they are used for school training, weddings, and other functions.

We walked to the Mansion where we had to wait in line to go inside.

We were given a tour of the home along with several other people, which took about 20 to 30 minutes. 

We walked back to the gift shop where I bought several postcards, and we finished in the museum.

There was a long line of people waiting to get into the Museum and they were told that once they got inside they would have to wait in line again to tour the mansion. 

The tour took us three hours but it did not seem that long.

We left the mansion and took  I-40 toward Knoxville, Tennessee to Pigeon Forge we have a room at The Inn at Christmas our check-in time is 4 P.M.

We were warmly greeted at The Inn at Christmas, then we took our luggage to room 213.
We decided to ride around town to see the sites, and one of my husband's friends said we should eat at Huck Finn's Restaurant.
So we stopped there for dinner, where I ordered the special of all-you-can-eat white beans, hush puppies, onion, potatoes, and slaw with iced tea to drink. My husband ordered the Catfish plate and I ate a piece of the fish it was very good.  

 Huck Finns Restaurant

We rode through the town of Gatlinburg then over the mountains. We stopped alongside the road so I could take pictures of the timeless mountains.
Darkness and fog had fallen on the mountaintop it was getting hard to see where we were going,  so we headed back down the mountain.
We rode to Sevierville to Auto Zone to purchase a blinker bulb.
We rode back to The Christmas Inn for Santa's reading but it was too late it was at 9:00PM we did not get back until 10:00PM.

Inn at Christmas 

Inn at Christmas 

My husband’s back was hurting from all the driving so we went downstairs to the swimming pool where he changed into his swimsuit, I had already put mine on and had slipped my cover-up over it. 

The hot tub was full, so my husband went outside; I slipped into the hot tub and stayed there for about 10 minutes. 

I went outside where my husband was sitting watching the kids slide down the waterslide. 

I jumped into the swimming pool and swam across to the other side several times. The water was nice, it was not too cold or too hot. We went back inside, my husband slipped into the hot tub, and I got in the regular pool. 

We changed clothes in the restrooms and went back upstairs.

I download my pictures and upload them to the Internet. My husband was tired so he went to sleep. I went to bed at about 12 P.M. 

Day 2: Sunday, September 26, 2010

The next morning we dressed and went down to the first floor where they were serving breakfast. My husband ate scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, gravy, and biscuits. I ate waffles with heated syrup and orange juice.
It was raining outside so we went to Walmart to purchase a couple of raincoats or ponchos to wear at  Dollywood when it opens at 10am

My husband picked out a blue raincoat and I picked a yellow raincoat. 

yellow raincoat

blue raincoat

My husband parked the car in Dollywood's parking lot, we then rode the trolley over to Dollywood we were let out at the gift shop.
Everyone went through the gates at 9:30AM but nothing opened up until 10 AM.

We rode the simulator of one of Dollywood's creations.
Our next stop was to watch the Kingdom Heirs perform.
We had front-row seats.
One of the members of the band asked us several questions. He said where are you from?

Kingdom Heirs 

Is this your first time seeing the Show? In addition, he asks many other questions.

We raised our hands for being the first time to see the show and he asked where are you from and we replied Alabama. 

He had asked earlier who was Alabama Fans. 

This was our second time in Dollywood and we had never seen Kingdom Heirs perform. 

He said we are always there and why had you not seen our show. 

Somehow we had always missed their show.

He picked at us for a few minutes and then went on to pick at another guest. After the show, we walked around until time for the next show, which was SHA-KON-HEY, which was an outstanding show. 

 SHA-KON-HEY

I took several pictures while the show was going on. The blue smoke, the actors singing, flying, and bouncing off the walls. They were in treetops, flying over the audience and dancing on the stage. It was an awesome performance. After the show, we stopped at Apple Jacks Restaurant for lunch where I ordered a bread chilies bowl with coke.
My husband ordered a sandwich. I could not eat my entire chilies bowl so I gave it to my husband. While he finished eating, I walked over to Dolly’s family reunion show where my husband later joined me.
We walked around the park looking at the areas that we had not seen.
After we rode the train we walked to the back of the park to see the new optical course. We stopped along the way back to take pictures of the tombstones with funny sayings.

It was getting late, we were both tired from walking and wet from the drizzling rain, so we decided to call it a day.
On our way out we stopped at the Spotlight Bakery to get a  piece of Carrot Cake. 

Dollywood Coffin 

Dollywood Coffin 

We ate dinner at Long John Silvers, I ordered lobster tails with iced tea and my husband ordered a meal.
We also shared a slice of carrot cake.
Back at the Inn, I took a hot shower, dressed for the night, and then uploaded my pictures to the computer when I had finished, I crawled into my warm bed and fell asleep. 

Day 3: Monday, September 27, 2010

The next morning we slept later than usual because we were both tired from all the traveling and walking from the day before.

We ate breakfast but I did not get a waffle because the dining room was full of older people. They had brought in a couple of busses of older people for some kind of convention. 

After breakfast we went back to the room and finished watching the movie Death Becomes Her. 

We checked out of the hotel and rode to Chattanooga. We stopped at Wendy's for lunch and after lunch, we went to the River and salt-water aquarium, where we spent several hours there.
It was a home-school day at the aquarium. 

Tennessee Aquarium

Tennessee Aquarium

Tennessee Aquarium

We rode to Bridge Street Mall in Huntsville at Victoria’s Secret to make a purchase.
I had a coupon to get eight pairs of panties for $25.00 but got five for $25.

We stopped at Zaxby’s in Athens where I ordered three chicken fingers with a salad.
My husband ordered hot wings, chicken fingers, and fries. 

It was very late when we arrived home.
I uploaded a few pictures and went to bed.
Another great adventure!
What will my next adventure be?
Will I go to Orlando or the mountains?