Day 1, Friday, March 20, 2015
We left home around 11:30 a.m.
We left home around 11:30 a.m.
Traveled north on hwy 43 through Lawrenceburg to Columbia to I-65 to 840 east to I-40 through Knoxville taking hwy 66 at Kodak and 441 to Pigeon Forge.
We stopped at McDonald's where I ordered an ice cream, and strawberry pie.
My sister ordered a chocolate covered ice cream with nuts, an apple pie and we filled up with gas.
We were stopped at a red light in Pigeon Forge, we both looked to our right, where we both saw a young man dressed as a taco.
He was dancing, trying to attract traffic to stop to buy a taco.
I thought he was funny, he saw that I was laughing, so he put on the show, he was trying to dance backward like Michael Jackson.
I cracked up laughing at him and the more I laughed the more he performed.
We arrived at the condo around 6:30 p.m. unloaded our luggage, walked to our room only to find that our cards would not work.
I stayed with the luggage while my sister went to the condo office to see why our cards would not work. My sister came back laughing she said there was nothing wrong with the cards, it was us!
We both were trying to unlock the door by putting the card in the slot upside down. LOL!
We rode to the LeConte Center near Island for the annual Mountain Quiltfest from March 18-22.
We arrived after the display of quilts had closed, they were now doing the show and tell.
We watched for about thirty minutes, I took a few pictures.
We walked over to The Island, we ate dinner at Margaritaville.
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| Margaritaville |
Margaritaville has three levels, we sat at the top level, at the bar it was going to be a 45-minute wait to dine downstairs.
We could hear a local band playing and singing on the second level.
My sister and I split a cheeseburger in Paradise topped with American cheese, lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles, and paradise island sauce for $12.99 served with french fries and Ice tea.
Our friends called and said after we finished at Margaritaville for us to come to their condo.
We walked around on the Island where we sampled ice cream, popcorn, and chocolate. I took pictures of the Mellow Mushroom, Zoltar the fortune teller, kryptonite character store, Doc's Magic Shop, The Wheel, and the Arcade.
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| Mellow Mushroom |
We walked to the ticket center where we both purchased tickets to ride The Great Smoky Mountain Wheel, that is 200 feet tall which is the tallest attraction in the Southeast, at night it lights up with pink, green, blue and red glowing lights as it turns.
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| The Wheel |
We were in all-glass gondolas with a magnificent view of city and colorful fountain below.
The fountain was filled with many colorful lights as it danced to music.
We took pictures of each other at the Margaritaville fins up, Fins to the left, fins to the right.
We rode to the condo where we met up with our friends and enjoyed talking until midnight.
Day 2, Saturday, March 21, 2015
We slept late the next morning, met with our friends, we all went to Mel's Diner for breakfast where everyone ordered pancakes and fried eggs, with either bacon or sausage.
Everyone ordered coffee except me and I ordered ice tea.
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| Mel's Diner |
We rode to Cosby to visit a quilt shop, to the Apple House where I purchased a jar of blackberry syrup and a pint jar of chow, chow.
I took several pictures of the barren apple trees that looked like something one would see in the movie with Johnny Deb, Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
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| Apple Trees |
There were baskets full of several varieties of apples, jars of apple butter, jams, jellies, and chow.
We took the scenic route back to Sevierville, we stopped at the Red Barn quilts where my friend purchased some material with monkeys on the print.
We ate dinner at Cheddars, my sister and I ordered a Santa Fe Country Club sandwich which was loaded with roast turkey breast, and hickory smoked ham piled high with bacon, two chess, lettuce, tomato and their signature pepper jam on toasted bread.
We also ordered Santa Fe Spanish Dip that is chopped, simmered in sour cream, spices and seasonings blended with four creamy kinds of cheese and it is served with fresh salsa and tortilla chips.
Our friends ordered onion rings.
After dinner we rode back to the quilt show, our friend had to pick up her quilt, then we rode back to the condo.
We said goodnight, prepared for bed when my sisters said we have not bought our lottery tickets. We were already in our pajamas, so we just put on our sweatshirts over our PJ'sand went to buy lottery tickets. We stopped at Osh Kosh where my sister bought her granddaughter some overhauls and a top.
Next, we stopped at Kroger for water and yogurt.
Watched some television and tried to turn off the tv with the wrong remote.
Finally, we went to bed.
Day 3, Sunday, March 22, 2015
The next day we again slept late, we had to leave the condo by 10:00 A.M.
I ate one of the yogurts for breakfast.
We said goodbye to our friends, cleaned the condo and was on our way.
We took a different route home, we made several stops along the way.
Our first stop was at Headrick Chapel established 1902 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
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| Headrick Chapel established 1902 |
Behind the church, we saw a cemetery with many graves, an old barn with a red tin roof that barely covered the roof and in the distance the Smoky Mountains.
We rode past the Zip-lines, horsehides, cabins, moonshine fixings, The River Rat tubs, and Shuttles.
We were traveling 321 south near Cedar Creek we stopped at a wood shop to see all the carved statues that were displayed.
We saw a tree stump full of Eagles, with a nest on top.
We saw dragons, bears with fishing poles, unique birdhouses with green and blue seemed chimneys with ice cream cones for hats.
We saw a life-size statue of an Indian man wearing only feathers in his hair.
We saw a large metal ball with the words Nation Debt plastered across the front.
We saw a bench with at least twelve variety of dogs sitting on it.
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| Bears using the potty |
We saw a male bear relieving himself at a urinal, and a female bear sitting on the pot wearing her house-shoes.
We saw signs that said, Psycho Path, Drive Slow Bear Crossing, Don't text and fly, and life is good and bear production.
In Townsend we stopped at Apple Valley Country Store where my sister bought her granddaughter a black bear with a leash, I bought some apple chow, chow.
We looked around at Country Elegance Home and gifts but did not buy anything.
Our next stop was at Maryville College established 1819, we rode through stopping to take a few pictures.
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| Maryville College established 1819 |
We stopped at Chattanooga's National Cemetery, I took a few pictures, one was of the Andrews Raiders Monument, erected by the state of Ohio in 1890. It is a bronze replica of "The General, the Civil War-Era-Wood-Burring locomotive famous for its great chase of 1862.
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| Chattanooga's National Cemetery |
We traveled through Chattanooga onto South Pittsburg where we stopped to fill up with gas, my sister went inside the store where she purchased an Apple fritter and a cinnamon roll.
We stopped to use the restroom at McDonald's, we were going to eat there but the place was packed.
It had started to rain, we did not stop again until we reached home.
Had a great weekend spending it with friends and family?
