Today is Jason's 50th birthday and to celebrate, we are going to spend the day at Dollywood.
Maybe not his first choice of what he would have liked to do on his 50th but he's ok with it.
It opened at 10 and we tried to make it there for that - we were a little late but not much and it looks like we are going to have a beautiful day.
The Dolly touch started in the parking lot with these little butterflies painted on the ground.
There were trolley's that went around to different stations in the parking lot to pick you up and take you down to the entrance area.
We didn't know how far it was so we hopped on the trolley but when we got down there we realized that it really wasn't that far so we could have walked but I was also excited to get there so it was ok.
It was all part of the experience.
I was expecting huge line ups but there wasn't really any line ups at all.
We had already purchased our tickets online so we were pretty much able to walk right in.
Right away we saw the famous umbrella covered street.
It was right beside a coffee spot and I REALLY wanted a coffee so we went in there to get a coffee.
They had ice cream so I got one for breakfast - why not?
Jason tried the waffle ice cream sandwich with pistachios - it was good too.
Then it was back out to the umbrella street.
Umbrella street selfie
Jason made a little TikTok video as well.
There were beautiful flower displays all over the place.
The Dollywood experience looks like it's ready to go - it opens in two days so we just missed it.
Just another view of the umbrella street.
There were lots of restaurants.
They had this deal where you could buy this pass that would get you like 5 or 7 items for a deal price but there were only certain items that were available.
I kind of didn't understand the way that it worked - I thought each restaurant would have an option available but that wasn't the way it was.
So we didn't really eat at any of the restaurant because we wanted to make the purchase of the pass worthwhile so we only ate the items that we could.
If we ever go again, I think I wouldn't do that just so I could go to the restaurants and chose what I wanted instead of only being able to choose something that was included in the pass program.
Beautiful butterfly floral display.
Just from a different view.
Coat of many colors display.
There was an audio of Dolly telling this story playing on a loop by this display.
We just wandered around and took it all in.
This was a car ride for kiddos and you can see the cool wooden roller coaster in the background too.
The car just went on a track but the kids could sit in the drivers seat and 'drive' the car which kiddos love.
There were a lot of random displays like this that made it feel very homey.
The theme currently was flowers and they had flowers everywhere.
Racoon made out of plants.
The one peeking out of the barrel though.
They are so well done.
Standing by a tree.
So super cute.
These little vignettes were everywhere.
This was a gift shop but it had this really cool element in it - a water wheel.
What a great detail.
There were lots of pretty things in there.
These shoes were cute.
They had the in black too.
We saw this water ride, it looked pretty tame.
There was no line up so we figured we'd hop on.
Here we go.
There were a few women on it with us and a little girl.
They told us they'd been on the ride before and you might get wet, you might not.
It just kind of depended on where you were sitting and basically the luck of the draw.
I didn't get wet at all until the very last corner we went around, then it just hit the right way and I got wet.
Not just a little wet either, I was soaked.
I love how these wooden roller coasters looked but I had no desire to go on it.
Climbing to the top.
Neat version of hopscotch.
There was some live entertainment that we stopped and watched for a bit.
Jason made another video
More floral/plant art.
A mama bear and a couple cubs.
I always make Jason get in the pictures so it's like proof or something that we were there.
Standing on a stump,
Peeking through the tree.
Another display.
This time frogs
And turtles.
These were actually statues and I really liked them.
I love the kiddos playing
CHEESE!
So many pretty plants everywhere.
Little duck.
This is the famous Grist Mill that makes the famous cinnamon bread here in Dollywood.
Of course you know we had to try it.
You could buy apple butter or buttercream to go along with it (of course we tried both).
I think I would have just preferred butter over the two sweet options but the cinnamon bread was very good.
They do a live performance of the story of Dolly's life so we made sure to get to the first showing of it (they do a couple a day).
There are several different actresses that play different versions of Dolly throughout the years - they all did a pretty good job.
Then at the end they even had a hologram of Dolly singing which was really cool.
The show was great - I'm glad we made a point to go and see it.
The beehives and beekeeper out of plants were awesome.
As were the big giant bees.
We found an item that was one of the options that we could get with our pass so we decided to try it.
We just shared it and it was pretty good - I liked the peaches.
Peacock
Just a random street in Dollywood.
Dolly always has a place of worship wherever she goes - this one she had built here in Dollywood and named it after the Doctor that delivered her.
I love the way they built it in the inside, the beams and the wood.
The pictures on either side of the pulpit looked like they were quilted.
I've never seen that before but what a great idea.
I think there was a ride inside of this building maybe - we didn't go on it.
They really did a great job with the theme.
Just walking around the park.
The screaming eagle ride is a popular one there - we didn't ride that one either.
Neither Jason nor I are roller coaster people.
You could kind of see roller coasters every direction that you looked.
Here's another.
And another - this one is called Splinter's.
I liked this trellis that had all the vines growing over it - I love that.
It's so green and healthy looking too.
It had this shaded seating area tucked in to the side.
Jason and a couple of owls.
There was some construction going on here and there in the park and I thought this was a clever play on words,
"Parton our dust".
Look at that loop de loop roller coaster - whoa!
Just a random birdhouse.
The buildings in the park are really great.
The park itself is just really nice to walk through - it's very pretty.
We found this kind of children's area that had these misters that were great because it was very hot out.
Kind of a fairy tale like theme to it.
Always the butterflies snuck in here and there.
There were some rides geared for little ones and then you could also see one of those drip rides there in the back - also not my cup of tea.
As you can see, there were people around but it wasn't overly crowded by any means.
Love the butterfly tree.
Yet another roller coaster.
This one actually flips you upside down.
Butterflies.
The giant swinging ship ride.
I've never wanted to go on that ride because I thought it would be scary but today was the first time it ever occurred to me that it's really just like a giant swing so maybe next time I see one, I'll give it a go.
Black bear trail.
Now this is my speed!
I convinced Jason to go on this ride, he didn't really want to be he obliged.
Really livin' it up on his birthday!
It was just a slow kids ride but it was fun.
It went around a short little track.
Lots of other adults were going on it as well so I didn't feel so foolish.
I think this is just another view of the wooden roller coaster.
It's so pretty here.
We found another item that we could get with our food pass - strawberry pizza.
I liked it - the crust was soft and chewy - we each got one and I ate all of mine.
I like these funny tombstones.
I think those are meant to be butterflies.
We found another spot with several food options that we could get with our passes and we wanted to use the up so we got a few things and when we sat down, these little ducklings came out of nowhere and were running around our feet.
Mom and Dad were there too.
I think there were a couple families of them actually and they were just running all over.
It was hard to get a picture of them because they were moving around so much.
I tried though.
Jason got a little video of them.
It was an absolute beauty of a day.
The last thing we did for the day was to go for a ride on the Dolly Express.
It's a real old locomotive that still actually runs on coal.
They were telling us to be aware because little embers might get in our eyes or on our clothes and they did.
It just took us on a loop that left the park to this green area then back.
We had a great view of yet another roller coaster.
There was a theater right next to the train and I saw people heading in so I went to check it out and they said it was Dolly's Heartsong - so a little show about Dolly and the Smoky Mountains and it was just starting so we went to watch it.
It was kind of woodsy in there.
We sat near the front and there were a couple points where they would be showing waterfalls on the screen and spray and then we would for real be sprayed with water which totally surprised me but also felt great.
It was getting to be supper time and we were tired but we still wanted to walk around a bit more and make sure we didn't miss anything.
It was feeling pretty cleared out by this time even though the park is open until 8 and it was only 5.
I think you could have walked right up to the front of the line and went on any ride that you wanted at this point.
We did come to another section of the park that we'd not seen already - more rides for littler ones.
I noticed this old fashioned sign and I thought it was great.
Then I noticed a whole lot more of them so went around taking pictures of a bunch of them.
This wasn't even all of them.
We got back to the train just as it was heading out again - just look at all of that smoke.
This is the real deal.
I took a bit of a video when it was leaving.
Jason did too only he made his into a Tik Tok.
We still had room to get a few more things on our food passes so Jason tried these pork rind/nachos.
A message from Dolly.
We headed back towards the entrance and as you can see, it was looking pretty cleared out.
Jason had one more item to get on his food pass so he tried this lemon cannoli.
My pass was all used up but this cinnamon bun looked so good that I had to try it.
It was kind of raw on the inside so I ended up not eating it - I'm sure they'd have given me another if I asked but I wasn't really that hungry anyway so I just didn't worry about it.
Now that the park was cleared out so much, we had an opportunity to get pictures at the sign at the main entrance.
A family came by and asked me to take pictures of them so I did then they offered to take one of Jason and I so we took them up on it.
Then we called it a day at Dollywood.
We both really enjoyed it and would love to come back someday and bring Freya and Eden.
Just checking out the views from the front of our room.
The mountains are so pretty.
The lazy river didn't look very busy at all - we may go back and have another dip tonight.
Because it was Jason's birthday, I wanted to take him out for supper and the place he picked wasn't that far so we walked over.
The walk took us by the river and it was nice.
The restaurant was called The Old Mill and this is it from the side.
This street is in behind the main street in Pigeon Forge - it's nice back here and a lot less busy.
They have all these light strung across the bridge over to the restaurant - I wonder if they turn them on at night?
(They were NOT turned on when we left, maybe they only get turned on for Christmas).
There it is, the Old Mill.
Cute salt & pepper shakers at our table.
The birthday boy.
You order whatever your main and most of them come with all of the following:
Includes a cup of our signature Corn Chowder*, corn fritters, our house side salad, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans and your choice of our bakery fresh desserts.
The soup was really good, creamy and tasty.
The salad was simple but also good.
I had the fish.
Jason had the chicken and dumplings - he wasn't that blown away by it but I had a lot of fish so he helped me eat that.
Then I had the blackberry cobbler and it was very good.
Jason had a slice of pecan pie which was also very good.
They even put a candle on it for Jason to blow out and they didn't sing but I did.
It was dark when we left - such a nice evening though it was starting to sprinkle a bit.
Look at that sky.
We got a picture of the sign on the way out.
And another view of the restaurant itself - it is humongous inside.
I've never seen a tree like this before - we noticed it at first because it had a really pleasant aroma then we were looking at and noticed all these fuzzy worm like things growing on it.
When we were walking back to the room, Jason got a message on his phone that they were storms in the area (thunder & lightning) so the lazy river was shut down for the night.
So much for that idea.
I've been using this app that Bonnie told me about called Airalo which enables you to purchase an esim card so you can switch from your regular sim to this and it's so much cheaper.
The only thing is that it's just for data and you can't make phone calls.
I've been using it since I got here with no issues then all of a sudden it stopped working today.
I was keeping my phone in my pocket today in Dollywood and I think I kept 'pocket dialing' or 'pocket turning things on and off' and I think I must have done something to a setting or something.
When we got back to the room, I fiddled around trying a bunch of stuff to get it to work again.
In the end, I switched it off, switched my regular simm on then switched it back and that got it going again.
As soon as I did that, I got a few messages come in.
The first one I got was from Carrie letting me know that Morgan had her baby today.
She had to have an emergency c-section but everyone is healthy and happy and all is good.
She sent me a few pictures.
So now Jason has a little birthday buddy.
The happy family.
Proud Papa
Proud Grandma.
Taking her in.
Aww look at her, so teeny.
She weighed 6 lbs, 12 oz.
Miss Whitney Lynn McCallum - I can't wait to get home now and meet her.
Right after seeing Carrie's message I saw that Rob had sent me a message letting me know as well.
Figures on the one day that my phone would stop working this would happen.
I did message the new mom and dad a message of congratulations.
That's all for today, until next time, be happy!
No comments:
Post a Comment