When we were planning our trip around Tennessee we initially thought it would make sense to head to Memphis from Nashville then from there head to Pigeon Forge where we plan on going to Dollywood.
Looking at the weather forecast though, it looks like sunshine for the next couple days then a few days of rain so we decided to head right to Pigeon Forge instead so we can make sure we have a sunny day for Dollywood then we'll do Memphis at the end of our trip right before we head back to Nashville.
It was a beautiful day for driving - the sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds here and there.
The scenery all along the whole drive was so pretty.
We hit up a Chick-fil-a on the way.
I had the grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato and cheese - so good.
Then we also had the grilled nuggets which are so tasty - love them too.
Our first stop on the trip was Knoxville which is about a 2 hour 40 minute drive and it was so nice.
Knoxville was a very hilly city which really surprised me for some reason - I don't what I was expecting but it wasn't that.
There was a river through it so we made our way down to the river's edge to check things out and found a parking spot right next to this place Calhoun's which just happened to be a restaurant and we were hungry so how fortuitous, we decided to go on in and get something to eat.
It had a deck right on the river with a great view.
There were bridges in both directions.
We just crossed one of them but I'm not sure which one.
My Honey and I.
You could eat inside the restaurant as well but why would you on such a gorgeous sunny day?
We shared some bacon wrapped steak bites.
Then I had a salad.
Jason had shrimp skewers.
My handsome honey.
Enjoying every moment of our vacation so far.
After we finished eating, we left the car parked where it was and went for a little walk along the river which eventually led to a park area called Greenway.
It looked pretty so we just kept on walking.
Selfie time.
When you go walking you stumble across some interesting things, like the site of a former world fair.
A view of a church from the park.
Those must be some of the left over structures from the world fair.
It's all very pretty.
Another selfie - why not?
Inside the pavilion - It was a really cool indoor/outdoor theater.
We came across this bridge and I loved how each section was painted a different color underneath.
It was all the colors of the rainbow.
The path continued on under the bridge so we kept on going.
We could see these fountains ahead with a bunch of kids playing in them - it was a hot day.
I kind of felt like running through them myself.
Jason took some video footage and put together this cute video for TikTok.
Here's a link if you want to check it out.
Some painted stairs we passed.
Just some more views along the path.
So much green everywhere.
I can't believe that we are barely out of winter and over here it's like full on summer.
There were some swings just randomly along the path.
So of course I had to try it out.
We passed a set of train tracks.
The we made our way back to the river's edge.
We passed a couple of runners and kudos to them because it was hot and muggy.
There is Calhoun's, the restaurant we just ate at.
We found an ice cream spot that was more in the center of town and went for ice cream.
Cruze Farm.
They only had soft serve and I prefer hard ice cream but they did have orange cream flavor which you don't normally see and it was delicious.
The downtown area was really nice.
Lots of brick buildings again.
Just cool architectural features everywhere.
I love this old sign.
There was some kind of vampire or Dracula show going on and all the people attending were all dressed up in gothic or creepy/emo styles/esthetics.
Some of them looked really great and you could tell they put a lot of effort into their look.
This statue looked awesome, I would have liked to get a better, closer picture, but these people were sitting on it so I didn't want them to think I was being obtrusive so this was the best I could manage.
I would have liked to do some more exploring but we still had to make our way to Pigeon Forge which was still about another hour away so we had to head out.
The scenery on the drive to Pigeon Forge was so gorgeous - one part took us on this road that was twisty and windy and only wide enough for one car.
I was surprised that the geotab took us that way, it was like this backroad that hardly even seemed drivable but then suddenly we came to an intersection, turned right and we were in Pigeon Forge.
The first thing we saw was this giant King Kong on this building.
The whole road was just packed with all kind of touristy attractions and Jason and I immediately loved it.
We headed straight to our hotel that we booked at River Stone Spa.
This is just the hotel lobby.
It was actually a resort/spa/hotel.
Just look at the fireplace and those light fixtures.
It was so grand.
We were in the third building over and up on the fifth floor.
This was our building.
We walked into our room and were immediately blown away.
This is the dining room area.
The kitchen area.
The living room.
One of two bedrooms.
This one had a balcony that looked out to the back and connected to the living room.
This is the bathroom off of the main bedroom.
It also had a giant shower and double sink area.
The balcony looked over at at golf course.
So pretty back there.
The balcony was humongous, it had a table and chairs.
And also a seating area.
The kitchen.
The second bedroom.
Looking at everything from the kitchen - I love the big open area.
I did take a video of our awesome room, check it out.
On the front side we had this screened in area with another table.
This would be an awesome place to bring a family.
This is the view from the front.
You could see the lazy river there a bit to the left (the blue) and then that big white building you can see is where they have Dolly's Stampede.
Then of course the view of the Smoky Mountains there in the distance - amazing.
We went down and checked the grounds out a bit.
There was a path that went along side the river.
This is where you access the lazy river and there are more buildings there that are part of this resort.
We walked along the grounds a bit.
Random birdhouse on the grounds.
The sun was just starting to set and it was all just so beautiful.
I mean - look at that.
We had booked two nights here but we were so blown away and loved it so much that we immediately went back to the front desk and asked to extend our stay by one more night.
There was a couple next to us that were doing the exact same thing - I heard the man saying he wanted to stay until he ran out of money.
We took this from the balcony of the hotel lobby.
This is looking at the back of the hotel lobby.
The whole property of the resort is just gorgeous.
The river.
A Geese family crossing the street.
Awwww.
Jason made a little TikTok video of this as well.
This mini golf spot was right across the street from our hotel.
It was toy box themed - so fun for kids.
Giant Jenga and a giant rubix cube.
The spinner from the Game of Life.
We are heading to Dollywood tomorrow and I'm super excited.
Our hotel was actually on Dollywood Lane which I thought was pretty great.
We went for a walk on the main street in Pigeon Forge - thought it would be a good way to check things out while getting some steps in.
A moving/mechanical dinosaur on top of a box.
It was just randomly at this store that had all kinds of good stuff.
Traders gift shop.
There was another dinosaur on a box on the other side of the entrance.
Some of the stores had really interesting entrances - like this shark one.
There was a bear one.
Even one with a giant alligator on top of it.
Pigeon Forge trolley stop.
We saw so many entertaining things to do on the street, like this amusement park place with a bunch of rides.
Go carts.
They had a bunch of these plant pots along the street.
I wish I'd taken pictures of more of them - they were super cute and there were all different ones, like a nurse for example.
This place looked cool.
Big Top Arcade.
Ice cream cone shaped ice cream store.
The sky was looking so pretty - you can see a Ferris wheel off in the distance.
This was another mini golf spot with a dragon and a castle.
Part of the dragon is curled around the entrance.
His head is a little further down.
Fantasy golf.
Yet another mini golf spot.
We stopped in at a grocery store that we passed by to get a few snacks and I always love looking at all of the things they have in the US that we don't get in Canada like the different flavors of coffee creamer for instance.
They had a Bridgerton flavor (weird no?)
Amaretto.
White Chocolate/Raspberry and Hershey's Chocolate.
When we got back to our room, he lazy river was still open (it closed at 11) so we decided to go down and check it out.
They told us that it was heated so we were expecting it to be nice and warm but it wasn't.
It wasn't freezing though and it felt really good.
There were lots of floaties around so we each grabbed one and just kind of floated around.
Jason photo-bombing my selfie.
Floating around the lazy river - what a great way to spend an evening.
There were a couple other people using the lazy river too but at times it felt like we had it all to ourselves.
We stayed right until it closed at 11 pm.
The sky was looking so pretty - I was trying to capture it but this picture just doesn't do it any justice.
After our swim we headed back to our room, had some snacks and watched some episodes of some old sitcoms like Golden Girls and Roseanne.
That's all for today, until next time, be happy!
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