Gather up your family, friends, and loved ones to enjoy a Smoky Mountain Christmas as only Dollywood can deliver. Peg, my sister Terry, our friend Lisa, and myself spent a day enjoying all the festivities that Dollywood had to offer. Good food, good entertainment, and great company made for a perfect day.
When we learned that Steve Braithwaite was bringing his Big Banana Car to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee we headed across the state line to see if we could catch a ride. Guess what? We road in the Big Banana Car! We took a short trip along the Pigeon Forge strip with Steve and we couldn't stop smiling. If you ever have a chance to ride in the Big Banana, DO IT! This was the highlight of my year.
Pumpkins, Jack-o'-lantern, and all things Fall were on display during our trip to Dollywood for the Harvest Festival. Shades of orange was the dominant color as we enjoyed a beautiful Fall morning. Dollywood is such a fantastic place to visit this time of the year.
It's back to Dollywood for Summer Celebration. Plenty of colors and good times.
We used our newly acquired Gold Season Passes to check out the Flower and Food Festival at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We love all the staff and the grounds of this amusement park. It's clean and everyone is so friendly.
There is no denying that the crew at Bubba's Garage likes wacky cars. One of the best museums to get your little car fix at is the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. The museum boasts that they have "the largest European automotive collection in the U.S." This collection includes many one-of-a-kind odd balls that you will find no place else.
Have you ever seen one of those barns that has "See Rock City" painted on the roof? Or maybe one of those many birdhouses, painted in red and black, with the same words? Well, we decided to take a road trip to Lookout Mountain just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee to "see" for ourselves what all the advertising was about.
Who doesn't love a good cheese? Last year we found a cheese brand that we loved so we decided to take a road trip to the farm that produces it. Sweetwater Valley Farm is located in Philadelphia, Tennessee (Southwest of Knoxville). The little cafe sells awesome grilled cheese sandwiches and makes the best milkshakes. You can also stock-up on the many varieties of cheeses that they produce. Bring your cooler!
Anakeesta is a fun little park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. They are expanding constantly. You can see beautiful landscaping and the views of the Smoky Mountains are the best in Gatlinburg. Take a leisurely ride up the mountain by using the chairlift. For the thrill seekers there are agility courses, gravity coasters, and ziplines. While we were there, they had a display of critters all built from Legos. We try to make the trip here to visit every couple of years or so. It's fun for the whole family!
Road Trip! We piled into the Jeep and made or way to Corryton, Tennessee for the Oakes Daylilies' daylily festival. Oakes Daylilies' show garden is nice but you had better plan on doing some other activities while in the area since it is rather small. Plants were available for purchase and there were enough varieties to be interesting. We order many daylilies from Oakes for around the garage so it was nice to see were they are grown.
