Parrot Mountain

Today we visited Parrot Mountain for the first time, and it was magnificent.  It's exactly what you'd expect, a mountain with parrots.  But wow, so many!  And toucans too!  And many, many other exotic birds too.  Parrot Mountain is located very close to Dollywood, and in fact you have to pass right by Dollywood to get there, intentionally choosing the far left lane over the three lanes that go straight into Dollywood's park.  And then you're in the mountains, finding your way up and up through a twisty paved road until you find yourself in a small, quiet parking lot with a sentry of colorful parrots looking down upon your cars as you arrive.

We walked up to the gate and got our tickets, including some tickets to feed the birds and other tickets to get a group photo with parrots all around us.  I think the group photo was a bit redundant as I look back, as you wouldn't believe the amount of times colorful birds were climbing all over us.

The first part of the tour was a small side route that extended out on a boardwalk from thatch hut to thatch hut, each one containing a variety of birds, including toucans, kookaburras, and other birds.  We spent a long time here, and while Mom and I were lingering, Maddie was having a legit conversation with a bird not far away.  No joke!  Yeah, of course the conversation was as simple as "hi" and "hello," it was still super fun!

We followed our path back to where we made our ascent further up Parrot Mountain, passing by peacocks, parrots, and all sorts of other birds.  There was an aviary, a sanctuary, where you entered in amongst the birds who were flying all around you - all kinds.  The grounds were well-kept and beautiful here, and elsewhere too, and although there's an average visit time of about three hours, I could see spending longer here.

After that, the main event I suppose.  This is where dozens of parrots are perched, waiting to greet us.  Colors everywhere of all sorts.  We posed for our group shot here before moving on to the other area where we could pay a quarter for food the parrots liked, and then yes, feed them.  And all along the way, amidst all the parrot towers, several would come down from there perches to rest on your shoulder or arms.  

There was an area right beside this where birds of smaller size would visit too.  I'm not sure how long we spent here - but it was delightful.  Mom had the greatest time meeting all sorts of new friends.  Maddie was laughing as they were crawling on her back, or in one case getting a bit too aggressive.  It was easy to get lost in this sea of parrots, meeting one after the other.

We eventually and reluctantly left to the next area, moving upwards somewhat to visit a few more birds, and walking along a prayer garden area.  Located all throughout are scriptures and imagery from the Bible, and throughout the prayer garden were statues and recreation of scenes from the story of Jesus, from the Nativity to the Garden Tomb to the Resurrection.

We followed the trail along the top, and it was time to come down again, this time passing by a place where you can visit birds that are available for readopting.  Yes, it was a place where more colorful birds could crawl all over you!  We were visiting with them for a lot too, as well as the rocking chairs out front.  

And if that wasn't enough, we still hadn't used our "feeding tickets" yet, where we could go into one very large caged area with these cups of sweetened water.  Within this large area, once you held up a cup of sweetened water in your fist, the birds would fly right up to your arm and getting ready for a great long slip.  They were even licking the bottom of each cup to make sure it was completely empty.  We had birds all over us again.

It was a great, great morning.  We found our way to the souvenir shop after that, and then were on our way out with our group photo too.  It was a very pleasant time there, and yes, we were there around three hours.  If we stayed to eat there, we would have spent a lot more time there - but we had Dollywood passes and some Festival food to eat there.  We were on our way to Dollywood, just down the street after this.  But before talking about that, here are some photos from today's visit with Parrot Mountain.

So afterwards, we went straight to Dollywood, and for the first time, we tried out their Food and Flower Festival pass, which enabled us to try out five unique items themed throughout the park, only available at this time.  Maddie loved the street tacos, and I really liked the crab and cheese on pretzels the following day.  Mom enjoyed the nachos and the she and I also had a loaded potato twist.  Maddie of course had some boba tea - there was a mango flavor, and also a blueberry flavor which she liked better.  These were nice little snacks along the way, some more filling than others.  

While at Dollywood this afternoon, we ate first, and we went to see an acrobatic act called "Bloom," with three performers strapped on top of flexible bending poles, swaying to and fro as if in the breeze (like the tops of flowers).  Pretty neat stuff!  Afterwards, we went over to the big hill there where Mom saw a musical act, the Hall Sisters, who were exclusive to this festival.  And the Wings Of America show was next, which Maddie and I saw as well.  While Mom was watching the Hall Sisters perform, Maddie and I squeezed in two roller coaster rides, which was about all we could tolerate, to be honest.  But the Tennessee Tornado was the first one, and I've actually ridden this one before, years and years ago!  We hopped right on that one in less than a minute - no joke - and so we had time for another one after that.  Maddie and I chose the Mystery Mine, which was a crazy roller coaster.  It was so weird and so all over the place, and not at all traditional.  Maddie loved it!  I was a little shaken after all was said and done, completely surprised by the unexpected twists and turns throughout - it's a pretty amazing coaster. 

We were done with coasters after that, happy to do another coaster or two the next time we visit.  There are plenty there, of course.  But today we closed out at Dollywood with a visit to the ice cream parlor, where Maddie had a chocolate milkshake, Mom had a gluten-free cone with caramel and sea salt, and I had a cone with smoky mountain fudge, because you know, we're in the Smoky Mountains... anyway, we had a table right there inside, and just sat there enjoying a nice ice cream together.  And after that, the final ride of the park:  the tram ride.  Mom was talking about how that used to be considered "the first ride of the park," and I remember that too!

Seeing the umbrellas once more.  They need to sell these, actually!

Bloom!  The next several photos show this acrobatic act from our viewpoint.

Maddie tries a street taco.  Delicious!

A loaded potato twister on a stick!

Joey the Porg in Dollywood

Maddie gets busy chopping wood in Timber Canyon.

Watching cooks make delicious pastries!

We got home and we were exhausted.  Full day with Parrot Mountain and Dollywood, right?  Maddie and I have been feeding the ducks and geese in the river there a lot, tossing over parts of bread slices and biscuit pieces that we snuck out of the continental breakfast each morning.  The birds all line up for the manna from heaven!

Maddie took a few pictures of the setting sun.  We went off to grab a bite to eat at Chick-Fil-A, and brought it back so everyone could get something to eat before getting some sleep.

We said our prayers, and we read for a little bit.  But tonight we were all able to sleep really solidly.  We were wiped out from a full day's adventure!