Dollywood Umbrellas

 

We made it back to Dollywood this evening, the intent to be there for just a few hours tonight, and wow we really made good use of that time.  I suppose the first thing to start out with is the beginning of the day, which was me at Alpharetta at the dentist, fixing up that tooth again.  I got back and we packed, and we also got rid of number 42, the squirrel answer to the ultimate question.  Eventually we left, and had a pretty favorable trip up through North Carolina and eventually into Tennessee.  We went through Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and did not see any bears or elk, but we did see plenty of turkey today.  In fact we'd see a few wild turkeys in Dollywood later on, walking alongside the train tracks in the woods.  We arrived at our hotel, the Creekstone Inn right by the river, and spent a small amount of time unpacking and settling in.  And then... it was off to Dollywood!

The Spring Flower and Food Festival is going on for just one more week, and we were always wanting to see the umbrellas - today we finally got to see them in their last week, and that was pretty cool.  We got our official passes today, the season passes that will enable us to get in all year.  We were photobombing each other's official photos on the cards, and that was funny.  Anyway, we got there, and it actually started raining - a passing storm was hitting Dollywood.  It's a good thing we were under all those umbrellas!

We decided to grab a bite to eat at the Front Porch, a restaurant we've been going to for a while, one with a few gluten-free choices on the menu.  Mom and Maddie got chicken tacos with some extra spices and flavor, while I went with a big Front Porch burger.  Good stuff!

After that, we were hitting a few rides, and checking out topiaries too.  Here's some pictures below of the two hours or so we spent in the park, hopping on rides and walking around, or sometimes hopping around the Flower & Food Festival.

Okay, maybe the wettest we've ever gotten on this ride.  We did this one last - it was fun.  But wet!

I still have a headache from this one!  Super dizzy, and maybe Maddie was feeling a little too dizzy too.  We did this one a lot before - it's somewhat of a tradition.

Ah, here's the favorite tradition though - the bumper cars!  We were racing around in these tonight again.  Maddie got one good clean hit on me as Mom watched on.

A beekeeper topiary.  Pretty cool!  We saw this from the train.  Yes, there's a big line usually for the train, but the rain sort of cleared out a lot of people, and we were able to walk on a lot of these rides without really much of a line at all.  I gave the camera to Maddie and she was snapping pictures left and right:

The ride was pleasant as always, and I love trains, so there's that.  We saw a few wild turkeys, and enjoyed the journey up a bit, and then back to the depot.  Nice ride!  Oh, and we did the carousel too, as it was right there next to the train depot.  

We saw some of the topiaries and flowers along teh front stretch there, and what we've seen has been very nice.  The park is really such a great place to walk around and take in the sights, particularly with themes like this one.

Eventually we made our way out of there, looking around the gift shop and then waiting for that tram in the parking lot.  We had petty good parking favor getting there, and it was just a nice time together.  We'll be back to the park again this week, and certainly beyond.  But right now, it's time for a good night's rest.  Before we go though, here's some more pictures, these taken by Maddie.  You can see where Joey the Porg came along for the fun...

Picture taken at the Great Smoky Mountain Visitor Center - chickens are now visiting too, many of them even crossing the road to get here.

Joey the Porg visits the Front Porch for dinner with us.

Written on the wall at the Front Porch Restaurant.

Going for a train ride - we're all just passengers.

Bumper cars!

Duck!

Fun day today!