12-16-17  Dollywood:

The kids all decided they were going to spend Christmas in St. Louis again this year---even Tim and Faith.  So we planned to head there, too.  But first, a stop off in Knoxville to visit with Tim and Faith 4 nights before seeing them again in St. Louis. 

Faith even managed to get 3 complimentary tickets to Dollywood.  They had never been there, neither had I.  But I've been curious about it.  Ken---not so much.  He was happy to stay at the house and visit with the grandpup and grandkitty. 

So Sat. morning, Tim, Faith and I headed to Sevierville, by way of a short stop off at The Island in Pigeon Forge so Faith could get another free tshirt from Ole' Smoky distillery. 
Sights along the route through Pigeon Forge.

 Titanic museum

 Heading into The Island.

 I've been curious about The Island.   I knew there was a Margaritaville there with some  Wyndham timeshare units in it.  It was definately an interesting place!

 Walking to The Island from the parking lot.

 Over the river and through the woods

 to Margaritaville!

 And beyond.  Love the Christmas tree tunnel

 The kids posing for me.

 the Christmas decorations were really pretty.

 Loved the water feature, too.

 Lots of shops around the pond.

 and little eateries.

 even a little train!

 On the half hours the water feature in the pond is even synchronized to music.  We sat on one of the many Adirondack chairs around it and watched it for awhile.

 Finally into Ole' Smoky and tasting the moonshine.  They now charge $7/person for the tasting, but you then get a $7 certificate towards merchandise.  So I bought the Nog Shine---yummmm. 

 More of the pretty decorations in The Island.

 There's even a Merry Go Round there.

 As we were heading out, the water fountain even treated us to a rainbow.

 We were going to walk back to the car, but a shuttle pulled up so we decided to ride back.  Another view of the Island from the shuttle.

 I think the Island may look rather bland if I ever get back here when it's not the holiday season!

 Another look at part of the Margaritaville

 From there we were off to Dollywood.

 I was surprised to see how crowded the parking lot was.  They were even parking in the waterpark lots.  This was part of the line as we waited for the shuttle to take us from where we parked to the entrance.

 Tim was able to entertain himself by conquering enemies along the way.  I keep forgetting the name of the game he plays.

 Heading into the park

 Map of the park.

 Would have been nice to go to some of the shows, but it was a mad house there today.

 Gingerbread Tim and FAith.

 Gotta pose by the Dollywood sign!

 Faith even got me in it.

 Doesn't really look that crowded in this picture, but it's deceiving!

 Faith posing as Dolly.

 Dolly as a child with her family.

 Her wedding gown.

 We went into her museum.  Seems it wasn't too crowded.  I guess most people are into the rides and such, not museums. 

 There were a lot of her "costumes" in it.

 She certainly had a lot of great recordings!

 and a lot of awards.

 Back out on the "street"---there was even a food truck!

 The kids posing for more pictures.

 Lots of restaurants throughout the park, too.

 and old cars.

 the Rockin' Roadway.

 Kids posing again.

 We actually rode the cars in Rockin' Roadway---after about a 30 minute wait. 

 I had my own car.  Somewhat corny, but cute ride.

 Back on our way through the park.  Next to one of the waterrides (which was closed) was this family drier for $5!!!!  Never seen one of them before!

 We headed to the train and waited another 30 minutes or so for the train.  Interesting people watching while we waited.

 Finally the train came.

 before the train left and we got covered with soot.

 Views from the train of some of the crowds.

 Still waiting to leave the station.

 on our way!

 Another section of the park we checked out later.

 I hear this is a fun roller coaster---but it was too cold and the lines were too long to go on it today.

 The train ride went through a lot of woods.

 and past some old cabins.

 Also got a few overviews of the park.

 back to walking.

 a line for popcorn, or funnel cake, or something equally simple.

 The main reason we wanted to go now was to see all the lights in the park.

 They did a really nice job lighting up the place.

 Interesting sounding restaurant with an equally alarming price for food.

 one of the little shops along the route.

 I thought these bath soaps were cute.

 an interesting pottery shop.

 with some interesting pottery.

 a little church

 Almost to the end of the park.

 Checking the map to see where we were.

 Since we were there, we went on this coal mine coaster.  It was cute.

 Back to wandering the street.

 kids posing again. 

 Cute area for kids with lots of carnival games.

 Heading back towards the entrance.

 past the old mills with it's reflection in a pond.

 another interesting looking restaurant, with lines down the street.

 We decided not to stay for the parade.  It was so crowded now that people were already lining up along the route.

 But we did enjoy the lights as we walked through.

 hard to see, but the walkway was packed with people.

 a little better view of the crowds.

 Almost back to the entrance.

From there we went in search of food.  Since Ken wasn't with us, I suggested we go somewhere he wouldn't go.  So---I got my first taste of pho!  Not bad!!!  But I love soup and I would call it soup, not pho.

It was a fun day---and somewhere Ken would never go to with me!  So nice to have kids that still do stuff with us.